Ski Anthony Lakes Offers Affordable Snow Cat Trips

Ski Anthony Lakes, which sits above the eastern Oregon desert with the state's highest base elevation (7,100 feet), likes to say that it is a place "where powder is a reality."

One way to test Anthony Lake's claim is to check out the resort's cat skiing operation, which gives skiers and snowboarders access to 2,000 back-country acres of steeps, bowls and glades with runs of 1,000 to 1,700 vertical feet in length.

These trips to Anthony Lakes' untracked powder fields are intended for fall-line riders who are able to negotiated all types of snow - ice, wind pack and other yucky types of the white stuff could be encountered -- and terrain conditions.

The $199 cat fee (if you book 12 riders, the vehicle's capacity, one of them will get to go for free) gets you up to 10 runs -- depending on the group's average ability level - a continental breakfast, hot drinks, water, lunch, high-energy snacks and as much light and dry as you can gobble. The cat ski operators will even throw in use of a shovel and transceiver for the day.

Cat trip reservations can be made the day of the outing, but Ski Anthony Lakes says that in order for someone to guarantee a trip to the backcountry at least eight people must sign up.

Reservations can be made and further questions can be answered at 541-856-3277.