Need help with Heli or Cat skiing near Gollden/Revelstoke

[vendul]

Next february we'll be in the area, and wanted to do one day of Hely or Cat skiing, didn't want to spend an arm and a leg, any reccomendations?

[Your mom's a snowblader]

You really can't go wrong with any of them, with the exception of at RMR (it's a joke). For Day trips in the revy area you're best with either Mustang or K3 for cat and eagle pass for Heli.

[Caucasian Asian]

If you have one day to ski, and one day only, I would look into the cat operations. Cats can run in fog/snow storms/wind. Helis can't.

Chatter Creek and Mustang Powder Cats both offer great skiing, but I don't know if they offer day skiing in February.

[L7]

I highly recommend you avoid selkirk heli and revelstoke cat. They are both run by the hill and the administrative side is a complete shitshow. Oh hill might be fine but getting there just isn't worth the bullshit.

Great Canadian should still do day stuff at least standby. They are the other side of the divide though. If you are in and out of Calgary you go right by their operation so not that tough.

[vendul]

Thanks for the infos, I'm checking but it's hard to find good deals on day trips.

[slowk]

K3 Catskiing is probably your best bet if you want only a day and the price to be reasonable. It's in Sicamous which is about 45 minutes west of Revy.

[_Aaron_]

Ill third, forth, whatever the Mustang Powder recomendations. (disclaimer: I interned there a couple years ago) The entire crew is top notch and although the food/lodge is cushy Nick and Ali (the owners) are really all about skiing as much as possible. Just dont be suprised when Nicks pre-teen daughters snakes your line and ski it better than you would have.

K3 and Eagle Pass share a boarder with Mustang and the terrain looks great. I cant speak for the staffs at either but I cant imagine that the guides are anything but top notch.

Where ever you end up going dont forget to post some stoke from your trip!

[Great Canadian Heli-Skiing]

Disclaimer: We're one of the operations mentioned above!

Gruetzi Vendul,

If you are coming all this way from Italy/Switzerland and you are good skiers/riders and want to heli/cat skiing, you need to do it right to get the experience you expect. You mention that you "didn't want to spend an arm and a leg" which is understandable, but when it comes to heli/catskiing, you get what you pay for.

You can do day heli-skiing for around $800 with an operation that specialises in single day heli-skiing, but honestly, you will not enjoy it unless you are low intermediates. Why? Because they ski in the "nerd-herd" of 12 people per group and offer only 3 or 5 runs...and maybe you get lucky and get to pay for 1-2 extra runs on mellow terrain.

Do we (Great Canadian Heli-Skiing) offer Single Day trips? Not officially. However, sometimes we allow people to join us for a single day if we believe they are capable and doesn't mess with program for our multi-day guests. We aren't afraid to say we are MUCH more expensive than $800 for a 1 day...... but as I said, you get what you pay for. And what do you get? You get small groups of just 4 people per group....so you aren't waiting for someone who isnt as good as you.....or if you are the slower one, there isn't the pressure of holding up the rest of the group. And with a small group we can get into trickier cool terrain like couloirs that with a big group would get trashed.

The other huge advantage is we offer UNLIMITED Vertical. We guarantee a MINIMUM of 6 runs. I can confidently say in good weather we will usually ski 8 runs and if you are a strong group, you can do 9-11 runs. The cool thing if you are with us for several days, your 2nd and subsequent days you don't need to do the heli/safety briefing so 12-16 runs are the norm

Down Days: we honestly can say we average just 2 ALL winter long. This past La Nina winter we had 3, but the winter before that it was 2 half days So when you hear people say 'helis get grounded, cats always ski' that is generally true.... but not with us!

If you were interest in catskiing, Chatter Creek is AWESOME, however, they don't do single days. Not sure about K3 and Mustang, but heard good things. Do I dare comment on our colleagues in Revy??? Suuuure.... both Mica and Eagle Pass have followed in our footsteps by offering Small Groups (we started it way back in 1988) and Unlimited Vertical (though Mica only offers it in early season, and Eagle Pass are offering it full time starting this winter. We trialled it in 1994, then did it full time in 2006).

Both Mica and EPH have great programs, though Mica doesn't offer single days and I believe Eagle Pass does offer it occasionally, at least they did last winter.

Whatever yu decide, have a blast!

[Wickedbrew4u]

Event though its way south, dont go to Retallack....the dont have awesome terrain, they dont have steep tree skiing, they dont have a kick arse guides either. All kidding aside, if your going up north to Golden then Chatter Creek is where you want to go. Its the best terrain around hands down. But they only allow day trips if they have cancellations as noted above. Spend the money you wont regret it.

[goldenshowers]

Look/ask to go standby with any heli company. For a couple of hundred bucks you're flying! Although with a group your size, that may be tough.

[vendul]

Look/ask to go standby with any heli company. For a couple of hundred bucks you're flying! Although with a group your size, that may be tough.

I thought so but being a big group and being there only a few days we wanted to be sure about where we would end up. I see you are a local, did you see my other post? We are also looking for someone willing to show us arround.

[DougW]

It is much easier to do a day ski or standby in Nelson as a lot of places very close to town so easier access. Chatter is a heli ride in so need to get heli out next day. Mustang you take a bus/cat in the afternoon before so again logistics would suck. Great Canadian is right off the hwy so that could work just 40 minutes out of Golden. No one has mentioned Purcell Heli which flies right out of Golden. That might be a good choice as they seemed to be set up for day trips

[Shadam]

Purcell = nerd herd. You'll get 5 blue runs for your day (broken up into 5 or 6 legs) and the rest of the heli will be thinking hot tub after the 3rd run. chatter creek is the cat op, great canadian is heli op on my shopping list from Golden. single day heli skiing limits you greatly in many ways ( Pour several beers in a guide and you'll be enlightened on this subject)
Butt wot wood eye no ...

[kootexp]

We have had a bunch of Italian groups ski with us over the years. There are a few trip reports on www.skiforum.it
Wildhorse does a daily catskiing operation with a snowmobile ride to the snowcat for very fast access to the mountains. We typically are skiing around 9am and finish around 3:30 - 4pm returning to the bar for a beer at the end of the day. Overnight accommodation is available and multi day packages are also available. We also offer the best prices in catskiing in British Columbia. Great terrain, steep trees and some great adventures. There are some more reviews from last winter posted on our blog at www.skiwildhorse.blogspot.com
Wildhorse isn't fancy but you get your money worth in skiing not in overpriced drinks or lodging. We look forward to skiing with you.

[vendul]

We have had a bunch of Italian groups ski with us over the years. There are a few trip reports on www.skiforum.it
Wildhorse does a daily catskiing operation with a snowmobile ride to the snowcat for very fast access to the mountains. We typically are skiing around 9am and finish around 3:30 - 4pm returning to the bar for a beer at the end of the day. Overnight accommodation is available and multi day packages are also available. We also offer the best prices in catskiing in British Columbia. Great terrain, steep trees and some great adventures. There are some more reviews from last winter posted on our blog at www.skiwildhorse.blogspot.com
Wildhorse isn't fancy but you get your money worth in skiing not in overpriced drinks or lodging. We look forward to skiing with you.

Is the road that goes from Nelson to Banff through Radium hot springs open in winter?

[Meanfruit]

Is the road that goes from Nelson to Banff through Radium hot springs open in winter?

You're an Italian, for God's sake! Canadian roads are mere playthings to European drivers. And yes, it is open in the winter, usually.

[vendul]

You're an Italian, for God's sake! Canadian roads are mere playthings to European drivers. And yes, it is open in the winter, usually.

I'm not afraid of the driving, if one can drive on our mountain roads, with our kind of snow and our kind of drivers, one can drive anywhere. I just don't want to plan a trip that can't be made 'cose of road closure. I never drove through radium, is it worthed?

[DougW]

From Banff to Nelson its ( via Radium and Cranbrook) 5 hours maybe 6 in winter. The pass to radium is closed a lot less the the pass to Golden ( kicking horse pass) which is closed a lot less than Rodgers pass ( way to Revelstoke.).

You can get to Nelson from Revelstoke and that way is pretty good in winter , really no high moutain passes.

I've done Wildhorse on a last minute deal and it was good ( and cheap) but then again you are really making a trip to Nelson.

[AlexC]

I've heard good things about K3 cat skiing in Revelstoke. Don't waste your time with the resort's cat operation – the terrain gets tracked out by slack country skiers skinning out from the resort.

For heli, Eagle Pass was offering day trips last year. I imagine if you book in advance they'll take your group out for a day.

[kootexp]

Lots of groups will do a loop from Calgary - skiing at Lake Louise, staying in Golden, Skiing at Revelstoke, Ski at Wildhorse, Ski Fernie and then back to Calgary and some variations on the above. Catskiing ( and heliskiing ) and the huge amount of backcountry skiing and beautiful quiet countryside along the road are what is different from the European ski experience.

[DanoT]

Calgary airport to Revelstoke is about a 6 hour drive in winter, passing thru Lake Louise (great terrain but often not enough snow) and Golden (Kicking Horse) along the way. Or you could fly to Kelowna, B.C. and drive for about 2 hours to Revelstoke.

I skied with K3 Cat Skiing last year and since they have no lodge themselves, day skiing is all they do. They will pick you up at your hotel in Revelstoke or Sicamous (nearest town to their operation and about a half hour west of Revelstoke). K3 offers a discount if you ski 2 or more days in one week and they do not need to be consecutive days. They may also offer a group discount.

[GoldMember]

Another option is fly to Spokane, drive to Nelson (3 hours), drive to Revelstoke (another 3 hours), over to Golden (Kicking Horse) Lake Louise, Calgary to Fernie (FWA Catskiing - Not fancy but great skiing), back to Spokane. Lots of options and killer skiing in a number of places.

[vendul]

Another option is fly to Spokane, drive to Nelson (3 hours), drive to Revelstoke (another 3 hours), over to Golden (Kicking Horse) Lake Louise, Calgary to Fernie (FWA Catskiing - Not fancy but great skiing), back to Spokane. Lots of options and killer skiing in a number of places.

We allready got our tickets in and out of Calgary, we only have 9 days, but if the others agree, I think we'll do the loop calgary, revy, nelson, fernie. Good idea?

[GoldMember]

We allready got our tickets in and out of Calgary, we only have 9 days, but if the others agree, I think we'll do the loop calgary, revy, nelson, fernie. Good idea?

Yes, it's basically the same loop, just in reverse and without the Spokane leg. Lots of great towns and awesome skiing. Have a great time!

[vendul]

What I also hope is to shred some lines with some north american maggots!