Heli Skiing

Huckit35

Member
Looking to go Helicopter skiing in early February, with my dad. Was wondering what information, if any, you guys could give me. My dad and I are both advanced skiers looking for deep powder. Again, im going with my dad. He is a damn good skier, but not in the best shape. I know powder requires you to be in good shape just thought id throw that out there too. Thanks for the help.
 
Currently,no where in the U.S thats for sure but I would go to Europe if they have some companies that do heli skiing out there
 
well alaska would be the best place to go, dont know how their snow is right now. check out helitrax at telluride. some places in B.C. also have some heliskiing. check it out.
 
mica heli in bc and mike weigele heliski

i went to weigele with my dad for a trip and ihave to say it was the best 5 days of my life, that place is so fucking sick
 
I seem to remember that there was some half of deal if you were between like 13-20? or something like that. anyone know where this was?
 
heli skiing is pretty hit and miss because of the shitty weather in the region where they do that. I would suggest you go cat skiing. its cheaper, usually has a better living situation, and the terrain will be pretty comparable to what you would be skiing with a heli.

That said, http://alaskaheliskiing.com/ is the place that TGR uses most of the time. Its no frills though, but the guide/pilot will get you into some really cool zones if you want.

But i would suggest something in the continental USA just because of the better weather, and more flyable days.
 
the area around Golden BC has some good heliskiing. thats where i went when i took a trip out therr wit friends and family. had a great day of helishredddinn
 
Hey guys,

Yeah, father/son trips are pretty cool...we're seeing more of it happening. Cool for the kid cos he/she gets to go heli, cool for the parents because they can have quality family time!

Drail's comments are fairly spot on, though I do disagree with "guaranteed vertical", at least in relation to our operation. We offer Unlimited Vertical because it is the best option for our guests as we almost never have down days and we ski a lot! If we did charge for extra vertical, guests would be hit with a big bill at the end of their trip (as an example, in just 6 days of skiing, our AVERAGE group skis 141,000ft / 43,000m...and good groups can do MUCH more. So Unlimited Vertical saves them lots of money!). In fact we only average 2 in a whole winter! Last year when we got puked on by La Nina, we still got tonnes of skiing in with only THREE down days all winter. There are a number of reasons we have such an enviable fly day record; our lodge is in the middle of our terrain, we have awesome runs near-by (so if there's a clearing we can bomb out quickly), we have SICK burnt forests where we can get into steep terrain and the burnt trees give skiers and importantly pilots points of reference so we can fly when others call a down day. Another huge advantage is that we ski exclusively in Small Groups, so we can mobilise very quickly if the weather improves. We don't do snowcat backup because we just don't need it (and we still get tons f snow...about 46ft every winter)!

And there's no question, small groups are the way to go....... you don't see any new companies starting up that choose big groups over small groups! If its just you and your dad coming, you already make up 50% of the group (ie we ski in groups of 4). So it's easy to go at the pace that you want....you can bomb it, or take it a bit slower for your dad (he can ride the more open terrain, you can hit our pillows and mushrooms!)

Huckit35 and TWA - With modern skis people are floating a lot more than when people were skiing on 220s! So they don't get as tired. And again, because we are in small groups, it's easier to set a comfortable pace and get matched with others that want to go the same pace (best thing is to bring one of your buddies and his dad to make your own private group of 4!). Another thought, if fitness is a main concern, we offer trips of any duration....so you could come for say 2 or 3 or 4 days so dad doesn't burn out! You could do a few days with us and also a couple days of wicked resort skiing at Revelstoke or Kicking Horse.

Oh by the way, we've got tonnes of snow right now..... about a 6foot BASE!! Check our Facebook page for recent pix.

Any questions, send me an email!
 
I went with RK heli a few weeks ago . It a really great experience. For me i would have rather been touring and being able to choose A. where i wanted to ski on the slope we were skiing and B. the aspect and type of skiing we were doing. It was a last minute deal and there was zero new snow in forever! Based on the terrain i was offered( equivalent to blue runs, i would have skied everything switch not a problem) and the snow ( not their fault ) not sure i would with RK heli. On the plus side they did have great guides and the pilot was awesome .
 
that's just the nature of the beast though. Unless you are doing a multi day package it's tough to get the goods right way. A guide isn't going to take guests to the gnar without figuring out if you're able or not. Plus there's the issue of avy conditions. Granted - I've never actually been heli skiing, but I've done my fair share of cat skiing and there's only been one time while cat skiing that we actually got to ski some really aggressive terrain (we also filled the cat with very experienced skiers and the guides were our friends and knew our capabilities).

safety first.
 
If you are going to spend the money, Haines or Valdez are the places to go no doubt. I live in Juneau and I can tell you, Southeast Alaska, which includes Haines, has had one of the best early season with snow in recent history this year (even though ive been going to school in Salt Lake City and kicking myself in the ass every day seeing epic facebook photos from my friends).

I am biased because I am going to heli ski guide school in Haines this spring, and its 70 miles from my house, but I can guarantee you will not be disappointed. Look into Alaska Heli Skiing in Haines. And stay at the Funny Farm if you can, awesome people!

I am sure B.C. would be an awesome time too.
 
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