 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi There Folks,
I hope everyone has summered superbly well & you are looking forward to a great season ahead.
This season myself and a bunch of my mates are turning an age divisible by 10 & we're keen to mark it with a ski trip of epic proportions. We are all very experienced skiers & mountaineers with an average of well over 50 weeks each skiing. the criteria for the trip are epic, memorable, unlikely to do in a normal year, amazing experience & preferably awe inspiring. We're considering a few options :
1. Cat skiing in Canada (~10 days)
2. Japan road tour (3 resorts)
3. Norway (fjords)
4. Greenland
5. USA road tour (Jackson Hole +2)
6. Other (heli ski Europe e.g. Cervinia, Alaska, or other e.g. Snowheads bash,etc ??)
7. Our back up :powder camp in Verbier &/or Tignes (though a few of us do this annually already,which is great but this year is a biggie)
We're likely to be a group of 6-8, thinking of 10days in February as our window of opportunity & may have a boarder or even 2. So that could rule out options 3&4, as doing that much skinning on split boards may not be much fun. One of the group wants to go to Japan with his family at some stage, so option 2 has a con against it. Cat skiing in Canada is the current flavour of the group but we're not totally sold on it yet, & availability may be an issue for 6 people.
What options would people recommend for us?
For people who have been on any trips like any of the options listed above, what did you think of them? What would you recommend e.g. the best places for Cat skiing in Canada? Best resorts in Japan for powder seekers?, Best Road tour around Jackson Hole, Best lodge in Norway? etc, etc, etc
Is there something really epic that would suit a group like us that I'm leaving out???
Anything else?!?
Thanks in advance for all info and opinions, They're all greatly appreciated,
Horgand
P.s. Ski safely out there!!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Cat skiing in Canada - Checkout Valhalla , White Grizzly etc
For JH road trip fly into SLC and grab a Mtn collective pass. Then you can ski Alta Bird , snowbasin and JH . Add a day or so over at Targhee when it cops a good snow and a day skinning the pass and you've got most of a trip. If you want to extend Aspen is within an overnight drive and taki in Moab on the way back - always awesome.
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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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But you've listed a bunch of very different things which will contain varying proportions of downhill skiing and solitude so it really depends on what is your bag?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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For "once in a lifetime" I imagine heli skiing in Alaska would be pretty much unbeatable. If you have the money and want to ski big mountains that's the one I'd pick.
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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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| Quote: |
1. Cat skiing in Canada (~10 days)
2. Japan road tour (3 resorts)
3. Norway (fjords)
4. Greenland
5. USA road tour (Jackson Hole +2)
6. Other (heli ski Europe e.g. Cervinia, Alaska, or other e.g. Snowheads bash,etc ??)
7. Our back up :powder camp in Verbier &/or Tignes (though a few of us do this annually already,which is great but this year is a biggie) |
The problem these decenial 'once in a lifetime' trips is that they up your expectations and then you really really reaaalllly want to do them again!
Taking Opt 6 as an example: there tends to be a bit of a pattern that people turn up on a snowHeads Bash, are a tad blown away by the experience and then it becomes their new 'normal' as they come back to do 2, 3, 4 or even 5 bashes a season (I kid not!)
So on the bash front, for the crew you describe, I'd say best scenario would be the GnarliBuG followed by the SOPiB but... they're not exactly budget-busting so you could do those any or indeed every year if you liked.
Personally, out of the options you list I'd go "Alaska Heli" if I had some really serious funding behind me - it's fly or bust up there so (IMHO) you'd need the heli at your disposal for a good couple of weeks to make up for inevitable no-fly days.
Failing that, I'd make a Japlan. OK, it's more expensive than a late deal in Meribel but it's not megabucks on the scale of the Alaska option.
Sharkymark and I got 'easily led' by Harrison The Rabbit when he used a 'big bathday' (or something) as an excuse to make a Japlan - we all agreed that it is a once in a lifetime experience that we will repeat, at least a few times 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@horgand, ok so here is my take on this. For the trip to be considered "epic" you need fresh snow, lots of it, and falling regularly.
With that in mind Japan or heli skiiing is the answer. Japan for the highest chance of regular fresh snow, or heli for the ability to access good snow regardless of recent weather activities.
Everywhere else you stand a much higher risk of not having any fresh snow.
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Hi Folks,
Thanks so much for all the awesome feedback and tips thus far. Even planning this trip has my heart racing in anticipation 
Your input is much appreciated and I've circulated our likely trip group to read this thread also before we make our selection.
On specifics so far :
One issue I see with Alaska is the ' no fly ' days, assuming this means no ski also . We'll 'only ' have a - 10 day window afterall, with maybe 8 days skiing if we go to Alaska, so no fly days are a real risk and a really significant loss of the holiday.
Does anyone know the ~% chance of losing days over say 8-9 ski days say?, e.g. likelihood of missing 0 days/10, 1 day/10 2 Days/10, 3Days/10 etc
Tbh with the expense, opportunity cost,etc,etc If the %chance of losing 2 days or more from 10 was over 25% say, that would be a significant number for us.
P.s. I like the sound of these 'once in a lifetime' trips becoming a few times a decade, or maybe one a year ) .....all in favour say aye!! )
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ski/articles/the-ultimate-ski-bucket-list/
P.p.s. Regardless I've got to get on a SnowH bash this year, I can easily see that then becoming an annual 'once in a lifetime ' trip for me  bring it on
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Tue 26-09-17 15:35; edited 3 times in total
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@horgand, do the EoSB - it'd be great to ski Val T with you, not just Chamonix
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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.
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@horgand, the firs time I heli skied the guides reckoned you missed 1-1.5 days a week in BC but it was more like 50:50 in AK, compounded by the fact that storms could sock in for more than a week. (I have no way of testing this).
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@horgand, please don't take it as gospel.
A chum has done AK although as I haven't been regaled to great length about it I am guessing it wasn't as epic as promised.
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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.
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Why not just go heliskiing in a lodge in BC?
CMH have some great lodges, great food and drink, ski together in one group if you're close enough in ability (though CMH will also put on a second guide in the heli if you wish/ask or they realise it's necessary) and all easily accessible a couple of hours usually from Calgary or Vancouver (watch out for the 7 hour coach journey to some from Calgary - bad enough one way let alone both!).
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I run the booking system for one Cat/heli operator, and I've done a lot of trips in both vehicles, many of which I've paid for.
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6-8 isn't enough for a full cat (12), and doesn't fit well with common helicopter guest capacities (4,5,10,11). Eight is two groups of four in an A-Star - a "semi private" in the business.
If you're good, then I'd find a back-country lodge and book a week's heli or cat. Read the small print regarding what you're buying. Typically "you get what you pay for", so if one operator's more expensive, you may get more vertical; they may include equipment rental; their food may be better; or their group size (or ratio of groups: vehicle) is better. Oh, and you don't need to use a UK tour operator to book any of this - it's easy to do it directly.
AK... well it's a different deal for a lot of reasons. I'd decide what you want and why, then the rest is details.
Down day ratios... it depends a lot where you are. Coastal is different from inland. AK is different from BC. The operators' rules for this are different as a consequence. It's a risk you accept if you're going to go. If you're not going to be happy sucking up the costs of down days, pick another sport, because they happen.
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You know it makes sense.
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Brief update on progress to date:
Dave of the M, Thanks, Valhalla is a great tip, I've emailed a cat heli outfit there that offers a combo resort &radical cat/Heli trip with a nice spa down day thrown in to allow for our advancing years. This is my pick at the mo. Have you (or anyone here) been there? Any other tips??
CMH, Emailed, awaiting news on availability &pricing
Alaska: yes I'd love to, but as chief organiser I'm ruling it out on the likelihood of down days, weeks?, ava risks and general safety risks and accessibility. I may be wrong, but I have a forboding feeling about Alaska, and also its simply too bloody expensive to go up there to sit around a cabin at over 1000usd a day
Japan is still on the menu subject to my friend being happy to go there twice
A Canada trip that did 5 days in whistler &5 Cat skiing with one night out in wonderful Vancouver could yet be our own custom designed trip.
Happy days.!!
P.s. Keep those ideas coming, even reading them has me there in deep powder momentarily.... 
P.p.s. If snowheads ever organise a budgeted trip to Alaska... Count me in I just don't want to be the organiser of such a trip for reasons given above.... I'm probably wrong but c'est ca!!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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One word that is conspicuously missing from this thread is "Gulmarg".
I figure it's probably a little too 'wild and unpredictable' for this scenario but it most certainly fits the 'epic' bill!
This is the crux of it really - while the Alps seem wild and extreme compared to home-life, the reality is that the well-oiled alpine ski-industry machine is so well evolved that it's rare for a 'calamitous' event to inconvenience the public for more than a day or 3. "It was a disaster: we didn't even arrive in resort until the following day" rather pales next to, "The road was impassable for 3 weeks because the only digger in the village needed a part".
The element of risk certainly increases epicality but it's tough to balance such risk against having to be back in the office on Monday.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| horgand wrote: |
| ...CMH, Emailed, awaiting news on availability &pricing .... |
CMH is ok, but if you're looking for that then personally I prefer https://www.wiegele.com/ which is a different approach to the same business model. They're both good, but I prefer Wiegele because: (a) unlimited vertical, which affects lots more than one may realize; (b) a larger single tenure gives a bigger pool of people to "group" and zero chance of "running out of fresh tracks"; (c) they run different guides/ groups/ heli ratios. You'll get a mix of small and large helis there (so group sizes of 4/5 or 9/10 depending).
There are a lot of small operators who run only smaller heli; http://eaglepassheliskiing.com is a good example out of Revelstoke.
I've had some epic days there, but all the operators are going to be good - it comes down to the weather and the people.
I would not go there for a week because their main focus is shorter trips.
If AK is too brutal, then Iceland has a heli operator with a late season and it's an easier trip from here. The downside is no trees.
"Gulmarg" - yeah, that would be fun, but a significantly different deal.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| admin wrote: |
One word that is conspicuously missing from this thread is "Gulmarg".
I figure it's probably a little too 'wild and unpredictable' for this scenario but it most certainly fits the 'epic' bill! |
HA! Was reading the thread and about to suggest Gulmarg. I reckon it fits the bill perfectly.
- Great terrain and lots of snow
- Undoubtedly wild and real frontier feel
- Heliskiing there is relatively cheap, and can be tacked on as extra days to fit the weather (they run 2 groups of 4 + guide each per heli, so perfect for group)
- When it snows there's plenty of lift accessed terrain, and if it snows too much for that you can forest laps down from the village with shuttles from a jeep
- Incredible curries
- Monkeys
- One (seriously) luxury hotel with full spa facilities if you need some recovery help as well as a bunch of more normal options (many of which are still enchantingly 'colonial')
- Might see a snow leopard
- Finish of with a night on a house boat on Dal Lake sampling local agricultural products
- Finish off again with the delights of Deli
EDIT: 22 seconds ( ) of my trip here https://www.tetongravity.com/video/ski/kashmir-heliski
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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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Deleted
Last edited by Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see? on Wed 18-10-17 17:21; edited 1 time in total
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Canada in February - has to be Whistler. Best ski resort in the world when the snow is good and its likely to be in February.
Then take a short trip over the border to Mount Baker - by far the biggest snowfall in North America.
Then fly across the Pacific to Japan and ski the slopes with the biggest snowfall on Earth.
Job done.
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