Allan Drury, The Inventor Of Cat Skiing, Passed Recently - Yet Allan's Dream Lives On!

It has been stated that "necessity is the Mother of invention" and although this may be true, in several circumstances it will also be argued that "acumen, interest and a motivation to think outside the envelope" are important contributors in terms of inventors and the way they "get" their ideas.

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 countless ideas, technology has had a hand in helping to "improve" the recognition of the sport, by offering "snow cats" that comfortably transport a group of people up incredibly steep grades and over harsh land - thus improving the overall experience for any catskiing 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.

With this in mind, it's reassuring to know that despite the recent passing of Allan Drury, the hobby of catskiing continues to grow and collect fresh followers. Thankfully, Drury lived an extended and happy existence and was witness to only how widespread his "creation" became. We are grateful that he left all skiing enthusiasts with such an exquisite heritage and legacy for its followers.