Powder Snow
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Keefer Lake is situated in a nice powder belt that receives very respectable volumes of snow that are smack bang on average for a BC cat skiing operator. The quality of the snow is generally excellent and typical of the BC Interior. The top elevation is about 200 metres lower than the average for Canada cat skiing outfits, which could potentially play out a fraction during warm spells.
We scored phenomenal snow during our time at Keefer Lake Cat Skiing with plenty of fresh, and in the upper elevations the powder was absolutely divine. It was soft fluffy ego snow. The snow on the warm up runs each day was a bit heavy, but this is pretty common to most snowcat ski operators.
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Overall Terrain
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We were extremely impressed with the terrain. It was kick-arse! In many parts it was super steep, and others just plain steep, and towards the bottom of the runs it only mellowed out a little. Ingress traversing was negligible and terrain variety was also a huge plus. The tree skiing in particular varied incredibly.
The overall terrain is really large, but it hasn’t been fully developed as yet, and there was probably only enough terrain for easy fresh tracks for 2 snowcats for about 4 to 5 days. This will improve over time as Keefer Lake builds more roads and glades more terrain.
Due to the fresh snow, we luckily had an abundance of untracked lines. The terrain shape (plus guiding) allowed us to spread out laterally somewhat to get freshies, and there were only a couple of runs where we were forced into choke points and others’ tracks, which is somewhat common at other operations.
Each of the 3 days we didn’t do that much skiing, with from 2,237 (7,340ft) to 2,903m (9,525ft) per day, compared to the likely 2,500 to 4,600 metres per day (8,000 to 15,000 ft) of vertical that Keefer Lake cite. Yet it felt like our powder appetites were adequately satiated each day (but if you’re a super fit powder pig you might have wanted more!). We didn’t feel like we were a particularly slow group (I’m sure all groups say that!) and the lack of efficiency was probably mostly due to some long snowcat rides. Rather than working one area, they seemed to move around a fair bit. The upside was that every run felt very different.
Not many runs just suddenly dropped you onto the cat track, and the exits in the ungladed areas were often super sporty with little shrubs and alder in tight gullies/creeks. Yet it was worth it for the privilege of riding the phenomenal upper terrain!
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| Alpine Terrain |
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Like a lot of BC cat skiing, Keefer Lake doesn’t have a lot of alpine terrain. There’s a very tasty bowl with alpine chutes as well as steep pitches that have scant trees more akin to sub-alpine. These lines are reasonably short but very sweet. The very top of the Keefer terrain has some open rolling slopes which are good for fast fun. Whilst not true alpine, the tenure also has some open spaces including avi paths and a few cut blocks.
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| Tree Skiing |
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What a joy! Steep tree skiing is Keefer’s absolute specialty. No two runs felt the same and we were impressed with the variety of tree runs. Some are super steep where the trees form mini spines, some just steep, and some parts have rolly terrain. A few areas had been gladed, some are naturally gladed, some parts have nice corridors, whilst some spots are just tight.
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Strong Intermediate Terrain
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| This is not the cat skiing outfit for intermediate powder skiers and snowboarders. Whilst small parts of a run were open and mellow enough for a strong intermediate, there is not one run that in its entirety would be appropriate. |
Advanced Terrain
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The terrain is ideally suited to upper advanced skiers and snowboarders who are incredibly comfortable in steep tight trees, not your garden-variety-type advanced rider. Much of the upper terrain would be too steep for low-end advanced riders and many of the challenging exits are for experts only.
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Expert & Extreme Terrain
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Ooh how delightful! Experts will adore Keefer Lake Cat Skiing. There are plenty of challenging lines and some tree chutes, and lots of steeps. Some steep zones have consistent fall-line whilst there are others that are short-lived before they flatten out a bit.
For uber-experts, there isn’t much extreme terrain and whilst there were an adequate number of launching pads, the terrain we saw wasn’t littered with rock features as you find at a couple of other cat outfits.
A huge plus for Keefer Lake Cat Skiing is that it doesn’t attract newbies to powder skiing or intermediates that will hamper the run choice, so experts can play unimpeded.
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| Guiding |
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The guiding was incredibly impressive and professional, and the coordination between the lead and tail guide was particularly remarkable. The lead guide instructions were clear and concise and the tail guide consistently conveyed the same message, reinforced the importance of tree buddies a lot, and ensured everyone took it in turns to get fresh tracks. We particularly liked that the guides found a happy medium between allowing everyone to spread out to get freshies, and keeping the group tight enough for safety. The tail guide didn’t socialise much with guests in the snowcat to ensure that stoke levels remained high, but luckily everyone was geed up anyhow.
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| Snowcat |
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Jeff Gostlin’s many years of snowcat skiing experience are very apparent in the snowcat design, which was pretty much perfect (except the side windows which were taped shut and didn’t quite seal the gaps). The back steps enabled really easy access and there was no need to “dismount” on the way out, the seats all faced forward and there were 4 view seats on the mezzanine level. The seating wasn’t squishy and the storage solutions were exceptional with lots of hooks, cup holders, cubicles under the top steps, and little overhead storage compartments for gloves and helmets with heating outlets (it was bliss to head out with dry warm gloves!). The new snowcats were fast.
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Avalanche Mitigation Strategies
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As in commonplace with BC mechanized skiing outfits, there were excellent procedures in place for avalanche forecasting, sharing of information, and guide meetings. Snow stability testing was evident in the field, and whilst the guides talked a little about sluff management, they didn’t discuss avalanche risk much with guests. Every guest had a beacon, airbag backpack with shovel and probe, whistle and radio.
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Safety Briefing
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The safety briefing covered the basics but a few elements could have been more detailed such as what to do if you witness an avalanche, if someone gets caught in a tree well, and individual practice with the beacon. The briefing was undertaken on the first morning, whilst a little lecture the prior evening might have allowed more detail without cutting into precious skiing time.
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Frills
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| The trappings of the cat skiing experience were superb (as were the accommodation trimmings – see below) and there was plenty of attention to detail. Frills provided included clear information about the daily proceedings, powder skis, and a photography service with some pics shown as after dinner mints. You got to pre-order from a lunch selection and the food was magnificent (particularly the soups), including the snacks. On arrival back at the lodge, hot aromatherapy towels were provided so you could wipe the smile off your face!
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Accommodation |
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Keefer Lake Lodge is not an uber luxury lodge akin to that of Skeena Heli Skiing or the like, but it’s adequately deluxe. Every guest room had an ensuite and there were plenty of single rooms. Apparently a bit of noise travels into the rooms of Black Bear Lodge (the main lodge) due to the vaulted ceilings and lots of glass, whilst over in the Pinnacle Lodge it was incredibly quiet. And it was nice that there were covered walkways between the buildings.
The communal space in Black Bear Lodge has been beautifully fitted out, and whilst the lounge area wasn’t huge, there were plenty of seats near the bar, and for quiet chill out time there was always the option of the little lounge areas in Pinnacle. The games room downstairs was also popular, as was the hot tub.
You don’t expect good wifi from a satellite service in a remote location, but the wifi was reasonable in the main lodge. There was no wifi in the Pinnacle Lodge, so if you did have to catch up on emails, it was hard to find a quiet spot to do it.
The stand out features of Keefer Lake Lodge were the food and service. Most cat ski operations have really nice food, but this was exceptional to-die-for cuisine. Gourmet hot breakfasts were made to order along with some buffet items. Après- ski appetizers were hedonistically good and filling, whilst the delicately prepared dinners were sensational. The wine list was also very good.
The service was outstanding without being intrusive. From the full valet and luggage service on arrival, to water bottles being left in our car on departure, everything was very well thought through. Every staff member knew everyone’s names and other lovely little touches included tissues being left for each female in their ski room cubby.
The design of the ski rooms was impressive and likely testament to Jeff’s long history of knowing how tangled up everyone can get on lodge departure/arrival and the need to dry boots and gear.
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Value for Money
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| It’s always hard to put a price on powder happiness! The rates are a fraction higher than the average for multi-day BC cat skiing (see the Canada cat skiing statistics) but Keefer Lake is truly amazing and you get value from the both the high quality on-snow and off-snow experience.
You can’t BYO alcohol and it was rather expensive. You never quite know the value of wine, but the beer prices in particular seemed rather inflated. |