The above photo shows the south side of Big Red Cats' 18,500 acre tenure area. From left to right, the mountains are Crowe, Neptune, Pluto, and on the right side of the "V", Mt Mackie.
Big Red Cats is in the Monashee mountains in BC's legendary "Powder Triangle," which means great tree skiing and abundant snowfall. We have a mix of terrain including areas suitable for expert, advanced, and intermediate skiers and riders.
The terrain mix in terms of ability is :
- 24% Expert (Double black)
- Very steep treed and open runs
- Challenging "pillow lines"
- Small cliffs/jumps
- 56% Advanced (black)
- Big open bowls
- Great glades and treed runs
- Challenging cut blocks
- 20% Intermediate (Blue)
- Natural open and glades 15 -25 degrees
- Really cruisey gentle cut blocks that help to build confidence
The mix of terrain that we have between open slopes, glades and tree skiing is:
- 30% Open slopes - Big open areas comprised of:
- Open bowls and ridge lines - we call these Alpine features
- Avalanche paths - yes we ski these but we carefully consider the stability level
- Natural openings in the trees
- Cut blocks - are great areas to ski when visibility is good - they are often really open with lots of jumps. In older cut-blocks you can slalom between the Christmas trees
- 40% Glades - these are like a ski runs, with trees on both sides but enough room to go fast and have fun. Glades are great because:
- Snow quality is good because the trees protect the snow from sun and wind exposure
- Visibility is good when it is snowing (and it often is!), as the trees provide a frame of reference for your vision, and catch some of the snow.
- The glades also provide some snowpack anchoring, reducing (though not eliminating) avalanche risk
- 30% Tree skiing - can be exceptional because of the snow quality and the sheer beauty of the forest
- Open old-growth forest like in the "Spuce Forest" or at the botton of "Plutonic Bowl"
- Tight steep trees - work well for experts on days when the avalanche danger on the open runs is too high
The mix of terrain between aspects is:
- 30% East
- 20% North
- 25% West
- 25% South
Key statistics:
- Altitide - We mostly ski at altitudes between 7,300ft (2200m) and 5000ft (1700m).
- Longest run - The longest run that we will consistantly do this winter is about 2,400 verftical ft. (740m). The longest run that we could potentially do is about a 3,500ft vertical but this has an impractical turn-around time.
- Average run - is 1,240 vertical feet (380m)
- Number of runs - 185 for 2006/2007. A number of these runs can be skied 2 or 3 times between snowfalls. (If you book in for one month of cat skiing, you could potentially ski a different run each time!)
- Total size of tenure area: 18,500 acres
For more terrain information look at the terrain pictures and desciptions for Expert, Advanced, and Intermediate
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