What happens to your money when weather stops the cats
If the cats run in a storm, you ski, and nothing comes back because storm days are the deep days. If the helicopter can't fly, your heli add-on is refunded in full to your card. If the cats can't run at all, you choose the whole day as credit or 60% of it in cash.
- The helicopter couldn't flyYour heli add-on is refunded in full to your card. You ski the cat day.
- The cat day stopped under 4 runsHalf the day comes back to you.
- The cat day stopped at 4 to 6 runsA quarter of the day comes back to you.
- The cat day stopped at 7 runs or moreThat counts as a full day.
- The cats couldn't run at allYou choose: the whole day as credit, or 60% of it back in cash.
Storm days are ski days
The cats run in snow, wind and flat light. On a storm day the guides take the groups into the trees, where the light holds some shape and the snow is deepest. You ski the day you booked, and nothing is owed either way.
When the helicopter can't fly
The A-Star flies only when Marta Eriksen, our pilot, says the weather allows it, and her call is final. If she grounds a heli add-on day, the add-on is refunded in full to your card: $1,150 in early and spring weeks, $1,400 in deep season.
You still ski the cat day underneath it.
Short heli days and the 4,000 m guarantee
On a heli day we aim for 4,500 to 6,000 m of vertical and guarantee 4,000 m. If the day comes in short, you get $150 in cash for every 1,000 m under the guarantee. A day that flies 3,000 m pays back $150, and a day that flies 1,000 m pays back $450.
When the snow is good and the group wants more, the A-Star can fly past 6,000 m. The extra is billed at $160 for every 1,000 m, and only if you said yes at that morning's briefing.
Cat days cut short, counted in runs
Sometimes weather closes a day after it starts. We count the runs your group skied. Under 4 runs, half a day's value comes back to you. From 4 to 6 runs, a quarter comes back. At 7 runs or more, it counts as a full day.
A day's value is the package price divided by its ski days, rounded to the whole dollar:
| Package | Early and spring | Deep season |
|---|---|---|
| Day cat | $720 | $850 |
| Three-day cat | $817 | $983 |
| Cat week | $820 | $990 |
On a deep-season day cat, half a day back is $425. On a deep-season cat week, half a day is $495 and a quarter is $248.
A down day, when the cats can't run at all
A down day is a day the cats can't run, because the road is closed or the avalanche hazard is extreme. Last winter the cats ran 109 of 113 days, so four were down days.
You choose how the day comes back. Take its whole value as credit, or 60% of it in cash. On a deep-season cat week that's $990 as credit or $594 in cash. In an early or spring week it's $820 or $492.
When weather cancels your flight in
If weather cancels your flight on arrival day, we hold your seat and give you the missed day as full credit.
Castlegar fogs in more often than Trail. When the forecast looks thick, think about Trail, or Kelowna with our $260 return shuttle. If you reach the lodge after 19:00, we send the cat down for you for $150.
Snow cover for what the weather rules don't cover
The weather rules cover the weather. Snow cover is for everything else, like a sore knee or a change of plan. It costs 7% of the package and you add it when you pay the deposit.
With it, your booking is refundable in cash up to 14 days before your week, for any reason. On a $4,100 cat week it costs $287.
Who makes the call and when
Dev Tarrant, our snow safety lead, runs the guides' meeting at 5:45 every morning. The guides read the snow report, set the board and choose the run list, and the call on whether the cats run is made there, before the first cat rolls at 08:00.
Marta makes the flying call for the A-Star the same morning. Every rule in this guide is written on our prices page, so the answer is the same whoever asks.