White Grizzly
White Grizzly Cat Skiing BC
White Grizzly Adventures provide awesome cat skiing in the Selkirks. White Grizzly cat skiing solely caters to expert skiers and snowboarders. The terrain has a heavy emphasis on steep gnarly trees and the local mantra is “ski good or eat wood”!
So what the hell is a ‘white grizzly’? It’s not a weird hybrid between a grizzly and polar bear. It’s just a grizzly bear that doesn’t hibernate during winter because he’s heard that hibernation is for wimps. A white grizzly is simply a bear that loves being doused in the amazing Selkirk powder. A “white grizzly” can also be defined as a powderhound who’s become sulky because he hasn’t had a recent fix of deep powder skiing!
Grizzlies or powderhounds need not fear that they won’t get a big dose of the white fluffy Kootenay gold. White Grizzly Adventures is situated in the cat skiing capital of the world in Kootenay’s snow belt. The snow fall is abundant (13 metres per season on average) and the micro-climate around Meadow Creek is cold, so the snow stays fluffy.
Cat skiing in this deep powder provides an intoxicating euphoria. Just make sure your pit zips are up!
Multi-Day White Grizzly Cat Skiing Packages
White Grizzly offers multi-day packages that include the guided cat skiing, accommodation (based on twin or triple share), safety equipment, and all meals. You can BYO alcohol, and fat skis or freeride snowboards are available for rent. Massages are also on offer if you need any kinks ironed out.
The cat skiing trips are primarily for 3 or 4 days (or you can link these together for a week long stay), and there’s also one 2 day and a 5 day program during the season.
Accommodation is provided at the Alpine Lodge (aka the den!), a beautiful log cabin that is rich in character. The
White Grizzly lodge has 5 bedrooms (with ensuite) that sleep 12 guests. The rooms have a variety of configurations.
The communal area has a fireplace where you can lounge about and chew the fat about the amazing powder. Alternatively you can relive stories of the great day in the outdoor hot tub. You definitely won’t go hungry after ripping up all that powder. Appetizers are available during après-ski, whilst other meals consist of a feast with a French Canadian twist.
Single Day Cat Skiing Packages
Single day cat skiing is also available on a limited stand-by arrangement.
Where is White Grizzly Adventures Located?
White Grizzly is beautifully located way off the beaten track in the heart of the Selkirk Mountains. The lodge is based just outside the little town of Meadow Creek BC (population 70 people) which is situated at the north end of Kootenay Lake, 108km north of Nelson (about 1.5 hour drive), 186km northeast of Rossland (2.5 hours) and 160km southeast of Revelstoke.
The lodge is conveniently accessible via car, so you don’t need a helicopter, snowcat or snowmobile to get there (if you need 20 different outfits you can pack as many bags as you like!). The actual cat skiing terrain is about 20km from the lodge, and each morning guests convoy to the snowcat staging area.
There are a few options for gateway airports for White Grizzly Cat Skiing. From
Spokane international airport (Washington, U.S.) it’s possible to rent a car and drive to Meadow Creek (5-6 hour drive).
Castlegar airport is closer and is serviced by Air Canada Jazz with daily flights from Vancouver and Calgary. The drive to Meadow Creek takes about 2 hours, but a limitation of the“Cancel-gar airport” is that flights are commonly cancelled in inclement weather. With both of these airports, you could do a stop-over for a couple of days on the way to ski at
Whitewater or
Red Mountain.
The other option is
Kelowna airport, a 5 hour drive from Meadow Creek. En-route you could stop in at Revelstoke Mountain Resort for a few days to warm-up.
White Grizzly Cat Skiing Terrain
The White Grizzly cat ski terrain size is 25 square kilometres (11,000 acres). This is about 3/4s of the size of
Whistler Blackcomb and you only have to share it with an exclusive group of 12, and maybe a couple of white grizzlies!
Much of the terrain is northeast facing so it’s ideal for powder skiing. The terrain includes all the trees you could ever wish for: tight trees, open trees, and gladed fall line tree skiing. Other treats include alpine bowls, chutes, and small cliff bands for a little air time with soft powder landings. The White Grizzly cat ski terrain is also renowned for lots of pillow lines.
Most of the slopes are 30 to 45 degrees so the terrain is definitely not tame or lame and it may put you to shame. Guests should be able to handle steep tree runs, have previous powder experience, and be able to keep up! This BC cat skiing is definitely not for intermediates or low-end advanced riders. If you have to ask if you can handle it, then it’s likely that you can’t!
Each run consists of up to 1,000 vertical metres of thigh burn and most days include 6 to 7 runs. They go hard with up to 16,500 to 20,000 feet of vertical covered each day, which is more than most other
BC cat skiing companies. This is cat skiing for pure powderhounds and grizzlies, not pussies.
White Grizzly can get this much vertical in each day for a few reasons:
- Only good skiers and snowboarders need apply
- The runs are steep so the vertical racks up fast
- The snowcat has two doors so everyone can load and unload quickly
- The cat roads are steep so the snowcat gets to the goods swiftly
- Lunch is eaten in the cat
More Reasons to Cat Ski with White Grizzly
White Grizzly cat skiing is ideal for strong skiers and snowboarders who want to get maximum powder pleasure and great value for money. Safety aspects are covered really well and White Grizzly has three guides for the group of 12 guests.
The heated snowcat is modern and powerful, and it’s a “convertible” so the roof is opened up on fine days.
White Grizzly is a small boutique operation so you’ll quickly make friends with your fellow guests and become part of the White Grizzly family.
Spots during peak periods sell out quickly, so book early to avoid disappointment.