Did a couple of days with Eagle Pass heli out of Revelstoke and despite very challenging conditions they did their best to find us some decent lines. The terrain is excellent and would be fab in pow conditions. Here’s a highlights reel
Did a couple of days with Eagle Pass heli out of Revelstoke and despite very challenging conditions they did their best to find us some decent lines. The terrain is excellent and would be fab in pow conditions. Here’s a highlights reel
You've been spoiled in Verbier and Hokkaido this season.
Most people would give their left nut for the conditions you had at Eagle Pass
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Mike Pow wrote:
You've been spoiled in Verbier and Hokkaido this season.
Most people would give their left nut for the conditions you had at Eagle Pass
Haha it’s a (flattering) edit of just the best bits. Anything not high and north facing was crust or dust on crust. Certainly not stellar conditions. Their snowpack is half the usual for this stage of the season and there was a heatwave the week before we arrived
That’s part of my hesitation for going heliskiing.
I have a pair of friends who go heliskiing almost every other year. Their track record wasn’t the best. Many instances of getting grounded by weather, or just not that good snow condition when they did fly. Obviously , they had some fabulous days when the helicopter flies, and the snow was good. The good clearly outweighs the bad so they continue to book trips.
In the mean time, by camping out at a mountain for a couple months once every few years, I lucked out with a lot of days of fresh snow of varying depth also. (Plus a bunch of so-so days as well of course)
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@abc, I do around 5 - 10 heli days a year and only ever go when it’s blower and the bird is blue.
I never have to book too far out though so can always just chase the good days.
Re-visiting this thread since it seems to have been resurrected. Wonder where poster @doryz, ended up going?
Re-my original post
I got my week in Alaska with Silverton. Everything I’d hoped for and more.
As for the risk of Weather downtime, there were 2 days where we used old fixed wing ski planes to get away from poor visibility which used up heli time as well because the heli had to fly with reduced passengers to the new location.
So by paying more $$$ for fly time the risk of weather in AK was mitigated a lot by the vast permit area of Silverton.
Hard to pick a highlight but the pillows and spines in Tordrillo range were mind blowing.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
When it’s on there’s nothing like it. I’ve skied single lift-served or touring accessed runs which are just as good and you’ll never get snow like Japan but for multiple, long, untracked powder runs nothing beats a heli
After all it is free
After all it is free
Mike Pow wrote:
Most people would give their left nut for the conditions you had at Eagle Pass
Instead of the left nut, they charge an arm and a leg.
In BC Wiegele [same snow belt as EP] had to close for two weeks, an all time record. Conditions definitely weren't the best, but it's all relative. I didn't ride anything I didn't want to ride, but the guides had their work cut out now and then. The better skiers probably enjoyed it more than those who are happier on very consistent snow. I had a couple of friends postpone one week because they heard conditions were meh, then that week turned into a doozy with masses of fresh and face shots every day... that's the way it goes.
Iceland's had a ton of snow; probably so much that they'll be down waiting for it to stop (no trees....), then riding mellow stuff waiting for it to stabilize.
abc wrote:
That’s part of my hesitation for going heliskiing.
Having a machine means you can get to the good stuff when it's there, but it doesn't create the good stuff.
That said, I worked for a daily cat operator for a lot of years, and every day I was riding there, customers would volunteer that it was their best day ever.
But the last thing anyone wants is people paying a lot of money and being unhappy; don't do it if you're unsure!
Here's some of mine from a few weeks over a couple of trips to BC this season, so far.
Snowboarding in Blue River 2023-24 from phil 45464
Hard to pick a highlight but the pillows and spines in Tordrillo range were mind blowing.
Sounds good - images? The lasses I was riding with in BC in March were heading up there for some filming, at a different operator.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
hang11 wrote:
@abc, I do around 5 - 10 heli days a year and only ever go when it’s blower and the bird is blue.
I never have to book too far out though so can always just chase the good days.
It’s worth it
I would have to camp out in NZ
(Not the worst place to stay for a while. Which months are the typical heli window?)
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
abc wrote:
hang11 wrote:
@abc, I do around 5 - 10 heli days a year and only ever go when it’s blower and the bird is blue.
I never have to book too far out though so can always just chase the good days.
It’s worth it
I would have to camp out in NZ
(Not the worst place to stay for a while. Which months are the typical heli window?)
July/August/September with August being the best month usually.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
@BobinCH, Amen to that.
Been to Japan many times because it delivers my pow fix every time BUT the places a heli can drop you are spots and the full on adrenaline rush of the experience is like nothing else.
If I was to pick the only negative it would be that it’s actually (well was for me) quite an individual experience. We were a group of 8 who had ridden together on and off for 20yrs but felt like we didn’t ride or even see each other ride all week, because Silverton runs with a lead and rear guide so the whole run is top to bottom with no stoppin.
No chance to ride down beside a buddy and not even much chat time in between. Just ride/chopper/ride….repeat.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Thinking about a trip in Feb 2025.
Has anyone tried heliskiing in Turkey or Georgia? If so thoughts or recommendations please?
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
GW wrote:
Thinking about a trip in Feb 2025.
Has anyone tried heliskiing in Turkey or Georgia? If so thoughts or recommendations please?
Not done heli, but done cat and snowmobile assisted in the same range where these guys operate
I have done single drops from Alagna (fun) and Cervinia (great trip up to behind the Matterhorn but uninteresting ski).
My two Heli holidays were to BC (West coast by Alaska South tip) and Alaska (Chugach Powder guides). Both had one down-day. Both had had storms before we arrived which caused mostly crust or breakable crust conditions. Below the tree line in BC there was genuine powder so once you got down the top two thirds, it was OK (and I love tree skiing). There were no steep slopes which was disappointing. In Alaska there was no powder (and no trees, obviously) and some rich Americans went home despite having paid. Perhaps we might have skied some steep slopes if conditions had been better. On the last day they flew us 100 miles North (and took us by bus back to the airport from there). There was good powder on that one day, but very short runs.
Really I decided I'd had more fun with guides in the Alps, but if you are lucky you will pack in more in the time, so its good for time-poor skiers. Also flying to the far American west coast and then using helicopters all day is very heavy on the carbon footprint so I've decided I've had my go(s).
The last day in Alaska (that's a whole descent)
Last edited by You know it makes sense. on Mon 30-09-24 17:52; edited 1 time in total
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Go to Japan.
Guaranteed powder.
Much deeper.
Much easier to get to.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Quote:
Really I decided I'd had more fun with guides in the Alps
The people I know that have done Heli or cat generally fall into 2 camps.
The guys that have done loads of backcountry skiing tend to be a little underwhelmed. Biggest disappointment seems to be in lack of steeper and more interesting terrain. Although I think some of this is also unrealistic expectations.
The people that only ski a couple of weeks per year of which is mostly lift served so don't get a lot of untracked deep powder tend to consider it amazing.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Whitegold wrote:
Go to Japan.
Much easier to get to.
Have you been since they shut the airspace over Russia ? I have , the flight sucked
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Have you been since they shut the airspace over Russia ? I have , the flight sucked
We have. It wasn't too bad going via Dubai. We had a 3 night stopover on the way back. Dubai is not somewhere we would ever have chosen to go (but for the stopover) but it was really enjoyable (despite the absence of booze ).
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Whitegold wrote:
Go to Japan.
Guaranteed powder.
Much deeper.
Much easier to get to.
Not guaranteed powder at all. We didn't experience the fabled light powder at all on Hokkaido last year in our ski week (in February 2024).
We had some deep fresh snow (but not light powder) and some great tree skiing in fresh snow - but not of any signicant depth. Our first 2 or 3 days were spent off piste, skiing moguls in trees - which we enjoyed but weren't expecting...
While it was still an enjoyable trip we've had more reliable, and better quality, powder in Val Thorens over the past couple of seasons.
Really I decided I'd had more fun with guides in the Alps
The people I know that have done Heli or cat generally fall into 2 camps.
The guys that have done loads of backcountry skiing tend to be a little underwhelmed. Biggest disappointment seems to be in lack of steeper and more interesting terrain. Although I think some of this is also unrealistic expectations.
The people that only ski a couple of weeks per year of which is mostly lift served so don't get a lot of untracked deep powder tend to consider it amazing.
Definitely the perspective plays a big part. If you think about it, both camp expects experience to exceed what they’re used to. After all that’s what they pay the big bucks for!
People who had skied backcountry a lot had probably already had plenty of untracked powder experience. So they expect something else in addition. Interesting/exciting terrain would be my guess too. Would that be considered unrealistic expectation? I’d say no.
Resort skiers who had relatively few real untracked powder days would probably be easily impressed by powder better than what they could find in resort?
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
BC in Canada with CMH has been epic for us.
It can be difficult to book onto a trip though with the established operators as there is a long waiting list and people from previous seasons get priority to book for the coming seasons.
If you want to ski on your own, then they often have last-minute places which can be it to substantial discount.
if you are going to do a week I would recommend going to one of the mountain Lodges where you are secluded in the middle of nowhere with a group of fellow skiers. Staying in one of the town-based resorts can be cheaper but it’s not quite the same experience.
To the comment above , there are lots of different group levels advertised. You can elect to go for a steep and deep group of course for example. If you book onto a standard trip you will likely end up with people who are anything from upper intermediate and there might be quite a lot of falling and picking up to do all day .
If you’re just looking for a lot of really deep powder then as other people have said Japan might be your best bet it would be considerably cheaper.
I’ve recently been investigating Skiing in Georgia after fans of mine had an absolutely fantastic time there. I was trying to put a group together, but some people were worried about the war in Ukraine and the proximity to Russia. I haven’t got time this season to fit in but would consider it for next year. I’ll probably Discuss this with people I meet on the Bashes this season.
After all it is free
After all it is free
@Bergmeister, I went direct in Oct and by memory was a good extra 3 -4 hours
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Bergmeister wrote:
Whitegold wrote:
Go to Japan.
Guaranteed powder.
Much deeper.
Much easier to get to.
Not guaranteed powder at all. We didn't experience the fabled light powder at all on Hokkaido last year in our ski week (in February 2024).
We had some deep fresh snow (but not light powder) and some great tree skiing in fresh snow - but not of any signicant depth. Our first 2 or 3 days were spent off piste, skiing moguls in trees - which we enjoyed but weren't expecting...
While it was still an enjoyable trip we've had more reliable, and better quality, powder in Val Thorens over the past couple of seasons.
You were very unlucky and/or in the wrong resort on those days
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Quote:
I’ve recently been investigating Skiing in Georgia after fans of mine had an absolutely fantastic time there. I was trying to put a group together, but some people were worried about the war in Ukraine and the proximity to Russia.
If you can be tempted by kyrgyzstan I have friends out there who can organise your trip. No Heli, but cheap cat ski and snowmobile uplift. Even better if you don't mind a day or two touring too.
Quote:
Not guaranteed powder at all.
Nowhere is 100%, but Japan is as close as you can get. You were very unlucky, it happens.
Quote:
So they expect something else in addition. Interesting/exciting terrain would be my guess too. Would that be considered unrealistic expectation? I’d say no.
I agree to some extent. However, like you say depends on experience and what you consider interesting/exciting terrain. If you've spent seasons skiing Chamonix steeps you are almost certainly not going to get anything close in any regular Heli op.
Similarly true if your Heli skiing reference is watching pros in Alaska filming for videos.
I've heard that if you want to ski anything serious you need to firstly hire out the whole Heli with your very capable group and secondly make return trips so the op can see you are capable. Both these things make absolute sense.
The other thing is a lot of bigger terrain may have limited windows to ski due to avalanche safety. So if you "only" do one Heli week a year there's a good chance conditions don't play ball.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
If you can put a group together then you have much more choice. We did a 5 day stay with CMH in 2022 as part of a 2 week BC ski tour. There were 5 of us and we booked their small helicopter which took 5 passengers. Basically after testing our skiing ability on a few runs the guide asked us what we wanted to do and suggested options. Subject to safety they'd take us down pretty much anything we fancied. We did some pretty gnarly, fun stuff and some amazing trees after a 60cm overnight dump. Whooping away and blessing our buffs, trying not to swallow too much powder as we were getting almost constant face shots.
It was a totally different experience to my first time with CMH where we were in a larger heli in a group of 10 and lots of people falling all over the place wasting heli time and skiing feet. That said, we still managed to rack up an additional CAD $2k of extra lifts over our included 100k or 120k vertical feet as the weaker / less fit skiers dropped out over time.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
I’ve heliskied in Mestia, Georgia; Valdez, Alaska; Revelstoke, BC, and in Switzerland and Italy on day trips.
If you want steep terrain then nothing beats Alaska. But you will probably need a private, and to convince your guide that the whole group is very strong before they will let you on anything consequential. And the weather is very unpredictable so 4 days out of 7 is a good result.
The potential of terrain in Georgia was almost as good but the lead guide was clear that he simply couldn’t take the risk to take us on the steeps as any accident has major consequence and destroys his reputation. And snow condition variability is similar to what you could expect in the Alps.
BC was somewhere in the middle.
Europe, you can ski some seriously steep stuff but only with a guide who is super confident in your ability.
There is nowhere with the quality of snow you can find in Hokkaido but it is typically short runs, not steep and seemingly increasingly unpredictable - in Jan we had epic powder, followed a couple of days later by heavy mush, so nothing is guaranteed.
Suffice to say that good heli-skiing is typically very expensive and with a high carbon footprint.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Definitely makes a difference to the terrain you can access if you can put a group together and the guides know you all well and the trip can happen at short notice.
Sounds a bit different in other parts of the world for booking in advance, but I usually get a text a couple of days out asking if I’m keen to go, and those trips are usually epic, and it’s usually with the same crew.
I kind of prefer touring though. Don’t get to ride anything as steep or epic but heli is all a bit hectic and full on. I like the peace of the back country and the presence of a good uphill slog.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Quote:
lead guide was clear that he simply couldn’t take the risk to take us on the steeps as any accident has major consequence and destroys his reputation.
It's a good point. The potential risks of someone getting hurt almost certainly outweigh the costs of someone coming away a little unhappy the terrain was not interesting enough. So Heli ops will always err on the side of caution, whereas (assuming unguided) touring groups can take whatever risks they seem fit. Combine that with the fact if your living somewhere with touring you have all season to get the spicier lines in good condition. It's perhaps no wonder many ski more interviews stuff touring than in the Heli.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
hang11 wrote:
... I kind of prefer touring though.
Don’t get to ride anything as steep or epic but heli is all a bit hectic and full on. I like ...
I can understand that.
My choice was different. I did a fair bit of "ski mountaineering". We were climbers - guides were for old folk. But having to ride with massive caution in high consequence terrain, and at least having to learn to ride roped up, just took all the fun out of it for me. It transformed a speed sport into... a poor tool for negotiating mountain terrain. Ice gear and a poly bag for going down was more useful.
Resort off piste skiing in Europe was faster because we knew the terrain and could let it run more, but it tracked out fast, wasn't an every day thing, and there are crowds and numpties at least on the lifts.
Heli-boarding is the bits I like without the bits I don't like.
The hectic bit I quite like, it feels like clockwork with a good team. But it's a very different type of back country experience. Like the difference between cycling down a country lane and driving a sports car down the same lane. I enjoy being in the mountains with a heli, but it's not the same experience as walking up the damned things the hard way.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
For a sense of the terrain in Mestia, Georgia, check out the Ushba film from 2m15 in. The lead guide said we’d need to hire the chopper as a private and 1 guide per rider for him to let us on this terrain
Not guaranteed powder at all. We didn't experience the fabled light powder at all on Hokkaido last year in our ski week (in February 2024).
Pick a better resort, son.
Parts of North Japan get 1000-2000cm of snowfall per season.
It's like Disneyland for powriders.
The stuff of dreams.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
boarder2020 wrote:
Quote:
Really I decided I'd had more fun with guides in the Alps
The people I know that have done Heli or cat generally fall into 2 camps.
The guys that have done loads of backcountry skiing tend to be a little underwhelmed. Biggest disappointment seems to be in lack of steeper and more interesting terrain. Although I think some of this is also unrealistic expectations.
The people that only ski a couple of weeks per year of which is mostly lift served so don't get a lot of untracked deep powder tend to consider it amazing.
This depends on where you go!
I did a day heli trip with Whistler Heli - very nice day out but a little underwhelming.
I did 4 days with Mica Heli Guides - we weren't that lucky with the snow (it had been a bit windy) but the terrain was NOT underwhelming. The group before us had been shooting a ski movie.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
Instead of the left nut, they charge an arm and a leg.
