Heli Trip

[cswhiteside]

Hi there - new to the forum and looking for help.

Has anyone been on a Heli trip and if so can they recommend their operator?

Not sure if it’s the pandemic or some personal circumstances but at 42 years old I feel like it’s the right time to plan this trip.

It would just be me, husband isn’t at the level he could go Heli-skiing so things that are important to me are nice mix of people (bro culture isn’t for me), good lodge with private rooms, and obviously days in the air/quality of skiing.

Thanks for your help!

 

[RachelV]

I went to PNH in 2016 (I was 35), also by myself, and it was great. It's about as cheap as you can get while still going heliskiing (lol), and that's largely because the accommodations are summer camp-esque, the food is simple food cooked by ski bums, and you buy any alcohol you want to drink in town. So, pretty far from the luxury accommodations you get at the fancier heli ops, but the skiing was great (I mean, it was a weird season weather-wise, the skiing was as good as it could have been and the experience was incredible) and the people were generally very chill and down to earth (with the exception one one group of finance bros, guess you can never escape them completely). I did pay a little extra for a private room.

I had a range of weeks I was willing to go, and I called and talked to them for a while about my ability, the kind of terrain I wanted to ski, and a general preference to ski with women, and a few weeks later I got a call back from Jess (one of the owners) with a suggestion to team up with a group of ladies from Seattle on a certain week. The group turned out great - it was 3 women from Seattle, a woman from Utah who was there with her husband who was in a different group, and me.

I wrote a trip report for Ski Talk (sorry!) back in 2016 that you can read here:

Pacific NW/AK/BC - TR: Points North Heli, April 9-16

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to spend a week at Points North Heli-Adventures, an operation in Cordova, AK, that is owned and operated by Tahoe locals Kevin Quinn and Jessica Sobolowski-Quinn. Short version: IT WAS AMAZING. Totally surreal. Best week ever. Longer version: There were a...

www.skitalk.com

 

[AJM]

I wrote a trip report for Ski Talk (sorry!) back in 2016 that you can read here (I see the images are broken, I'll go back and fix em at some point today):

Oh please do, I'm dying to see them! It sounds like an incredible trip x

 

[AJM]

Hi there - new to the forum and looking for help.

Has anyone been on a Heli trip and if so can they recommend their operator?

Not sure if it’s the pandemic or some personal circumstances but at 42 years old I feel like it’s the right time to plan this trip.

It would just be me, husband isn’t at the level he could go Heli-skiing so things that are important to me are nice mix of people (bro culture isn’t for me), good lodge with private rooms, and obviously days in the air/quality of skiing.

Thanks for your help!

If you were here in NZ I'd have a ton of recommendations but I'm guessing you're not ? A friend did head out with Bela Coola just before the pandemic and had a blast but it was $$$$$

 

[Jilly]

And that makes the question - where are you thinking of...BC, Canada has some of the best!!

 

[RachelV]

Oh please do, I'm dying to see them! It sounds like an incredible trip x

Done. It was an incredible trip. I haven't gone again just because it's expensive, and a bit of a roll of the dice, conditions-wise. I feel very lucky to have had the experience I had.

FWIW, I don't know that much about it, but I do hear that interior BC help trips are a lot more reliable than Alaska if you're looking strictly at "will weather stop me from skiing".

 

[AJM]

Done. It was an incredible trip. I haven't gone again just because it's expensive, and a bit of a roll of the dice, conditions-wise. I feel very lucky to have had the experience I had.

FWIW, I don't know that much about it, but I do hear that interior BC help trips are a lot more reliable than Alaska if you're looking strictly at "will weather stop me from skiing".

WOW that looks incredible !!!
That second video looked sublime.

If I didnt know it was Alaska I would've sworn it was NZ Heli terrain and before anyone goes Yeah Nah our Heli terrain is BIG, our ski areas might not be but the actual Southern Alps are massive.

I'd be terrified of the slough, we were allowed to go on a patrol guided run last season on one of the big faces at our local and it hadnt been skied on all season so was super sloughy, even the traverse line out was throwing dinner plate sized chunks down on to us due to a couple of guys traversing above us which was a little unnerving.

I think all heli trips are a bit of a roll the dice situation, its so hard to book and plan in advance so you can the best conditions.
Hubby who's a keen (too keen at times) heliskier generally leaves it until a day or so before to book so he can get the best conditions and weather but that strategy dosent work for everyone as you have to able to drop everything and go.

Good luck @cswhiteside I hope someone gives you better intel than I can and I cant wait to see where you go x

 

[cswhiteside]

Thanks for your detailed post @RachelV i hadn’t even thought of Alaska. Had only really been considering BC. Seems like as a ‘single’ finding a trip is a bit of a problem but I will message back if/when I book something!

 

[elemmac]

I've been on two separate day trips and one 4-day trip. The two 1-day trips were amazing (Portillo and Shiribetsu in Japan). The 4-day trip (Iceland) was one day of amazing skiing but then had it's struggles...wind. We only flew 1 out of 4 days.

I may not be able to give advice on what trip to take and operators to look at, but I will give advice on a few things to consider and look at...
- Take a close look at down-day activities. One day hanging out in the lodge/hotel isn't bad...but definitely consider how bored you might get if it last 2, 3, or 4 days. Keep in mind that when the helicopter won't fly due to wind, there's a chance that there are wind holds at local resorts (if that's a down-day option). Touring, snowshoeing or XC might not be fun if the weather is that bad. If you can't fly only because of snow...this is your best case down day.
- Read the cancellation policy and refund policy carefully on what happens if you don't fly or don't meet your guaranteed hours. The refund policy is not standard between operators...some won't offer anything, some will offer a small refund based on flight hours not flown (or vertical feet not skied). Consider worst case scenario (you don't fly at all), and if this cancellation policy will be acceptable. Basically, read the fine print...I am one of the guiltiest when it come to just checking the little box and hitting okay...this is one time you want to read carefully and ask questions.

I don't want this all to seem doom and gloom for heli-skiing. Its an amazing experience, and it ill guarantee you some of the best runs of your life (or at least some of the most memorable). But these two items above are things I didn't think much about until they were relevant, so I feel like they are very much worth mentioning.

I will also add that there are heli trips for a wide range of abilities (intermediate through pro)...they're not all expert style trips. Just wanted to mention this in case there is interest in your husband going with you. Of course, if you are at a higher level and want to ski to the top end of your abilities, that's awesome too...and great that you're willing to travel solo!

Lastly, report back on how it goes and post lots of photos!

 

[cswhiteside]

I've been on two separate day trips and one 4-day trip. The two 1-day trips were amazing (Portillo and Shiribetsu in Japan). The 4-day trip (Iceland) was one day of amazing skiing but then had it's struggles...wind. We only flew 1 out of 4 days.

I may not be able to give advice on what trip to take and operators to look at, but I will give advice on a few things to consider and look at...
- Take a close look at down-day activities. One day hanging out in the lodge/hotel isn't bad...but definitely consider how bored you might get if it last 2, 3, or 4 days. Keep in mind that when the helicopter won't fly due to wind, there's a chance that there are wind holds at local resorts (if that's a down-day option). Touring, snowshoeing or XC might not be fun if the weather is that bad. If you can't fly only because of snow...this is your best case down day.
- Read the cancellation policy and refund policy carefully on what happens if you don't fly or don't meet your guaranteed hours. The refund policy is not standard between operators...some won't offer anything, some will offer a small refund based on flight hours not flown (or vertical feet not skied). Consider worst case scenario (you don't fly at all), and if this cancellation policy will be acceptable. Basically, read the fine print...I am one of the guiltiest when it come to just checking the little box and hitting okay...this is one time you want to read carefully and ask questions.

I don't want this all to seem doom and gloom for heli-skiing. Its an amazing experience, and it ill guarantee you some of the best runs of your life (or at least some of the most memorable). But these two items above are things I didn't think much about until they were relevant, so I feel like they are very much worth mentioning.

I will also add that there are heli trips for a wide range of abilities (intermediate through pro)...they're not all expert style trips. Just wanted to mention this in case there is interest in your husband going with you. Of course, if you are at a higher level and want to ski to the top end of your abilities, that's awesome too...and great that you're willing to travel solo!

Lastly, report back on how it goes and post lots of photos!

This is really valuable info. Thank you. Hadn’t thought about down day activities but I should definitely spend time looking at those policies.

Hubs only started skiing 5 years ago and feels most confident on greens and very wide blue cruisers. Whilst I love him dearly, he would not have the confidence to do this sort of trip.

Thanks again!!

 

[Jilly]

Maybe then Panorama. RK Heli is on the same site. Hubs could ski groomers and you can ski pow!

Welcome | RK. Heliski | Daily & Private Small Group Heli-Skiing | Panorama BC Canada

www.rkheliski.com

 

[cswhiteside]

Damn. There’s an idea! Cool. Thanks

 

[Jilly]

Damn. There’s an idea! Cool. Thanks

Unless this was supposed to be a solo trip, lol.

 

[elemmac]

This is really valuable info. Thank you. Hadn’t thought about down day activities but I should definitely spend time looking at those policies.

One of the nice things about BC, instead of AK (or Iceland) is that there are some operations that offer both heliskiing and cat skiing...so making the most of down days...you could be cat skiing, not a bad trade-off in my opinion. I've heard this is one of the best ways to make sure you get good skiing in regardless of the weather.

 

[Jilly]

That's the advantage of RK being right at Panorama. Resort ski or Heli ski.