Kieren and his crew of chainsaw wielding powder enthusiast have spent hundreds of hours adding more skiable terrain to their already awesome 19,300 acres. Not only have they been cleaning up ski outs and glading, they have been opening some pretty awesome looking new runs.

Named Jaws and The Candy Bowl these two new areas cater to the more advanced skiers. Big Red now services eight peaks. The new areas seen here really round out their offering to all skiers with something for intermediate skiers, advanced skiers and now experts.

For the FIRST time, ski TWO great cat skiing operations and ONE amazing resort combined. This season Valhalla Powdercats, Big Red Cats, and legendary Red Mountain Resort join together to offer one Big Powdercat Safari. The package includes:

• 2 Days of Cat skiing with Big Red Cats
• 2 Days of Cat skiing/riding with Valhalla Powder Cats
• 2 Days of skiing at Red Mountain Resort. (lift tickets not included - this gives flexibility for more cat skiing or skiing at Red)
• 7 nights accommodation at the base of Red Mountain
• This package is only suitable for advanced to expert skiers with previous back-country powder skiing experience.

Cost: C$2,265 Plus tax

For more information call either
Valhalla Powdercats 1-866-722-SNOW (7669)
or
Big Red Cats 1 250 362 2271

I was reading the latest edition of Powder Magazine today trying to get my fix in this in-between season. As with every issue, I start by reading the Letters to the Editor (I already looked at all the pow shots while perusing at the grocery store). This months Best Letter was offering up a full outfit from Outdoor Research Side Country line-up so naturally I was intrigued since we are on the OR program now.

This letter was to awesome to not post. The writer has finally cracked and can't take all our west coast stories about epic powder. I love his enthusiasm but offer him this advice: Book a trip today. Come to BC. Call us up. We would love to show you around. Pack your bags though, because you won't want to go home. He should definitely ENTER OUR CONTEST!

The one thing this letter did for me was realize again how fortunate I am that I live in British Columbia, the epicenter of Catskiing and Heliskiing. Check out his story here > > >

We were cruising around the sunny Okanagan this week promoting our Catskiing Giveaway Contest It gave us a good excuse to visit all the local shops to check out all the new gear and still call it "working". An exciting time of year for sure: you can still mountain bike all the while everyone around you is getting stoked for ski season.

We happened to drop into Union Cycle in Kelowna BC and were surprised at what we saw. Union Cycle is a core little bike shop but we had no idea what they did in the winter.

As it turns out, they are the go to place for backcountry gear in the area. What really got us going was their stock of the new handmade ski line Moment Skis and also that they had a few brand spankin' new Float 30 packs from BCA.

The guys were kind enough to show us the packs and snap off a pick or two.The pic here is of Dale showing us the weight of the New Float 30 pack.

If you are searching around for a cutting edge avalache safety pack, be sure to give the crew at Union Cycle a call - 250-979-4327

If you are interested in getting yourself educated , here is a great place to start. The Canadian Avalanche Centre (CAC) is a non-government, not for profit organization dedicated to public avalanche safety. You can start with their online avalanche course (it's free!) It's a great way to gain an understanding of avalanche safety basics or to refresh your avalanche knowledge after a long summer.  

The next step is an Avalanche Skills Training course. With an AST course you'll learn the vital fundamentals of travelling in avalanche terrain. For more info on the CAC or to get involved with their programs, visit them here.  

A look at the long range winter forecast from AccuWeather.com looks promising.  The weather is expected to be colder and wetter than normal in many areas that have catskiing operations.  Click here for the entire witner 2010/11 forecast.

Crown Skis is proud to announce the launch of their 2010/11 Product Line-up including the refined Kensho and the totally updated and redesigned Satori.  We had a chance to ski these at the 2011 powder ski test last year, and they surprised us, to say the least.  A locally built ski that rips it up and comes in a selection of different graphics.  Check out Crown's latest creations here.

Visit the contest page for a chance to win 2 days of catskiing at the operation of your choice, plus gear and clothing from Backcountry Access and Icebreaker.  That's right, winter is on it's way, and the powder is coming!

Back by popular demand, Valhalla Powdercats is pleased to offer skiing packages with accommodation in beautiful Nelson, BC.   These packages include: hotel, breakfast, lunch and a big day at Valhalla Powdercats.  This includes accommodation at either the Best Western, or the Hume hotel.  And if you want a true Nelson experience, we recommend the Hume.  It's old, rustic, and comfortable. Just like that pair of underwear your wife wants to throw out, but better!   Get the info and rates here.

Check out catskiing.ca's video of their last trip to Valhalla Powdercats.