My first trip into the region was in 1997 and I've averaged once a year since. Most of the NASJA members were there for the first time this year and were quite impressed with Red, Whitewater and the towns of Rossland and Nelson.
With regard to cat skiing, it's worth doing some research and checking out new places. Island Lake was my first in 1997, a very good year so I returned there 2 of my next 4 trips, also did 4 trips to Chatter Creek and did not discover Mustang my current favorite until 2010.
Valhalla is one of the few that caters to daytrippers. That can lead to a slower pace and less skiing. When you go more than one day, you only spend that 2 hours on transceiver safety the first day. You also have a first long ride up in the morning as opposed to the places with a lodge located high within the ski terrain.
A couple of the NASJA photographers skied on assignment with Big Red; one of them said the runs were short and terrain not that exciting. The latter I suspect was probably due to the ski ability of the other clients. The area around Red Mt. also gets much less snow than the places north of Nelson.
Valhalla is northwest of Nelson and due west of Baldface; I would expect 400 inches minimum of snow and it could be 500. I've skied a bit with socal; I presume he was with a strong group of skiers at Valhalla or he would have said something about that. I am curious about a few things:
1) Any idea how long the typical run was and/or how much vertical for the day?
2) Does their terrain extend into the alpine or is it all in the trees? One Jan. 17 weather may have kept them in the trees, but some warmer days you want to stay up high and it's good to know if that option is available as at Mustang and Chatter Creek.
