Review Date
March 22, 2004

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
1.00 of 5, 2 votes

Reviewed by: zarlamit, Advanced

Price Paid: $220.00 at MOUNT BAILEY

Summary:
The changes at Mount Bailey for the season of 2003-2004 are WONDERFUL! The NEW ski guides are incredible with credentials to match! Not to mention GREAT LOOKING TOO! They should have a womans day. The new guides are of a caliber not often found...

I would like to add some additional information regarding the snowcat problems from the previous years. One of their snowcats BLEW UP hitting the owner with 2000lbs of pressure when the fan flew off, practically severing his thumb and index finger, as well as causing severe bleeding in his abdomen. THIS was the result of the manufacurer NOT putting a safety bolt on. This caused a domino effect, so cut them some slack on that. They hired a NEW mechanic too.

Mount Bailey is a TOTALLY different operation this year!

Review Date
March 8, 2004

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Reviewed by: nowdow@hotmail.com, Double Diamond

Price Paid: $0.00

Summary:
Have been skiing several times a season at Mount Bailey for eight years. Bailey has never failed to impress me. Condirions have ranged from bottomless dry powder to spring corn. Even in the worst of conditions, some aspect of Bailey manges to hide great snow and good skiing. New guides in the 2003-2004 have brought a new, positive attitude, along with the big mountain experience and professional of Certified Canadian Mountain Guides.

Similar Products Used:
Valdez Heli-Guides, Canadian Mountain Holidays, Ruby Mountain Heli Skiing, Panorama Heli-Skiing, Mike Weigle, and San Juan Snow Cat Skiing. Yeah, I've been around.....

Review Date
August 30, 2003

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by: Pete , Double Diamond, from Portland, Oregon

Price Paid: $0.00

Summary:
I have skied Mount Bailey several times and admit the first few were great experiences. Speaking from the perspective of a return customer I must say that my last experience has all but ended my support of Mount Bailey. My last trip was a complete disaster! I rented a cat for myself and eleven of my good friends. We all drove over 5 hours to ski what we thought was going to be the best ski days of the year. Well unbeknown to us both of Mount Bailey’s snow cats had broken the day before. So with no notice of the sudden possible trip ending problem we packed our vehicles and drove. We arrived that night and asked the guides how the day went and they said “great”, and walked away. Honest guests from that day stepped in and mentioned that both cats had broken and that they were using Snowmobiles to venture around the mountain. The next morning we awoke and poured into our gear and waited for our shuttle to the mountain. After waiting close to an hour after the pick up time the owner came and informed us that we may have to wait until the afternoon before the cats could possible be back in service. We left later that morning and headed to Mount Bachelor and headed back to Portland. No cat skiing for the Portland crew.

Similar Products Used:
Going north from now on.

Review Date
February 12, 2003

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 2 votes

Reviewed by: moezeez, Double Diamond, from Seattle, WA USA

Price Paid: $0.00

Summary:
I've had a great time the two times I've been there. Last year the ski conditions were the best I've ever been on, although this year was worse. This year we only got eight inches of new snow, last year we had 20-24! I think the guides strike a terrific balance between professionalism and having fun. I'll go again.

Review Date
September 9, 2002

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5, 4 votes

Reviewed by: Captain Strato, Advanced, from Ashland, Oregon, USA

Price Paid: $0.00

Summary:
My experience at Mt. Bailey was the worst I've had in backcountry skiing. Mt. Bailey is a great, steep mountain. However, I found the snow-cat operation to be disappointing.

Our guides tried to give their safety intro over the roar of the snowcap, rendering the safety lecture pointless. Nobody could hear.

One guide consistently spoke in the slang of a teen-age stoner, never waited for the group to assemble before giving directions, and directed all his verbal pointers down the hill, rather than towards the group (which I ultimately considered a mercy).

In terms of professionalism, it didn't exist. I felt we were in the hands of amateurs.

Conditions were terrible when we went (wind-blown mashed potatoes) with high winds throughout the day. Perfect weather is never expected when backcountry skiing. However, these conditions were truly awful.

Although the wind, icy crust and thick slop weren't the guides' fault, I feel they should have either cancelled the trip, or given us the option to cancel after surveying the poor conditions.

The run-out at the bottom was also washboard torture. They explained that their grooming cat was broken, so we just had to tough it out.

Diamond Lake Lodge (where you stay) was also a disaster. This lodge was populated 95% by snowmobilers, of which some were literally up all night, drunk and running their engines. Some people within our group had to ski and board with virtually no sleep.

I'll never go back. A waste of time and money. I wouldn't place anyone's safety or welfare in the hands of the guides we had on our trip.

Similar Products Used:
Grand Targhee Snow Cats
Whistler Heli-Skiing
Park-City PowerCats