Great questions. The Aurora Backcountry Pass is like the Mountain Collective Pass or the Epic Pass except instead of gaining access to ski resorts you gain access to certified Ski or Mountain Guides who are all members of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) Think of it like a seasons pass to the backcountry! You have the choice to buy a specific plan that suits your schedule. Most people combine the Aurora Backcountry Pass with a midweek resort pass or a 10 day edge card at Whistler Blackcomb. Downloading the APP is vital to getting most out of our program. From the App you can interact with guides, other pass holders and members. Downloading the App is FREE and you can benefit from many features such as the Mountain Conditions, Snow Science, and Emergency Support checklists without having to spend any money. Basecamp is a social forum where you can see what trips are being planned, ask the lead guides a question and then eventually commit to joining a trip. To join the trip simply choose the date that the trip is happening and in the Join a Trip feature of the App. You will get an email with your confirmation along with meeting locations and any other instructions. Canceling can happen up to 24 hours before your trip start without any penalty! Your day automatically gets credited back to you. The full Cancellation Policy is located at the bottom of the home page. Buying a pass also give you benefits with our pass partners. Every year we may add or change a pass partner. The discounts are quite good so make sure you inquire. If you take advantage of all these discounts then your pass essentially becomes free. If you have any other questions feel free to Download the App and hit the Call buttom. You will be directed strait to a Lead Guide or the Guide Manager.

Like most guide operations we hire MANY local ACMG Guides. Our main guide crew can be found here. Check them out!

We operate mainly in the Sea to Sky region of British Columbia between Vancouver and Lillooet. We do not mention specific locations because conditions in the backcountry are constantly changing. Your certified guide will determine where your trip will go based on the number of participants, avalanche conditions, and snow quality. This ensures that we go to the absolute best locations. We do our best to keep away from the popular touring locations. We do special trips into the Interior and the Rockies so keep your eye on the Base Camp Forum for these announcments.

Any date between December 1st and April 30th. As long as 3 people sign up the trip will run. Popular days are always the weekends, but with a bit of pre-booking week days can be quite nice especially when the weather lines up. On your app you can see all the guide notifications, and upcoming trips so you know where we are going and whats going on. Make sure you book sooner than later, trips on great weather days can fill fast. You can always cancel your day 24hours or more before with no consequences.

If you can ski or snowboard confidently in powder snow down a blue run at the ski hill and easily get down a black diamond, then you can join us in the backcountry. Fitness levels always vary in any group. Guides have a magic ability to help people achieve more than they think. If you are capable of 600m of vertical in a day then you can join the Aurora Backcountry Pass. In your profile, let your guide know what your ability is so they may prepare a day that suits your experience.

Yes. We havent figured out that glitch yet. If you bought your pass any time before November this will be the case. Once November arrives the expiry dates will all be changed to the end of April. Don't worry about it.

Absolutely! You may request an area anywhere between Squamish and the Duffy Lake area. Ultimately the guide will have the last say because they know where the best snow is based on the days weather. Don't be disapointed if your request gets denied, all Guides have the groups best interest in mind.

If you are booking a day through the Aurora Backcountry Pass you will get the guide who is scheduled for that day. A Lead Guide will be assigned to a given week and all other guides will be determined by their availability and teamed up with groups based on group ability and trip complexity. If you want to book a private guide you can check the guide availability here. You may choose your guide based on their availability.

BOOK EARLY. One of the advantages of the Aurora Backcountry Pass is the trip cancelation policies. -For any regular scheduled trip you can cancel without any penalty up to 24 hours before Your days are then credited back to your pass. If you want to make sure you ski the days you want... book your trips well in advance, keep an eye on the conditions using the Mountain Condition section in the App, you have until 24hours before the trip start to commit to your day.

We sure hope you use them all. If you bought an 8 day Recreationalist Pass and do not manage to use them within the available 151 days there is not much we can do for you. There was plenty of time for you to use them. If you go 1 day in December, 2 days in January, 2 days in February, 2 days in March, and 1 day in April thats 8 days. There will be days that do not run due to lack of participants, these days usually coincide with bad weather or very dangerous avalanche conditions. We encourage people to keep informed of the conditions in our Mountain Condition section on the App. We also encourage people to be active in the forum. This is a place where you can ask questions and even plan trips with like minded people. If you are not proactive and expect everything to just happen for you there is a good change you may not get in all your days. Please be proactive, we want you to use all your days. It is up to you to take full advantage of the Aurora Backcountry Pass program and get the maximum value from it.

Our Guides are experts in planning our days and choosing great locations to ski even if the weather is poor. However, if the weather or conditions are too dangerous to operate, we will cancel the day. If any of our guides cancel the day, your day will be credited back to your pass automatically. If you bought a day pass and you were only planning to join that particular day, you will receive a full $240 refund. THIS ONLY APPLIES TO PEOPLE WHO PURCHASED THE $240 DAYS PASS.

This scenario only happened once but it did highlight the need to better explain the pass program. Please read the Pass Terms and Conditions carefully. The whole purpose of this pass program is to bring people together and play in the backcountry safely and responsibly. Our Guides have the absolute authority to cancel or change a day for any reason. All our Lead Guides are ACMG Certified and have over 10 years of experience managing risk in the mountains. You are paying your guide to make the hard decision to say NO. We do not operate beyond certain risk tolerance and while safety should always be group discussion, our Guides will always have the last word on any safety decision. This program does not operate the same as hiring a guide privately. If you wish to have more of a say in how your personal risk tolerance is managed, we suggest paying for a Private Guide. Our rates for custom private guiding are 850$ per day and you can bring up to 6 people. This brings the per person rate to 141$ plus GST. It's definitely cheaper than buying a day pass but then you need to organise your group of 6 and the cancelation policy is 48 hours instead of 15 hours. Please contact us directly for more details.

We have the best booking policy anywhere. Most guide operations have a 48 hour or more cancellation policy. This means that you are locked into your dates no matter what the weather is like. The Aurora Backcountry Pass is the most dynamic booking system of any guide operation. You can book and cancel consequence free up to the day before; Booking up to 20 hours and Cancellations up to 24 hours before the start time. WE NEED TO BE STRICT ABOUT OUR BOOKING POLICY. If you show up late or do not show for ANY REASON you will have forfeit your day. This ensures that the trip will run and that our guides get paid and other passholders do not lose out on a day if someone does not show. This program is very fair and you might be on the benefiting end of this booking policy one day. Please respect this policy of you happen to be on the negative end of it.

Yes you do. A Release of Liability, Waiver of Claims, Assumption of Risks and Indemnity Agreement ("Waiver") must be completed by each Pass holder as a condition of the purchase and use of the Aurora Backcountry Pass (the “Pass”) and the participation in any program, trip or activity booked using the Pass. If the Waiver is not completed, the Pass will not be issued and participation in any program, trip or activity booked using the Pass will not be permitted, and NO refund will be provided. The Waiver will apply to all uses of the Pass and all activities, trips, guided programs and other services booked or participated in using the Pass during the Between Dec 1 and April 30 every season. Each adult passholder must complete their own Waiver. A parent/guardian must complete the Waiver for their minor/child passholder. PLEASE READ THE WAIVER CAREFULLY! By signing, you will waive or give up certain legal rights, including the right to sue for negligence, breach of contract, or breach of the Occupiers’ Liability Act or claim compensation following an accident. A sample of the waiver can be reviewed here Liability Waiver

Of course not. This makes no sense. How will we pay our Guides? How will we pay for the marketing, the App, the Website, a 4x4 Passenger Van? How can we justify creating a program that offers unbeatable flexibility and value if we let EVERYONE move their days to the next season? We would have no money to do this and the program would fail. Please make sure you read the terms and conditions BEFORE you buy your pass. If you want special treatment and different terms and conditions we suggest you pay 850$ per day for a private guide. Please have a look at this Blog Post for some more context about the program.

NO Please don't ask us. The conditions are quite clear.

NO Please don't ask us, the conditions are quite clear.

We strive to ensure the highest levels of safety on all our trips. However, it is essential to recognize that no adventure, especially those involving backcountry travel and sea voyages, can ever be entirely free of risk. Promising absolute safety would diminish the very essence of the experiences we offer, which include excitement, exploration, and a degree of unpredictability. Our guides are certified by associations under the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA), ensuring a high level of expertise. All of our Lead Guides are also Professional Canadian Avalanche Association Members. Each trip begins with a morning meeting where our guides assess current weather conditions, terrain risks, avalanche potential, group abilities, and other critical safety factors. While objectives may be planned in advance, they may change on the day of the trip based on real-time conditions and the guide's judgment. Regardless of the current avalanche hazard our risk exposure remains relatively the same. This can be hard to comprehend for people with less experience or training. When they see High Hazard they thing dangerous.. and then they see Low Hazard they think safe. This type of thinking is wrong.. and dangerous. Avalanches can happen at ANY Hazard Rating. How you manage and interact with the hazard will determine your risk. Individual people do not have the same risk profile. Beginner skier and snowboarders are exposed to a much much greater risk than intermediate/advanced skiers or snowboarders. Just falling over and losing a ski in the backcountry can expose you to a dangerous situation... how are you going to get out?? This is the reason that our program is designed for Intermediate and Advanced skier/snowboarders. All participants MUST be able to confidently descend a black diamond slope at the ski resort.