Booking Policies

Bookings

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Availability & Skill Level

We recommend that you check our availability calendar in order to select the appropriate day or group.  It shows which seats are booked, and what ability level each tour is targeting.  We can run up to 3 cats a day.  Cat-assisted ski touring can be also be arranged on most days, and avalanche training can be arranged on most weekends (4 pers min)  as well.

If you book yourself into a group which is obviously stronger than your own ability, you may be asked to sit out a couple of runs so that the rest of the group can enjoy their day.  You will have a better time if you are grouped with others of a similar speed, ability, and level of fitness, so please tell us a bit about yourself and your group when you are booking.

Waiver

All guests are required to sign a liability waiver and assumption of risks document on arrival.  It essentially eliminates the ability for you to take legal action on anyone for any reason, so it is important to be aware of that.  Click here to read the waiver

Deposit 

A 30% deposit is required at time of booking to reserve your seat.  The remainder will be billed to your card 90 days prior to your trip.  A 2% discount is available if paid in full by cheque before 1 December.

Insurance

We strongly recommend that all guests from outside BC have in place their own travel and medical insurance, including trip cancellation and evacuation.  If you don't have your own, contact Sanderson Travel Insurance, as their coverage does include off-piste skiing.  Remember that YOU are the only one who is responsible for your safety (and you'll be signing a waiver to acknowledge that), so if you fall over onto a buried tree stump and need to go to hospital, if you don't have insurance, or if you have a huge deductible, the buck stops with you.  We try to keep you safe and manage risks as best as we can, but some accidents are unforseeable, and accidents do happen.   Click here for more info on medical evacuation and its associated costs.  Hospitalization can quickly run into the tens of thousands of dollars.  It happens very rarely, but it can happen.

Note:  Cancellation insurance will generally NOT cover if we cancel your trip due to unsafe conditions or mechanical, however we do offer a resort "ski guarantee" and rain cheque in that case.

Refunds

There are NO REFUNDS, for any reason. Please understand that this is standard in the cat and heli ski industry - otherwise one bad snow year or mechanical catastrophe could bankrupt a cat or heli business, which is no good for anyone.  Also be aware that trip cancellation insurance will often not pay out if the trip is cancelled by the tour operator due to weather or mechanical.  This is simply a risk which you must be aware of.

In order to help mitigate this risk, Big Red Cats offers a "ski guarantee."  In the event that we cannot safely take you skiing (for example, a breakable melt-freeze crust can be very hazardous on the knees and encourages tree-hits), we will convert some of your payment into lift passes at Red Mountain ski resort, which is where our welcome centre is located.  The weather may still be bad, but you'll be able to get out skiing on the safe groomed runs, without any more cash out during this holiday, and the remainder of the payment will be held on your account for the remainder of the season and the following season, to be applied to future cat skiing and/or lodging at the Red Shutter Inn, not to be topped-up until you re-book.  This is a far more enjoyable option that skiing on the snowcat roads, if the conditions make the off-piste unthinkable.  This is not mandatory, however - you may not want to bother with the groomers in the middle of a rain storm.  The choice is yours, but you booked a ski holiday, and you'll get a ski holiday.

Please understand that we cannot control Mother Nature.  On most days, you will get a fantastic untracked skiing experience.  But you win some, and lose some in any sport which depends on the weather - you just have to do it a lot - one day may be below par, and another may be epic.  Experience has shown that even if the conditions aren't great, the vast majority of guests prefer to get out there anyway and do their best, rather than be cancelled if it is borderline, so unless it is obviously unsafe, we will try to operate.  If you have booked a full cat, and can speak as one, and conditions are obviously not going to be what you're looking for, we will consider requests to reschedule on a case by case basis, but they are by no means guaranteed.

If you need to cancel your trip, and it is still further than 90 days in advance, your transferable deposit will remain on your account with us for two seasons, but you don't need to pay the remainder until you reschedule.  If you are unable to return another time, your payment will be forfeit (unless you have a claim with your trip cancellation insurance).

Vertical Guarantee

On most days, intermediate groups will get 6-8 runs, advanced will ski 8-12 runs, and experts 9-16 runs.  There is no daily maximum, so you'll get more runs in in March than in January because the days are longer.

There is a vertical guarantee of at least 6 runs: A $30 future credit will be placed on your account for each run less than 6 if we need to cancel due to mechanical failure to help to lower the cost of a future trip.  If someone is lost or injured, the vertical guarantee does not apply, as our safety focus cannot be compromised.  If you are asked to sit out runs because you overestimated your own ability and booked yourself into the wrong ability group, this will not apply - but it WILL apply to the rest of the group if the guide doesn't get them their minimum, so don't be surprised if you're asked to sit if you find that you're consistently the last one to the snowcat.

Alcohol and Drugs

Alcohol and drugs are strictly forbidden while you are still skiing and riding, and you will be "benched" if you are found to be drinking from a flask or toking up behind a tree.  There is a $50 fee if you disturb the other guests and we need to return you to the resort.  Safety is our first priority and we want all of our guests to have all of their faculties while out on the mountain, and we don't want anyone putting the rest of the group in danger, or disregarding instructions, getting lost, and ruining the day for the rest of the group.

If you are prone to motion sickness, we strongly discourage you from drinking very much the night before cat skiing, as the cat ride can be quite uncomfortable for the hung-over.

You are quite welcome to bring some cans of beer or a plastic bottle to enjoy after the last run of the day while the cat is heading back to the staging area.  A cool beverage after a hard-charging day in the pow can be a beautiful thing - but do remember that there are 12 people in the cat...