There has been a seismic explosion in backcountry skiing over the last few years and we see this each week as more and more guests arrive with touring gear.  We’re all for earning your turns but touring specific gear can present challenges when used for mechanized skiing. The pros and cons of both pin and Shift bindings are discussed here.   Pin bindings (like the Marker Kingpin) are characterized by a toe-piece with a lever and 2 pins which fit into holes on the toe of specific touring boots. Pin bindings are excellent for climbing because they are lightweight and fairly robust ..read more

Running a destination cat ski lodge during a pandemic adds a healthy dose of new challenges. And now that we’ve had a chance to decompress, we can look back at the changes this most unusual of seasons brought with a critical eye.   They say, “The only constant is change” and the 20/21 season proved that in spades. Many of the changes we implemented as requirements to operate, thankfully, are headed for the ash heap of history.  Reverting to our old Sunday to Saturday schedule; drivers serving lunch with tongs while wearing gloves ..read more

As I open the door exiting the sauna, a chorus of laughter and cheers echoes down the hallway from the slideshow taking place in the den. In an instant I feel at home again. In a year of chaos, this simple sound of joy feels wildly comforting. More than that, joining these celebrations, watching the images of blower powder set to a symphony of applause and laughter feels like the breath of fresh air I’ve been waiting for since this pandemic began. It feels so dang good.  As a ski guide, it’s been a wild year for our industry. Our team is one of the lucky ones who’ve had the privilege of r ..read more

For those of us lucky enough to skied the winter of 2011, it was one of the best winters EVER, so much so that it was chronicled by Matchstick Productions in what many consider to be the greatest ski film of all time, Attack of La Niña.  And not to crow too loudly, Selkirk was featured front and centre in this film. Now fast forward to fall 2020 and the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is predicting an 85% likelihood for a strong La Niña persisting throughout the upcoming winter. (Read the article here). This means there’s a high probability ideal temps and moist air ..read more

It’s odd how things buried deep within your limbic hard drive pop into your consciousness seemingly out of the blue.  I can still hear my middle school gym teacher, “Pistol” Pete Parisi, drumming into our heads during basketball practice, “Don’t panic, pivot!”  And I never thought I would use his sage advice to make business decisions in the middle of a global pandemic, but these are strange days. The good news is we’re 100% booked for next season.  But 65% of our guests are non-Canadians and with unrestricted cross border travel being punted way down the road, the bad news is m ..read more

As the world closed in around us, the reality of what we were facing set in.  We welcomed what would be our final group on March 16th and moved them off the mountain on the 18th; and within 72 hours went from full operations to fully shut down.  After a final day of laughs and tears on the mountain with our staff, Megan and I found ourselves at the lodge with our two offspring plus one, and two hounds – alone in a massive lodge with walk-in fridge and freezer packed with food for our last three tours of guests, a fully stocked bar, 4 snowcats, a fleet of sleds and 12,000 acres of unt ..read more

Making the decision to cancel a ski day due to challenging snow or extreme avalanche conditions is never easy, and has rarely, if ever happened.  However, last week the weather gods conspired to throw a one-two punch the likes of which we’ve never before seen. Even though the term is now grossly overused by weather experts reporting on yet another storm of the century, we experienced our own “weather bomb” last week in the form of a raging blizzard, ferocious winds, and trees raining down around us as we skied our first run.  Having disembarked from the cat on Arriba Ridge, the wind ..read more

You, the guests arrive at the farmhouse, sign waivers, eat snacks, endure the drive up to the bottom of Meadow Mountain, get loaded into a snowcat (a shiny brand new snowcat!) and shuttle up to the lodge. Once at the lodge, you get the Selkirk family warm welcome while we unload your bags. You talk to the dirtbag guides manning the ski rental shop, organize your gear and get more snacks!! Following that is simply a flurry of epic skiing (or snowboarding), incredible meals, mouth watering appies, mind blowing massages, exquisitely talented bartenders, our vivacious and wonderful owner Megan, an ..read more

This past week the snowsports industry lost a legend with the passing of the “Godfather of Snowboarding” Jake Burton.  Burton pioneered and almost single handedly brought the sport of snowboarding into the mainstream.   Burton founded his company from humble beginnings in 1977 and as of last year, more than 7.5 million snowboarders were shredding slopes and mountains in the US – about 50% of the skier market.  Through Burton’s lobbying, Vermont’s Mt Stratton was the first hill to greenlight snowboarding in 1983. By 1990, snowboarding was gaining mainstream acceptance with a ..read more

Snowboarders have got a bad rap as selfish, knuckle-dragging louts who wear ugly clothes, cause mayhem on the slopes by hitting every feature along with the occasional skier, and cinch their pants around their knees exposing more of their butt crack than anyone wants to see.   Q.  What do you call a snowboarder without a girlfriend?  A. Homeless. But is the dirtbag reputation really warranted?  Let’s examine the facts at Selkirk Snowcat Skiing.  Each year, about 20% of our guests are snowboarders and they are, for the most part, middle aged, professional folk who enjo ..read more