“If you ski where I ski, you’re probably going to have a good time,” Todd Craig said with a subtle grin before he disappeared into the trees.

If it was anyone else who’d said it, I’d be skeptical. But Todd has worked at K3 Cat Ski for 20 years, and he knows every nook and cranny of this slice of the Monashees better, perhaps, than anyone. He could probably ski us all back to the cat with his eyes closed.

Above, left to right: Big winner Ryan Arp  and Natalie Merril. Photos: Colby Mesick

Our group of nine—The Ski Journal staff, marketing partners and one lucky contest winner—followed. After a long pitch of deep turns, pillow pops and hoots and hollers, we coasted right back up to the humming cat. Top notch skiing, as promised. Todd’s not smug, he just knows.

Years ago, I remember a friend telling me, “Planning a trip to ski in the Monashees is about the best bet for powder skiing you can bargain on.” No one in our group had ever been to K3 before, but its location within Interior BC told us most of what we needed to know. As our tail guide Danny Prout put it: “The Monashees are one big powder factory.”

Limitless lines and perfectly spaced trees at K3 Cat Ski. A fire in 2003 left a burn zone perfect for skiers to weave tracks through. Photo: Colby Mesick

We began the first day chasing each other through a burn zone above the lodge, a massive swath of terrain that a forest fire raged through back in 2003. Its aftermath left trees spaced perfectly for skiing—rolling forests ideal for party laps. There’s always a buzz of excitement on day one, and we leapfrogged through boottop powder, giddy with good fortune at the plethora of dry, silky smooth powder spilling out around us.

It was late March, and we were one of the last groups of the season. But up here, it felt like mid February. “March has been good to us this year,” said Todd as we loaded up the cat for our last run of the day. “Like really good.”

K3 Cat Ski has been in operation for over 20 years, but it flies a little under the radar, at least outside of Interior BC. With a tenure of over 30,000 acres in the Monashees, there’s a lifetime of skiing in all directions, with steeps, mellow tree runs, alpine bowls and sustained chutes. The staging area is about 30 minutes west of Revelstoke, followed by a 45-minute transfer up to two base lodges (built in 2020 and 2023). Until 2020, K3 ran only day trips, and the lodges, which comfortably hold eight to 10 guests each, mean the party doesn’t stop after the last run.

Home for three nights. K3’s Far Side Lodge draped in a snowy winter coat. By late March, the snowpack is almost 10 feet high. Photo: Colby Mesick

Every element of the lodge is well thought out, comfortable and welcoming. Photos: Colby Mesick

It’s hard to beat lodge-based skiing. Waking up to snow falling right outside your window. Lazy breakfasts (in our case, frittatas and homemade sourdough bread made by lodge chef Johanna Weintrager). Limitless laps and no commute. Rolling back into the lodge for aprés buffalo wings, hot soup and fresh fruit with tired legs. Shared meals around a dining room table and late night rounds of charades.

Staying at K3 feels like staying with family. A family that really really really likes to ski. Johanna (the lodge chef) and Danny (our tail guide) stayed overnight at the lodge with us, serving up hearty homecooked meals and joining us for evening games. Danny introduced us to Skadoosh, a shuffleboard-esque game played on the dining room table with fingerling potatoes. The heart the staff puts into every aspect of this place—both skiing and hospitality—is contagious. “If I ski away from you while you’re talking to me, it’s not because I’m mad, it’s only because I want to go skiing,” Todd told us on the first day. Who can blame him? The man loves his job.

Smiles all around. Left to right, top to bottom: Lead guide Todd Craig, Natalie Krewin, Matt Wibby, Lily Krass Ritter, and tail guide Danny Prout. Photos: Colby Mesick

If day one was our only day, our group easily would have returned home with smiles on our faces. But the next morning, as intermittent sun poked through the curtain of low-hanging clouds, Todd arrived at breakfast with another sly smile on his face.

“Get ready for a longer ride this morning,” he said as we loaded up the cat. “We’re going straight to the Dark Side.”

The Dark Side, as the name implies, is an adult playground of north-facing terrain, sheltered from the sun and chock-full of steep trees, alpine bowls and long, sustained tubes and chutes. It’s where we’d spend the next two days feasting on what The Ski Journal Creative Director Jessie Lu Galbraith referred to as “life-affirming turns.”

Party lap. Bottom to top: Ben Eberhardt, Lily Ritter, Ryan Arp, Natalie Krewin, Chris McKenna, and Natalie Merrill. Photo: Colby Mesick

We followed Todd like ducklings, hustling to get our skis on faster each lap. “If the trip ended right now I would be completely content,” said Ben Eberhardt from The North Face at the bottom of a steep pillowy run.

As is tradition on these annual trips, our contest winner, Ryan Arp from Seattle, had the privilege of calling in first drop whenever he liked. At first, our group was overcome with politeness. “No you go, I went first last time,” Chris Mckenna from Volkl said as he politely edged back from the drop in. But by the end of day two, all nine of us were inching our skis to the front of the lineup, “casually” placing ourselves on Todd’s heels. Politeness doesn’t last too long when the skiing’s this good.

“That might have been the best ski day of my whole life,” Natalie Merrill from Backbone said as we collapsed into the lodge at the end of the day to a towering plate of nachos.

Above, left to right: Ben Eberhardt, Chris McKenna, and Natalie Krewin. Photos: Colby Mesick

On our last morning, the snow was stacking up. Centimeters on centimeters poured from the sky as we finished up our coffee. “Straight to the Dark Side,” was all we had to hear to stuff our boots on and hop into the cat as quickly as we could.

After a few warm up runs, Todd proposed a short hike. “It’s a bit of a journey, but it’ll be worth it,” he promised. Thirty minutes of ridge traversing, sidestepping and a little bootpacking for our sideways-sliding friends later, and we were standing at the top of Head Over Heels, a steep, narrow chute that dog-legged into a pristine, 1,000-foot apron.

Guides Todd Craig and Danny Prout discuss which line to take. Photo: Colby Mesick

“Is there a good spot for me to set up for a shot?” our AV Manager Colby Mesick asked Todd. Todd considered for a second. “I think we should just ski,” he said with his now-signature mischievous grin. “This one’s going to be too fun to stop in the middle.” He weaved his way down the creamy, untouched slope, airing off rolls at the bottom before radioing back up for the first skier to drop.

We dropped in one by one, howling with laughter as we white roomed ourselves all the way down to the basin below. Giggles and high fives filled the air. Those are the kind of turns you just can’t plan—life-affirming indeed.

“I think that was a good call,” Todd grinned. Twenty years will teach you that.

The Ski Journal and crew at K3 Cat Ski. Left to right: Cat driver Natasha, lead guide Todd Craig, Matt Wibby, Jessie Lu Galbraith, Christopher McKenna, Lily Krass Ritter, Natalie Merrill, Natalie Krewin, Ben Eberhardt, Ryan Arp and tail guide Danny Prout. Photo: Colby Mesick