For my birthday, i got the sick gift of a day of cat skiing in the backcountry of Revelstoke. I had been twice before, but both times had been early season in another mountain range and because this was already a riddiculously deep winter, this was sure to promise some sweet turns. I found out on friday that I would be skiing on Saturday (a gift from champ, kim and murray), and as the snow fell and the snowfall advisory increased, it was looking like it was going to be a sick day of pow! i knew that it could possibly be the best snow I have ever skied and as surfers in hawaii are always searching for the 'ultimate ride', I have been searching for the 'ultimate run'. For those not familiar with cat skiing, it is like going heli skiing for half of the price, and you can ski in virtually any condition (you are not shut down due to heavy snowfall, wind, or anything else, and will probably end up skiing some steep trees). instead of flying to your destination in a helicopter, you ride up a road in groomer that has a 12 person cab in the back. On average, you get between 7-9 runs during the day, and although you might not be skiing waist deep powder, most operations will guarantee that you are skiing fresh, untracked lines. I had a very hard time falling asleep on friday night, knowing that the snow was coming down hard and that tommorow could be epic.............I met at guest services at the resort for 8:00 AM, and already the lift for the gondola was past the parking lot. no worries for us though, as we proceeded to cut into the front of the line up at the resort which was hillariuos, because we got pelted with snowballs from some of the suckers who had to ski in bounds hahaha. we got off the normal chair i ski and the guide told us to ski to the boundary line, duck under it and ski to to the road where the cat would be waiting to take us to 'disneyland'. it was a good group of pretty fast skiers which included 3 freeheelers, including me and after a brief safety schpeil we were ready to shred some turns. We ended up getting 8 runs overall, and after 2 people dropped out after the first run, we were on top of some nice steep ridges, and skied some deep powder for the next few. On the 3rd run, I was getting out of the cat, and could only find one of my skis. The driver said that our guide had placed it on the snow, and it had taken off. lol. Fortunately, it only slid about 100 feet and landed in a tree well, so i skied down to meet it and the guide, and was relieved that I didnt have to ski the day on 1 ski (especially telemarking lol). We ate snacks, and lunch in the cat during the rides up, and didnt stop so that we could maximize our skiing time. The morning was fantastic, and by the end of the 5th run, we looked up at this ridge laden with pillows, cliffs (small ones), and deeeep snow. the guide said, "benny boy, were going to take you up there so you can play in that".......besides permanantely smiling all day, i couldnt help but chuckle about the videogame-like fun I was about to have. we sacked up, drove up the steep ridge, and were instructed where/how to ski this ridge by the guide who quickly descended to the bottom so he could watch us all. I was the first one to drop in and the first turn was blowing up all over. I launched a nice pillow, landed in pure powder, and proceeded to hit 2 consecutive drops further down the run. Its official name was "short but sweet", but it did not dissapoint whatsoever. i was elated. i was "in the zone" as the guide said, because I was cheering, and hollering the whole way down. The next 2 runs were just the same. pure pleasure. North facing slopes that had loaded up from the wind over the ridges provided us with some epic conditions. The last run was taken all the way back to the resort, and 'back to reality', meaning the conditions were a little bit different after hundreds of people had thrashed it. lol. i chose to ski some secret stash trees that i know, while the rest of the crew took the groomer back. We finished the day with appys, and beers at the rockford bar, and talked about how fun our day was and how lucky I was to have skied it. I have been waiting for 3 years for a day like that. Jen and I have had a fantastic year of skiing so far, and the inbounds terrain at the resort is unreal. Im so lucky to have been able to get out and ski the kind of terrain that you see in the ski movies. I cant thank these wonderful people enough.
--Ben
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