Jim, Jeff, and Paula Make Outside Magazine's Top 25 All-Star Coolest People Dec 3, 2004
Annual snowfall of 42 feet, 36,000 acres of untracked bowls, and 18,000 vertical feet of deep turns a day: Welcome to the "church of the fall line" at Baldface lodge, one of North America's largest—and newest—snowcat skiing operations, whose worshippers have included late snowboarding king Craig Kelly, Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard, and Foo Fighters bass player Nate Mendel. A steady diet of cabernet and plank–grilled salmon—along with guides like 1998 Olympic boarder Mark Fawcett—and a happy, happening vibe have charmed guests every since. "Their enthusiasm is infectious," says Mendel. "It spreads throughout the whole operation.
– "2005 All-Stars", December 2004. Maria Coffey
New York Times Features Baldface Adventure Nov 14, 2004
"I
have skied with five Sno-Cat skiing companies, and the tilted forests
of the southern Selkirks serve up the steepest and best tree skiing
I've done. We dodged through glades of hemlocks tinseled with moss.
Some seemed to shift and materialize without warning at the tail end of
a swooping turn. Words fail when you try to describe how it feels to
make clean, fast turns down a steep mountainside in snow that
bow-breaks at your knees. My fellow skiers were no help; after each run
they were all happy expletives and wide grins.
GQ Magazine names Baldface Lodge in their Top 10 Hippest Hotels Feb 26, 2004
"The snowcats deliver you, with startling speed, to untracked chutes, bowls,
meadows, clear-cuts, glades and groves; the spacing of the trees in
this neck of the woods seems to have been ordained for the sole purpose
of ripping comfortable but proprietary turns in the pow."
The
next morning, you will likely be . . . drooling on the tips of your
skis, jockeying for position atop a shimmering pitch through an
old-growth cedar stand.
– "Top 10 Hippest Hotels" February 2004, Nick Paumgarten
Snowboard Canada Feb 24, 2004
There's
no reason to rush at Baldface. There's no one here but us . . . The
moment couldn't be more perfect. It's the ultimate last run after six
days of dream-worthy snowboarding.
The run is steep,
with trees clustered here and there, and Volkswagen-sized mutant snow
lumps that beg to be ollied off. There's nothing left to do but point
it. My speed builds and builds, the snow spraying off my board's tip.
It plasters my goggles, but I keep pushing, floating through the deep
fluff until I shift onto my heels and lay down my first, deep heel
carve. I open my mouth and howl like a rabid wolf: "Owoooo!" I've been
waiting all my life for a turn like this.
– "Welcome to Paradise", Winter 2004, Matt Houghton
National Geographic Adventure Feb 10, 2004
Below us was a perfect powder pitch — nearly 40 degrees — studded with massive Douglas firs. Their trunks were fat and dark; the corridors between them, white and inviting. I felt like saying grace.
Three turns off the ridge . . . my weight and momentum carried me deep into the white. A cloud of tiny crystals blew over my knees, thighs, chest, and face, and I gasped for air.
There, outside of Nelson, I plummeted in a semicontrolled fall through the center of a billowing blizzard cloud, big fat trees rushing past my face like the columns of a still and darkened forest. An unbroken blanket lay before me, a cloud of cold smoke behind, and somewhere in the middle I was at home as I've ever been.
Frequency Magazine Jan 16, 2004
Not
to be outdone by the natural surroundings, owner—snowboarder Jeff
Pensiero's staff sets you up with homemade granola in the mornings,
filling lunches, and great food and hot tubs in the evening. Factor
this in with untouchable snow and terrain, this place is fast becoming
a snowboard Mecca.
– "The unResort Guide", Winter 2004
Snowboarder Magazine Feb 12, 2003
Baldface
Snowcat Skiing is one of the newest and most exciting operations
around. Located in Canada's famous Kootenay Mountains, Baldface is
committed to becoming one of the premier places to experience
waist-deep powder. They handle the details so all that's left for you
to do is round up some buddies and have a good time. You can kick back
and relax in between turn after turn of bottomless white stuff.
– Local Knowledge column, February 2003, Larry Nunez
Winter 2002-3 Jan 29, 2003
Skiing Magazine - November 2002 - "The Inside Line" by Christopher Solomon
- Some of the steepest cat-served lines on either side of the 49th parallel. You pay peanuts for powder.
