Dates and Rates – 2026

Opening day will be Saturday, December 20th, and closing day on Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Snowcat Skiing – $11,000 private cats and $1,100 per seat; 10-guests maximum per snowcat

Alpenglow Experiences – add an extra hour onto your private snowcat for $1500 extra. Alpenglow’s are only offered in Feb and March with our private cats.

Avalanche Courses – Level 1 AIARE Course: $750 for this 3-day course
Level 2 Course: $850 for this 3 day course
Avalanche Rescue Course: $250 for this 1 day course

Backcountry Ski and Splitboard Tours (non-motorized) – $650 for first guests and $250 for each additional (4ppl maximum).

All rates include a 10% non-refundable booking fee.

A Day SNOWCAT SKIING With Us Includes:

  • 8 – 16 runs

  • 8,000 – 14,000 vertical feet per day

  • 3 guides per snowcat

  • Use of our Atomic Bent 110 powder skis and Never Summer Swift or Big Gun snowboards

  • BCA Tracker S avalanche beacons, shovel and probe

  • Light breakfast snack/hot beverages in the morning, snacks provided in the cat, and a full catered lunch (Level I and II trips head to our cabin for a hot lunch while our Level III groups eat sandwiches in the snowcat)

  • Courtesy shuttle to and from your lodging to our office and up to Buffalo Pass

  • A photographer capturing the magic on 2-3 runs. $5 per image or $50 for full download of all images. Check out images from our trips here.

  • Post trip party at our office

  • Does this sound like a deal? For some, it just might. Comparing costs for a day with us to a day at a ski area is interesting because lift tickets are between $150-300 dollars with an additional $60 per day for the unguided first tracks (2-3 runs fresh turns), powder ski rentals are $50, an avalanche beacon $20, coffee and breakfast can be $20, lunch is $20-40. Finally, most ski photography companies will charge $65-$350 for their time and images. With all that we provide, and of course, the amazing snow we get to ski and ride, the price comparison to a day at a ski area isn’t to far off.

DEEP

Freshies all day – experience the deepest snowpack anywhere in Colorado

EPIC

Aspen groves so perfectly spaced, it’s like they were placed there just for us to enjoy

BEST

Our terrain and awesome guides make for one unforgettable day in the backcountry

Our 3 heated snowcats allow us to group our guests by their ski and snowboard ability so everyone is at their comfortable level. We separate our groups by intermediate, advanced, and expert groups, which we call Level I, II, and III. We look to match terrain to your ability level and that of the group. It’s very important to figure out which snowcat you should be on.

If you are new to us, please review our ability level chapter here to understand more about how we distinguish between our ability levels.

Buffalo Pass, our point of operations, annually records some of the deepest snow depths in all of Colorado. In May of 2011, Buffalo Pas actually recorded the deepest snowpack level ever seen in Colorado’s history. The cold, dry and stormy weather in Steamboat Springs makes for localized orographic uplifting conditions that provide us with, at times, extraordinary snow quantity and quality.

Buffalo Pass, located just north of the Steamboat Ski Area and across Fish Creek Canyon, is where Steamboat Powdercats has been operating our snowcat skiing tours since 1983. Did we mention that it’s Colorado’s deepest annual snowpack?

BUFF PASS

Our Alpenglow experiences are for private cats only, from February 1st until the end of the season. Instead of finishing at 3:45 pm, we extend the tour an extra hour to 4:45 pm and rip up the powder in the magic, Alpenglow light.

ALPENGLOW