Island Lake Catskiing has been around 25 years this season and they are celebrating that with a series of webisodes showing their history. This first one has true legends of skiing and snowboarding talking about their affection for Island Lake. Scot Schmidt and Craig Kelly are personal ski and board heroes of mine. I still have my posters of Scot Schmidt rolled up in the closet from when I was a teen. I aspired to ski where these guys skied and Island Lake was the place.

Now 25 years later, Island Lake Catskiing is still going strong delivering powder dreams to people from all over the world. They grew from a time when no one really knew about catskiing to a time where people are saving up for that dream powder vacation. Thanks for inspiring us all Island Lake Catskiing, Scot Schmidt, Craig Kelly and the rest of the people lived their dream and made Island Lake what it is today. 

Enjoy the video and stay tuned for more.

Big Red Catskiing has put this edit together showcasing some of the Kootenay Powder action from last season. And what a season it was! Kieren and Paula had some time on their hands (which is rare!) and decided to become video editors along with all the other hats they wear! This video is a complitation of clips from video crews from Rip Curl, Mike Douglas/Salomon, Steve Omischl, Head Snowboards, Peak Productions and us here at Catskiing Canada.

Watching it a few times got me stoked about the coming season at Big Red Cats. Especially now that they have been building new roads, glading some tree areas and have recently taken delivery to 2 more Pisten Bully snow cats. BRC now has 4 full time ski cats with a 5th cat as a back up along with another cat for road building. This means that they can run up to 4 groups at a time this season with a back up. Amazing!

Now, you might think 'Hey, 4 snow cats operating in one area...won't it be busy?' and that is a valid question to ask. However, we were up at Big Red Cats last season with 4 cats running and we didn't see any other catskiing group the entire day. The terrain at Big Red is so big - 19,300 acres and growing - that there is enough room for everyone. Plus, Big Red Cats offers seperate trips based on your skill level so each cat has a group that is at the same level you are at. Intermediate, Advanced, Expert and Uber Expert!

Below are a few images of the new snow cats and the excavator hard at work this Fall.

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There is new terrain coming for this season at Valhalla Powdercats. They have been hard at work this summer and have almost doubled their total skiable acres. Tyler and his crew have been planning this expansion for some time now and this season it will become a reality. They have creating access to some incredible new big mountain terrain in an area they have named The Caribou Bowl.

In the words of Valhalla Powdercats owner Patric:  "it's so much new terrain  - it's RIDICULOUS!"

These quality lines are North and East aspects of high alpine slopes, which means more dry, untracked pow for you all winter long. Check out their availability and be one of the first to shred the new terrain!

Win a 2 day trip for 2 to the catskiing destination OF YOUR CHOICE. Click on the icons below to read about each one, and choose a location that would create the ulitmate adventure for you. TWO sidecountry ski jackets from our friends at Outdoor Research. TWO sets of the ultimate base layers from Icebreaker Pure Merino. And if that is not enough, we are also setting the winner up with TWO pairs of gloves from Outdoor Research as well. So you can see why we called this the GREAT Catskiing give away right?

Choose your trip from one of our participating Catskiing Operators:

CLICK HERE TO ENTER and to fill out your information and a short questionnaire and be entered in this totally awesome contest.

Click here for FULL CONTEST DETAILS

You might think that GoPro and Contour have the market locked as far as POV action cams go. But then Sony wades onto the scene with the new Sony Action Cam. They are hoping to build on their reputation as a premier consumer camera manufacture with quality builds and lenses to gain a foothold. And they just might get a chunk.

The Sony Action Cam boasts Full 1080p HD video with 4X HD slow motion. It comes complete with its version of a rugged waterproof case (to 197ft apparently). You have to buy all the extra mounts separately just as you do with GoPro and Contour.

Where Sony hopes to differ is with it's Carl Zeiss lens technology. This is one area where GoPro and Contour lags a little. The consistency of the shots and video colours and quality is not quite there. Hopefully the Sony Action Cam can provide consistent output in varying lighting conditions.

Anyways, long story short: The Sony Action Cam is 'Coming Soon', it is going to start at $199 and will no doubt be seen on the slopes this winter. Stay tuned for a full review once we get our hands on one.

Here is a little teaser video:

Before United Airlines actually starts flying into Kelowna International Airport (YLW) an additional flight has been added.

Bolstered by higher than expected early bookings on the new daily Los Angeles (LAX) flight scheduled to begin Dec. 19, United Airlines is now adding a second seasonal Saturday flight to operate Jan. 5 to April 6, 2013.

"The inbound ski industry as well as outbound holiday travelers, will see this as very good news," says Jenelle Hynes, YLW marketing and media relations. "This additional Saturday flight has been specifically timed to link YLW to Sydney and Melbourne, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand."

Daily service on United Airlines Express between LAX and YLW  was announced on July 10, 2012.

We are stoked about this one! Every year Matchstick Productions ups their game and always brings us something new and exciting to get stoked up about the upcoming season. We especially like the sneak peak at this flick because it pays tribute to the pioneers that help shape skiing into what it is today. One thing I remember is my first time catskiing back in the 90's in Revelstoke. At the time there were only a handful of operations and it was a super exclusive thing to do.

Today, we have over 20 operators that range from day operations to multi-day and week long vacations. So keep in mind, while skiers keep pushing the limits of what is possible on skis, there are the operators, guides and staff that are working just as hard to develop the ultimate backcountry cat skiing experience for us...to get us stoked! One of those operators is featured in this trailer with some over-the-head powder shots from Chatter Creek.

Enjoy!

From Matchstick...

MSP is proud to bring you the most eagerly awaited ski film of the last two decades. "SUPERHEROES OF STOKE" celebrates MSP's heritage and 20 years of skiing progression, showcasing icons of the sport and honoring the moments that helped define modern freeskiing. This awe-inspiring new film takes a captivating look at the past, present, and future of freeskiing through comprehensive storytelling and engaging first-person perspectives from those who helped change the game. Throughout the film, MSP honors the heroes who have emerged over the years and pays tribute to the heroes who have been lost. "SUPERHEROES OF STOKE" showcases incredible new action from all corners of the globe, encompassing overhead powder at Chatter Creek, massive spine walls in Alaska's Tordrillo Mountains, pillow lines and tree jibs in Japan, and massive man-made features at Whistler and Alyeska.

Starring an elite class of superheroes, including: Mark Abma, James Heim, Ingrid Backstrom, Riley Leboe, Russ Henshaw, Eric Hjorleifson, Gus Kenworthy, Richard Permin, PK Hunder, Sean Pettit, Michelle Parker, Cody Townsend, Jacob Wester, Aidan Sheahan, Logan Pehota, Leo Ahrens, and Sam Anthamatten. Also featuring legendary cameos from earlier generations of the MSP universe: Shane McConkey, Seth Morrison, Wendy Fisher, JP Auclair, Mike Douglas, CR Johnson, Tanner Hall, Eric Pollard, Hugo Harrisson, Sarah Burke, and many more.

Here at Catskiing Canada we tend to drift away from work on Friday's. During a conversation about whether we should skip out and go mountain biking we started sending each other videos that we shot from years gone by. The above is from a trip we did in 2005 to Valhalla Powder Cats just outside of Nelson BC.

This particular trip had a very unassuming start. We arrived in Nelson to only a skif of snow. So we went and grabbed a few beverages and told each other that at least we were on a road trip and that some snow is better than no snow.

Well, the next morning as we drove up the Slocan Valley in the Valhalla van we started to realized that we were in for a treat. That day stands as our deepest day on record. Over 80cms had fallen in two days and we were literally speachless. Valhalla Powder Cats has sinced moved to new terrain so we will always feel lucky that we got this day in the old terrain. Of course, the new terrain is incredible but watching this video always make us want for something we can't have.

Enjoy and Happy Friday!