Help me select cat skiing destination for 2020

[pchewn]

I'm looking to go cat skiing in 2020 with a couple of friends and family members.

Looking for advice as to the best value and experience.

What we're looking for:
Good value for the amount spent.
Advanced skiers, but not super-experts. Would prefer not to cliff jump or ski extremely long steep runs. This is for fun, not to maximize the adrenaline.
Good chance of suitable weather and snow conditions.
A "back up plan" to ski a nearby resort (perhaps by alternating resort days with cat-ski days).
Reasonable cost hotel/motel/condo nearby.

NOT looking for:
Balls-to-the-walls vertical accumulation going over cliffs and speeding through the runs to maximize the vert.
Remote yurt or cabin dedicated to cat skiing.


Western US/Canada would be the region of interest. We can fly or drive to the destination area. Some of us live in Denver, others in Oregon/Washington.

Any and all suggestions welcomed!

 

[Xinga]

Steamboat Powder Cats sure seems to fit your description. Enjoyable low-angle aspen glade skiing, well run op, right next to Steamboat for resort skiing option.

 

[Ken_R]

I'm looking to go cat skiing in 2020 with a couple of friends and family members.

Looking for advice as to the best value and experience.

What we're looking for:
Good value for the amount spent.
Advanced skiers, but not super-experts. Would prefer not to cliff jump or ski extremely long steep runs. This is for fun, not to maximize the adrenaline.
Good chance of suitable weather and snow conditions.
A "back up plan" to ski a nearby resort (perhaps by alternating resort days with cat-ski days).
Reasonable cost hotel/motel/condo nearby.

NOT looking for:
Balls-to-the-walls vertical accumulation going over cliffs and speeding through the runs to maximize the vert.
Remote yurt or cabin dedicated to cat skiing.


Western US/Canada would be the region of interest. We can fly or drive to the destination area. Some of us live in Denver, others in Oregon/Washington.

Any and all suggestions welcomed!

I have been on the Steamboat Powdercats and it is awesome. They have AMAZING snow conditions most of the time and mellow terrain. The lunch Yurt is a VERY nice touch.

The best value might be the Powder Addiction Cat operation out of Empire. The terrain is amazing and the views far superior. They have plenty of mellow terrain as well.

The VERY best regardless of cost: http://www.irwinguides.com/snowcat-skiing

 

[Tony]

If you want to stay in OR, Anthony Lakes has cat skiing for $249/day and a ski area (one chair and I think you skied there during your OR ski safari) that is open Thu-Sun plus holiday Mondays. There is also Cat Ski Mt. Bailey, which operates out of Diamond Lake, OR which was under $400/day last season although it may be more demanding than you are looking for. Mt Bailey is not that far from Bachelor or Willamette Pass, which requires a good snow year for decent skiing.

 

[Bad Bob]

This one is a bit weird but it ticks off pretty much everything you are asking for.

Soldier Mountain Idaho. Was $200/day this season.
Nice moderate angle powder slopes.
Done it a long time the guide has been there 20+ years.
Sun Valley is about 1 hour away.
A nice 1,500 vert ski area below the cat skiing operation.

Red Mountain Cat Skiing

Schweitzer in Sandpoint has had a cat skiing operation off the back side for quite a while too. Don't know any details on them.

In general the Selkirk Mountains are not known for their gnar factor. Schweitzer and Red are both in the Selkirks.

 

[ScottA]

Red Mountain in Canada has $10 cat skiing for a one way trip. Lots of runs through the trees with varying difficulty.

They also have a company that does cat skiing day trips which goes further afield. I didn't do that but I saw them reviewing their videos at a restaurant one night. Looked amazing.

The mountain itself is a gem. Huge amount of terrain and we had 2-3 feet of snow over a few days when we were there last year. It didn't get really busy either when we were there.

 

[Snowflake2420]

+1 on Steamboat Powdercats. They also offer the Level 3 cat, which they describe as expert. It is more challenging terrain than the other levels, but not super steep or crazy, no mandatory air, etc. I found it more interesting than the Level 2 terrain which is more like open aspens. Either way you're guaranteed to have a good time. I did it this season and was amazed how good even south facing aspects were.

Other options are Interior BC like Big Red Cats (Rossland) or Valhalla (Nelson) where you can also ski at resorts nearby. I'm looking at this myself.

 

[Jerez]

We skied with Powder Addiction a few years ago when it was based out of Winter Park and really enjoyed it. ($575)However, they may or may not survive the avalanche death that occurred this year. They continually pointed out that (full disclosure, their competitor) Steamboat Powdercats' terrain has little or no north facing aspects which may make it sketchy if you are thinking late season. Have not done SP and it does look nice, very low angle, although that's always hard to judge in video and photo.

My husband really liked Irwin, but it is gussied up now, so much more expensive. ($650) Luxury Cat skiing.

Monarch has a relatively inexpensive cat skiing operation ($3-400) associated with the ski area, as does Purgatory via SanJuan Untracked at $399. If you do Monarch, you can ski either Monarch Mountain or head on past to Crested Butte on non-Cat days.

Telluride has heli-skiing.

Revelstoke has all sorts of options for cat and heli and resort skiing. Or so I'm told. Never been lucky enough to sample.

 

[Mike Rogers]

In general the Selkirk Mountains are not known for their gnar factor. Schweitzer and Red are both in the Selkirks.

Maybe the southern selkirks. Things get pretty rowdy in the north.

Red is actually in the monashees

 

[EricG]

We enjoyed the cat skiing/boarding based out of Powder Mountain UT. In looking at the site, it looks much fancier than it did when I was last there.

https://www.powdermountain.com/resort/adventures/snowcat-heli-and-snowmobile-adventures

 

[Tom K.]

I really want to go cat skiing with White Grizzly, but maybe not what the OP is seeking.

http://www.whitegrizzly.com/en

Steep, trees, small and cozy atmosphere.

Having trouble getting any of my loose "crew" to commit, darn it!

 

[James]

Grand Targhee has cat skiing. $450

https://www.grandtarghee.com/activities-events/winter-activities/snowcat-skiing-boarding/

 

[SkiNurse]

We did Monarch cat this year for $300/per person and it was great.

Have also done Powder Addiction in the past and it was mostly good (early season). the biggest complaint is that they have no warm place for you to boot up because it is literally at the bottom of Jones Pass.

Where would I go again? Irwin, hands down. A bit pricier, but you definitely get what you pay for.
http://www.irwinguides.com

 

[Drahtguy Kevin]

I was at Monarch with @SkiNurse and agree with her view of the trip. Chicago Ridge out of Ski Cooper is also very nice. I’ve been 3-4 times. I was less thrilled with Powder Addiction. No boot up area and their zone is easily accessible to the public via snowmobile and skin. Steamboat Powdercats is nice but very mellow the time I was there. Irwin is the most luxurious cat trip I’ve been on. Great terrain and lots of nice touches. Expensive but worth it to me.

 

[tball]

The Purgatory cat operation has the largest permit area in the state with some very nice terrain and I believe is still one of the least expensive.

The two times I've been with the previous owners were fantastic. They have enough tree skiing to keep farming cold powder for long after a storm. My experiences looked much like this promo video where you can get a good idea of the terrain. You have to like tree skiing and while they have open above treeline terrain and chutes, I'm not sure they are safe and skied until the end of the season:


@SlideWright was there more recently with the new operation and posted this thread with a video:
https://www.pugski.com/threads/san-juan-cat-skiing-stoke.3927/#post-87841

 

[John O]

I've done Big Red Cats, based out of Red Mt., BC. The people are top notch, great customer service (which came in handy), good mix of terrain, but 2 years in a row we ran into bad weather. They gave us a rain check the first year (we didn't have a choice, they weren't even sending their cats out, it was pretty grim conditions). The second year, it wasn't great but they gave us the option of another rain check if we wanted, but they were sending cats out. We opted to ski anyway vs. come back a third year. We had fun, they did a good job of picking aspects that had as good as we were going to get given the conditions. However, having that experience 2 years in a row makes me wary of booking there again. I'd probably go elsewhere next time, personally.

 

[pchewn]

I booked with Soldier Mountain -- the whole cat for 2 days plus overnight yurt for up to 12 people. I think I've found 10 that can commit to going. It's for Feb 16-17 2020. Soldier mountain was chosen for driving distance, nearby relatives to stay with prior/after trip, low cost, and generous refund policy (100% refund within 48 hrs of reservation). It should be a lot of fun. I'll report after my visit.