Powder Snow
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| The snow was great and even though it hadn’t snowed the day before we arrived and the first two days of our trip, we were always skiing fresh lines. The last two days it snowed and we loved the long days of continuous face shots. These guys get a ton of snow at 18 meters per year on average and it is some of the driest and lightest we’ve ever skied.
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Overall Terrain
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MPS have 17,000 acres of pretty decent terrain, which is about average for a BC cat skiing outfit so they have enough to leave an entire zone untouched and save it for dry spells. However we got the impression that they have a very conservative approach to safety, so they don’t actually use a lot of their terrain unless avalanche risk is very low.
The runs felt a little short but these are probably perfect for the main clientele that MPS attracts. Similarly, with approximately 12,000 vertical feet per day, this isn’t as much as many other BC cat skiing operations, but is probably just right for strong intermediates.
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| Alpine Terrain |
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The alpine terrain is very good, but our sense was that these guys play in on the conservative side and don’t venture into alpine very often.
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| Tree Skiing |
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On the plus side MPS has great variety of terrain in the woods with lots of different features. There are endless amounts of tree skiing with a variety of terrain from steep to mellow and both tight trees and open glades. The tree skiing provides plenty for advanced riders and strong intermediates, and usually the guides could provide the right mix to satisfy all levels in a group during a run.
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Strong Intermediate Terrain
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Monashee cat skiing has lots of intermediate terrain. The trees were not particularly tight and not too steep, and the guides were good at providing tips for persons new to powder and tree skiing.
This is MPS’ niche market and it tends to attract lots of strong intermediates, so chances are you won’t hold people up if you feel you’re not a super fast rider.
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Advanced Terrain
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The Monashee Powder Snowcats terrain provides good variety for advanced riders in the trees.
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Expert & Extreme Terrain
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They have expert terrain, but the combination of keeping it safe and catering to strong intermediates meant that we didn’t really tackle any particularly steep terrain or much with challenging features for air time.
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| Guiding |
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The guides provided great explanations on where to ski and all guests felt confident that they weren’t going to get lost. The guides also doubled as instructors and provided powder skiing tips to guests who sought it. The fun natured approach of the guides also added to the enjoyment of the cat skiing.
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| Snowcat |
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Monashee cat skiing have two snowcats for guests and one as a back up. All three had new motors and the two main cats had new cabins with nice heating and ipod connectivity. The snowcat cabin was comfortable. The only limitations were that one row faces backwards so there was a tendency for guests to fall into the laps of others, side-loading on the cat tracks, and the handle placement of the door made it rather awkward to get in and out. Some bigger windows for soaking up all the incredible BC scenery would have scored them additional points here.
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Avalanche Mitigation Strategies
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Safety as the utmost priority was very evident, much of which stemmed from the leaderhsip of the chief guide. In addition to his full time job at MPS, he also works as a forecaster for the Canadian Avalanche Association. Karl holds two meetings per day to review weather and snow conditions with his guides, and all guides actively participate in assessing risk and developing the daily plan. Each day, one team of guides spends the day in terrain digging pits and evaluating snow safety. Like many other BC cat skiing outfits they extensively utilise the CAA infoex system and provide daily guest briefings regarding the weather and risk level.
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Safety Briefing
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The safety training was very comprehensive and covered off many aspects of backcountry hazards and what to do in the event of an avalanche. The only aspect that could have been improved was that guests all practised the beacon search training together as a group in the one location.
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Frills
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The MPS staff take their job seriously and you get what you pay for. That is impressive in itself. We didn’t sense they wanted to wow or pamper us. For more relaxed vacationers the format will be sufficient, but for those with luxury service expectations might be left a bit disappointed.
We really loved the staff at Monashee - a great team always with a smile who made us feel at home. This philosophy comes straight from the top where the owners are always present and no task is too small for them. We heard from many of the staff about the great work environment and the limited turn over. We’ve already submitted our applications for next season!
The meals were very good which started with a complete breakfast buffet every morning. The lunch was also a do-it-yourself buffet each morning with a wide range of sandwich fillings, salads, fruits and delicious cookies. Take as much as you want. Lunch was definitely a highlight of the meals offered. The après ski seemed to be the low point of the meals with simple cheese and crackers and nachos, etc. Perhaps they don’t put much effort as no one really comes back hungry after snacking all day on the great lunches. Dinners were sit down and served by staff, delicious and well presented.
MPS has a wide range of powder skis and the guides are great at making sure guests have the right equipment. The lodge staff brought skis up on a snowmobile a couple times to improve the experience for several guests.
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Accommodation |
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The new lodge with all the details was reasonably well thought out to make it fantastically practical. The lodge is a little basic but it was very functional and had everything you needed. The only exception was not much in the way of common areas to hang out. When we gathered to watch the daily video there seemed to be a lack of chairs for everyone to relax and some people had to stand. The wifi worked in the rooms and was fast and reliable.
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Value for Money
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| This was a great overall experience! Value for money was superb because you didn’t have to pay for things that you didn’t need and had the option to pay extra for an airbag, powder skis etc.
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