It has been said that “necessity is the Mother of invention” and although this can be true, in some circumstances it may also be debated that “intelligence, inquisitiveness and a enthusiasm to think outside the envelope” are noteworthy contributing factors in the case of inventors and the way they “arrive at” their inventions.
Catskiing was brought to life within the beautiful British Columbia mountains, more than 25 years ago, by Allan Drury and his spouse Brenda when he realized that the ski hill grooming machines, which so far had been used only for “grooming”, would be a wonderful means for assessing BC catskiing terrain – provided, of course, that there were accessible roads to journey on. From there, history was made.
Because of his ingenuity, Allan is most assuredly attributed as being the inventor of catskiing, as well as its pioneer. Having promoted the sport of cat skiing to its current stage, Allan managed by some means to combine the challenge and pleasure of skiing formerly unknown backcountry terrain into the hobby of catskiing that we now so completely enjoy and revel in!
While this idea was instantly seized upon by a slew of enthusiastic skiing enthusiasts who have been more than delighted to discover one more innovative solution to take pleasure in a favourite hobby, it has actually only been within the last 10 to fifteen years that the concept of catskiing has actually taken off – especially in areas such as Canada (where approximately ninety percent of the cat skiing trade can be found), the USA, New Zealand in addition to, amazingly, Chile.
As with numerous ideas, technological innovations have had an influence in helping to “improve” the popularity of the hobby, by providing “snow cats” that can comfortably carry a group of individuals up extremely steep grades and over harsh terrain – thus improving the overall experience for any cat skiing enthusiast.
As the hobby of catskiing becomes even more popular and as increasingly more “baby boomers”, in addition to the youthful generations, embrace and seek out the challenges and discoveries that catskiing provides, it is apparent that catskiing continues to grow and is here for the long term.
Knowing all this, it’s comforting to recognize that in spite of the recent passing of Allan Drury, the sport of catskiing continues to grow and bring together new followers. Thankfully, Drury enjoyed a long and joyful life and was witness to only how widespread his “invention” turned out to be. We are thankful that Allan left all skiers with such a beautiful legacy.
Want to discover more about catskiing bc, then visit Walter Down’s weblog on the Catskiing Directory to help you plan for one of the best Catskiing Trips you’ll ever experience.