Our Culture Of Safety

At Powder Cowboy the safety of our guests and staff is our number one priority and we strive to minimize the risks inherent in backcountry cat skiing. We do this by hiring a long-term dedicated team of professional guides who are committed to providing a great ski experience and exceeding industry standards for safe practices.

At the beginning of your tour you will be instructed by your certified guide in the use of your Barryvox avalanche transceiver and given a safety talk on skiing/boarding in the backcountry. Please be aware that all avalanche transceivers are affected by strong magnetic fields and electronics. Click for more details on avoiding this interference.

Our Guides are professional Mountain/Ski/or Assistant Ski Guides who are certified by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides. The ACMG program is Canada’s highest level of training and certification and is internationally recognized. The ACMG’s intensive training program takes a minimum of six years to become a Mountain Guide. Our guides take part in ongoing refresher courses and training sessions and remain current with practices elsewhere in the ski industry. Of course our guides love to ski and enjoy sharing their passion for the mountains with you! To find out more about our guides visit the Staff page.

Our Tail Guides are our apprentice guides who are well on their way to challenging the ACMG Assistant Ski exam. They are great personalities who are fun to ski with and provide the ski group with a safety resource at the back of the group.

We often have a Snow Safety team on the mountain to assist the ski program. This team of two guides assists with data collection in our terrain. They perform snow stability tests and field observations and work directly with our Road Cat to build roads into new terrain. This maximizes the amount of skiing terrain we can access with our guests.

Powder Cowboy is an upstanding member of HeliCat Canada, the association that sets the standards for the mechanized skiing industry. We are also members of the Canadian Avalanche Association and subscribe to the CAA’s INFOEX- the avalanche communities information exchange system which allows members to communicate conditions and snowpack stability trends on a daily basis.

Prior to your trip you will be asked to accept the risks associated with wilderness skiing, in writing, by signing the Island Lake Resort Group Waiver. The waiver is administered by one of our staff at the start of your tour. Accordingly you should take the time to read and understand the Waiver of Liability.

If you would like to learn more about our safety program please contact our office and they will be happy to put you in touch with one of our certified guides.