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Heli-skiing
is growing in popularity . Simply defined, heli-skiing
involves taking a helicopter ride to the top of some
incredibly scenic mountains, above the tree line,
getting out of the chopper and skiing down. For powder
fanatics it is nirvana. A caution I would bring to
your attention: you should be an advanced skier to
do this. You don’t need to be an expert skier,
but this is not for beginners. Its not too late to
try this season and the following article will point
you in directions you will never forget.
I
want to plan a heli-skiing trip for the spring, but
I've never done it before. Where are the best places
to try it? A: While several U.S. ski areas —
Telluride, Sun Valley, Jackson Hole, and Snowbird,
for example — now offer heli-ski options, British
Columbia remains heli-skiing's ground zero. Though
this posh form of skiing will never be cheap, the
current Canadian exchange rate almost makes heli-skiing
seem like a bargain.
The
first place you should check out is Canadian Mountain
Holiday, the world's oldest and largest heli-ski operator.
With eleven lodges scattered in wedgelike formation
just west of the Canadian Rockies, CMH offers access
to more than 7,500 square miles of backcountry skiing
in remote mountain ranges from the Bugaboos to the
Selkirks, where the powder is generally dry and deep
all winter long. All-inclusive short trips are available
exclusively from the Kootenay lodge ($1,664 for three).
Each of the eleven lodges offers seven-day packages,
with double-occupancy prices ranging from a New Year's
week high of $5,363 to a low of $2,985 (available
in December and April). In the U.S, call 800-661-0252
for more details.
In
the same neck of the woods is 30-year-old Mike Wiegele's
Heli Skiing, a reputable family-run operation with
only one lodge — but what a lodge! Located outside
the burg of Blue River, the 22,000-square-foot spruce-log
cabin, built in 1980, offers feasts from European
chefs, a health club, massages, and saunas. (Guests
stay in one of nineteen log chalets, each with two
to six bedrooms.) By day, skiers play on up to ten
runs offering over 20,000 feet of "vertical"
in the surrounding Cariboo and Monashee mountains,
where snow accumulations are often thirty feet or
more. A seven-day package runs from $2,800 in the
early season to $3,500 in mid-season. For reservations,
call 800-661-9170 in the U.S.
In
recent years, Alaska's Chugach Mountains have come
to rival B.C. as a heli-skiing magnet — especially
in spring, when the heavens often dump several feet
of solid "Chugach cement." The nearby town
of Valdez is overrun with video teams, pro skiers
and snowboarders, not to mention gung-ho amateurs.
A good way to immerse yourself in the scene is to
book a tour with Valdez H20 Heli-Adventures. If you're
lucky, your group will be guided by extreme-ski champ/owner
Dean Cummings, who founded the operation soon after
falling in love with the area in 1991, during the
first annual World Extreme Skiing Championships. Annual
snowfall ranges up to sixty feet, and the heli-ski
season runs from February 20 through May 15. The Westmark
Valdez Hotel's accommodations are less plush than
B.C.'s genteel lodges, but skiing is what it's all
about here. Call 800-578-4354 in the U.S. for availability
and package-trip prices.
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