Some of the past magazine and press reviews on Peak Adventures:
Powder
PEAK ADVENTURES SNOWCAT SKIING, CATALDO, IDAHO
A low-volume snowcat outfit set in unheralded mountain far from the cash-waving sybarites of Aspen and Park City doesn’t seem like much of a business proposition. But for the pair of snow-mad former pro snowboarders who run Idaho’s Peak Adventures, being deep in the white day after day brings nearly as much satisfaction as being deep in the black would. The husband and wife team of Steve and Terri Matthews set up their operation just off Interstate 90 about 30 miles east of Coeur d’Alene and near Silver Mountain ski area. North Idaho’s Silver Valley provides easy access to the St. Joe Mountains- a 45 mile long sub-range of the bitterroots whose highest point registers 6,300 feet. Yet these mountains get enough snow to choke a moose.
Since this is independence-minded North Idaho, and since the Matthews cart only about 500 skiers to the top of their 25-square-mile permit area each winter, you really feel unfettered out here. With the runs from 800-2200 vertical feet you get a variety of intense eye-popping terrain. Besides that since the guides love what they do they ski until dark. By April, that means making turns past dinnertime. —–John Robertson October 1997 Vol. 26 #2
Skiing
Northern Idaho has earned an unfortunate reputation for being the national heartland of white supremacy. But let’s cast white supremacy in a more inviting light. Think of the white of snow and the supremacy of the St. Joe Mountains. Think of slopes of up to 40 degrees, through both open bowls and well spaced trees.
The elevations here are relatively low—the summits top out below 7,ooo feet. But don’t be deceived if it’s raining in Coeur d’Alene. The climate changes remarkably quickly with small gains in elevation: Rain at 3,500 feet is almost always powder at 6,000.
One great thing about Peak Adventures is that is can be a multidimensional experience: In addition to your basic snowcat skiing, it offers winter-survival and avalanche-awareness courses, as well s overnight trips with accommodations in a backcountry yurt. Two days of cat skiing, all meals and lodging in the yurt for 450 bucks—that’s a hard deal to beat, even if you end up having to wash the dishes.
Charles Glass Feb 2001





