 Poster: A snowHead
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So we took the plunge and booked up for March 2017, 2 weeks in Banff and wanted some advice on some heli-action in early March. We arrive on the 4th and hope to book something for 9th to give us a few days to warm up the legs and maybe even have a half day off. I'd like to book early to avoid disappointment and found rkheliski who seem reputable. What should we consider before booking, is this a good time generally and how 'expert' is expert in their guide range? We're competent off-piste and can ride most type of terrain but we don't want too steep, drops and tight couloirs. Cheers
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I've never been to Banff, so cannot comment on the conditions in early March. But I have heli-skied 10+ times in Whistler with different operators. In Whistler at least, the time of year was no indication of how good the snow would be.
It is good to see a range of skill levels on offer, as most of the Whistler operations used say "If you can ski a blue run you can heli ski", which technically might be the case, but doesn't bode well if there is deep powder. Generally Expert means Expert, so I would go for Advanced, unless you are going as a group and will fill a helicopter by yourselves, so can ski at your own level.
The main advantage of heli-skiing is the choice of terrain. For example Whistler has 8000 acres, but Whistler Heli-Ski has 400,000 plus acres to play with. So instead of two mountains, they have multiple mountain ranges to find good snow on.
Booking in advance generally results in a discount, and refunds are generally available. If they are shutdown due to weather you will either get a refund or a free move to another day.
You also need to decide if you are going for the experience of heli-skiing, or if you will only go if there is powder snow. Typically they will get a lot of walk in bookings if conditions are spectacular, so booking in advance will get you a place.
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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?
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Rkheli are a day trip operator for tourists like you so I wouldn't be worried about expert being too expert. The main issue will be pace and that will depend on the skill levels in your group which will be luck of the draw.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Go for it! My son did a day with RKHeliski this February whilst on the Level 2 snowboarding Instructors course at Lake Louise, and said it was his best ever day boarding.
They bus you out to Panorama and depart from a lodge there into the Purcell mountains. If you have good visibility then the options are huge, but even on a cloudy day the company found fabulous terrain. They will gear the runs to clients' abilities. David wouldn't hesitate to go again.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Yeah RK have been in the business a long time. There will be other operators around or within driving distance; they're broadly all trained the same with mostly the same safety standards. Check what the various operators deliver and how much the charge for it.
Whistler snow is nothing like Banff snow.
Check, but you can generally book in advance and so long as they get 24 hours notice cancellation is no issue. Book towards the start of your trip in case they cancel you because of poor snow/ weather. That way you have other chances to re-book. Cancellation is not charged by most operators (check their policy).
You're not going to find experts in public daily-heli. They can't fly people they don't know anywhere where they may delay the rest of the group or be hard to rescue. So you'll not get into serious trees or anything technical, irrespective of conditions. Talk to their operations manager about what you want and what you've done before. If they're on it, they'll try to work out something that works for you. It can be hard to tell as different nationalities have different modesty levels when they describe their ability. By the time they make that first turn you know what you're dealing with, but by then it's too late. So if you buy a 4 run package the first run will be a meadow so they can take you home easily if you can't turn (it happens, a lot). Strong tourists will knock off a handful of runs pretty quickly, so you may want to check the extra run charges in advance.
I've ridden helis in April before now and if you like that kind of snow you can do a lot of vertical (because the days are long). March is pretty much peak season. Check prices at non-daily operators and you'll see that their prices peak then for those reasons
(edit) "best ever day "- yeah, it's surprisingly common to hear people say that without prompting.
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Hi thanks for the replies. I have had a quote already $1048 Canadian bucks which I feel is a tad expensive. I'm guessing this will increase closer to the season, though no mention of an earlybird discount. With regards to skill levels, if we wanted to go a step up from the tourist heliski day, what could we find and how much are we looking at? Does this even exist?
We've been going off-piste for years but not had serious pow for a few years now as we've been unlucky with the weather. Luckily though most of us have ridden in knee deep pow and myself and another waist deep pow in Chamonix which was so effin amazing words fail to describe it. I want that again but with a degree of challenge as the day progresses. It sounds like something inbetween what @jedster, experienced on the 2 trips in Whistler.
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FAQ
Towards the end of the trip one of the Austrians asked how come we could ski coming from England? One of my better complements 