Cat skiing & avalanche safety
We’re going to slow the pace and bump up the snow safety as we ride 3–5 laps in the snowcat. With the snowcat doing the hard uphill part, everyone will reach – and effortlessly return to – epic powder runs ready for more avalanche discussions and scenarios. Packs, shovels, probes and beacons supplied.
The tour price excludes 6 % Idaho state tax; online and direct reservations incure a 6 % booking fee.
Each guest must sign a waiver before participation.
This tour serves as a first transition from the blur of resort-base tours to whet your appetite for the more conscious, slower of adventure found in human-powered backcountry touring. After the 45 min cat-bump, you can expect a boot-pack of about 200 ft (60 m) of vertical to reach prime terrain. We’ll start from there for each, usually totaling 3–5 runs in the day. We supply your avlanche safety equipment; you bring a tastey lunch.
- how to prepare for a day in the backcountry
- how to set up your touring equipment
- how to use avalanche safety gear
(If you don’t have any avalanche gear, you can rent it from us.)
Take your time learning, making short accents, and dropping in for some fresh powder runs! The goal is to create a low-demand, no-pressure environment for small groups to learn and experience what touring in the backcountry is all about and to how to keep safe.
Customizable
We offer this tour as an “introduction” in whatever sense that means for you and your group. If you have snowshoes and not a touring set-up, we can arrange it If you are less about making turns and just want a low-back experience deep in the mountains of winter, we can get you there. We’d love to hear what you are dreaming-up, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
The Selkirks, a sub-range of the Columbia Mountain system, span from Sandpoint to Revelstoke and are probably the most famous ski range in North America. Parked laterally to the Pacific jet stream, the Selkirk Range defines orographic lift. To say the snowpack is deep is an understatement. Accumulation really starts to develop in November–December, and all the way through April–May, we’re consistently blanketed with fresh powder snow.
Familiar terrain
Even though the permit we hold is new, this is familiar skiing terrain for Ken and his heli team. Ken began surveying and skiing the Priest Lake–based Atlasta–Casey area way back in 2002–2003 along with Selkirk Powder co-founder Chip Kamin as they mapped the entire Middle Fork East River drainage before setting SPC’s original operations site on the west side of Schweitzer Basin. One of the pictures in the gallery is Ken on top of Mount Casey. The run created that day was dubbed “Casey Jones”: Take the dead snags heading for the shoulder, veer slightly rider’s right towards Chicopee Creek, and it’s 1½ mi and 2,025 vertical ft and to the pick-up. Altasta–Casey then became one of four polygons in our heli skiing permit in 2016. At the bottom of Chicopee and Race Creeks, we spent considerable time improving exits and landing zones after skiing incredibly fun powder descents.
This zone is way more diverse than our Schweitzer set-up and features three distinct aspects at higher elevations, many more steep, north shots, and some very impressive rock features. Take a gander at the gallery above; the pics and the maps will orient you and our new batch of run names is bound to excite you! Lots of updates will be dropping over the next 8 months – please revisit here often.
We’re sure this new zone is really going to be something for everyone’s backcountry FOMO / bucket list. So, open your calendars, call the buds, and start making plans for your flights to Spokane, your Coolin-based accommodations, and booking days for some snowcat-ing, skinning, and riding the next big Selkirk Powder zone.
| Meet Selkirk’s staff and guides at the Eastside Road uphill departure point. While ascending, guests will undergo a backcountry safety briefing including completion of an AM Tour form, group experience analysis, and route selection. | |
| Arrive at the drop zone in a heated cabin with accoutrements. After the first drop, it’s up to the guide(s) and guests to make their way to remaining ski routes. | |
| pm | Last snowcat ascent. |
| pm | Snowcat descends to return to the Eastside Road departure point. |
FAQs
Individuals and small groups that occupy fewer than 10 seats must be adequately experienced to tour and ride in uncontrolled, ungroomed, or unimproved slopes upwards of 40° safely and confidently. Private tour rates are discounted for groups of 10 or more paying on one single tab. Private groups may consist of novice riders and guides who can or will become instructors as well as route overseers.
FAQs
Access
Operations
Logistics
If you have any questions about our policies, please call us before booking: +1 (208) 263-6959.
Payment
All reservations must be paid in full at the time of booking.
Promotions & discounts
Any promotion or discount must be redeemed only by calling reservations directly. No promotion and/or discount will be applied after the reservation has been made and full payment has been received.
Cancellations
Any cancellation made within 21 days of the scheduled tour date are 100 % non-refundable – no exceptions for any reason, not even airline delays, road closures, family emergencies, personal injury, etc. We encourage all guests to consider purchasing travel insurance with enhanced coverage (“Cancel For Any Reason” rider) through an outside provider such as InsureMyTrip.
Reservation changes
You may request date changes to your tour date outside of 21 days of your booking. Changes to your reservation are subject to availability and may incur an administrative fee of $100 per person.
Tour cancellations due to mechanical issues or unsafe conditions
Selkirk Powder Company has no control over Mother Nature. We tour in sun, snow, rain, wind, or any combination of interesting weather. It is, after all, an alpine environment. Be prepared, and dress accordingly. SPC reserves the right to cancel a tour for mechanical, weather, safety, personal or any other circumstance. You will be issued a full or partial credit valid for 1 year from the original tour date. No refunds will be issued. If your tour is cancelled multiple times, your credit still expires after 1 year – no extensions will be applied.
Policy changes
SPC reserves the right at any time, and at its sole discretion, to modify any policies set out above, with or without notice other than publishing such modificationa on our website. It is your responsibility to review policies on our website for updates and/or changes. Your reservation and/or use of our services following any such policy modification constitutes your acceptance of any modified policy.