Our visit to Cascade Powder Cats started with a phone call from Northwest Tech brand ambassador, Kevin Mell – he and a group of friends had a date picked and needed to fill two more spots on a cat skiing trip in Washington. Naturally, we were chomping at the chance to experience cat skiing in our home state.
6:30am January 24th, it’s pitch black and we rendezvoused with the group on the side of highway US-2 in-between Skykomish and Stevens Pass. After we geared up and had our introductions with the cat operator and one of our three guides, Ryan, the whole squad piled into the cat and started our journey further into the mountains in the dark.
About nine miles, a few thousand feet of vertical gain and and hour later we made it up to the bottom of the ski-able terrain within Cascade Powder Cats’ zone and stopped for a bathroom pit stop. The whole group was stoked when we hopped out of the cat to be treated with the glory-lighting of the morning golden hour. This would be no wet gloomy northwest day of skiing. We were in for a treat.
After another 20 minutes in the cat and we reached what would be our home base for the day, the Yurt. This two-story mountain sanctuary has an awesome wood burning stove right in the center of the bottom floor and a common area to regroup throughout your day of shredding. If you are lucky enough, you may find yourself staying overnight on the top floor as it sleeps twelve. Cascade Powder Cats also offer an overnight option for their guests.
Our cat for the day was a monster – capable of mashing through all types of terrain and able to take 12 dudes to the top of the mountain. After each run we’d all pile into the cat for a nice, warm break.
Team rider, Jamie Baril, and Kevin Mell spot their next lines before heading up for another run. Jamie’s also notorious for not skiing with any goggles on pow days – seen here rocking his shades.
One of the best features to our day was the people we were surrounded by – a small group of local Stevens Pass shredders that knew how to get down. Jordan Frager, Ryan Jars and Joe Bosler were just to name a few. These guys were killing it all day.
Powder, sunshine and shredding with your friends. Needless to say high fives and smiles were the common theme of the day.
After about 5 runs we stopped back at the yurt for lunch. Cascade Powder Cats had a full sandwich bar setup along with tomato soup and fresh coffee to boot. Just what we needed to get refueled for the afternoon.
Shuttling our group up and down the mountain all day, our cat operator was always stoked for the next run! It goes without saying but these guys love their jobs.
Northwest Tech brand ambassador, Kevin Mell, was picking off lines all day. Seen here getting some face shots towards the top of his run.
If cat skiing isn’t on your bucket list it should be. Cat skiing in Washington is rare and fairly limited, but if you are looking to experience cat skiing in the evergreen state, look no further than Cascade Powder Cats. Here’s to an awesome experience – we can’t wait for our next cat skiing trip!
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