Stories About BC Canada
Where Powder Dreams Are Fulfilled – Helicopter and Snowcat Skiing in British Columbia
By Steven Threndyle
Nothing makes the pulse of skiers and snowboarders race quite like the words "first tracks" - arcing huge, fat turns across a vast canvas of untouched snow. Thanks to the most developed and regulated helicopter and snowcat skiing industry in the world, British Columbia stands alone when it comes to delivering 'powder to the people'. BC-based adventure skiers not only pioneered helicopter and snowcat vacations, they have continuously improved and refined ski vacation options to offer something for everyone.
On the helicopter skiing front, everyone has heard of the big guys – Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing, near Blue River, BC, and Canadian Mountain Holidays (CMH), which operates twelve lodges situated throughout the province. Mike Wiegele and CMH began their operations at about the same time. In 1965, Austrian-Canadian mountain guide Hans Gmoser first used helicopters to explore the Bugaboo mountain range in the heart of the BC Rockies. In 1968, Gmoser's Canadian Mountain Holidays started taking guests into its new lodge for multi-day ski trips. Two years later, Mike Wiegele, yet another Austrian ex-patriot, began flying guests into the Cariboo and Monashee ranges on both sides of the Yellowhead Highway. The early days of helicopter skiing were truly primal – guests often stayed in communal bunks or in winterized trailers at the end of remote logging roads. But both men persevered, and word soon got out that helicopter skiing was 'the ultimate' skiing experience – attracting everyone from European royalty to former Olympic legends.
A decade after Gmoser and Wiegele started their famous rivalry for the hearts (and wallets) of powder hounds, Allan and Brenda Drury utilized slope maintenance machines (snowcats) to access virgin powder in a remote corner of the Selkirk Mountains. Now in its 31st year, Selkirk Wilderness Skiing is at the forefront of an industry that is growing steadily every year and attracting clients from around the globe.
While Mike Wiegele, Canadian Mountain Holidays, and Selkirk Wilderness Skiing have continued to be leaders in their field, they've been joined in the ensuing three decades by more than 30 helicopter and snowcat companies. These organizations utilize a vast canvas of glaciers, meadows, glades and snow slopes that is limited only by the ability (and weather conditions) of a helicopter to fly, or a snowcat to access. They are truly dream merchants – providing one of the best skiing experiences in the entire world.
Super-fat powder skis and snowboards have taken a lot of the pain from skiing untracked snow conditions. If you're a competent intermediate skier at a downhill ski area and arrive in good physical condition, you will thoroughly enjoy powder skiing. CMH and Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing have numerous introductory packages to make first-timers feel at home. These companies specialize in putting powder skiing within reach of the weekend warrior.
So, what does it take to sign up for the 'trip of a lifetime'?
For those who are looking to sample backcountry slopes before committing to a week-long adventure, heli-ski and snowcat operations can be found close to some of BC's best known downhill resorts such as Sun Peaks Resort (Backcountry Cat Adventures), Panorama, (RK Heliski), Red Mountain, (Big Red Cats) Whistler-Blackcomb, (Whistler Heli-Skiing, Blackcomb Powder Cats), Powder Springs (CAT Powder Skiing), and Fernie Alpine Resort (Powder Cowboy Cat Skiing, Island Lake Lodge). At Whitewater near Nelson, five-day packages combine lift skiing at the mountain with snowcat and even helicopter skiing at Valhalla Powdercats.
For more advanced skiers, several new operators are pushing the limits in terms of wild, previously un-skied terrain and are further re-defining the 'ultimate adventure'. A new trend is to match small groups of more hard-core skiers and riders with huge, challenging terrain. The action here is in riding powdery 'pillow-lines' (snow covered rocks that are skied or ridden like a staircase) or straight-lining heart-stopping couloirs.
Whistler-based Sea to Sky Helisports and Megayacht Adventures utilizes the MV Absinthe, a 201 ft. long 'mega yacht' to ferry skiers up remote fjords and inlets into BC's Coast Range. The ‘yacht’ has its own helicopter pad and skiers are whisked off the boat and taken to remote, never-before skied runs tucked into the Coast Range. Pantheon Helisports is based deep in BC's Cariboo Chilcotin Coast region. This region gets significantly drier weather and better powder than the ranges to the west, and is so new that many runs have never been skied before. Located in the wild Coast Range near Tweedsmuir Provincial Park, Bella Coola Heli Sports has been featured in several A-list ski videos with footage starring the best freeskiers and riders in the world. For snowboarders, there's Baldface Mountain Lodge near Nelson BC – a cat-boarding operation that has just opened six luxurious new chalets for its guests this winter – skiers need not worry, they're welcome too. In the Monashee Range, skiers and riders can choose from two snowcat operators – Mustang Powder on the Mustang glacier (in the Anstey range of the Monashees) and Monashee Powder Snowcats, just east of Silver Star Mountain Resort. Mustang Powder specializes in above-treeline skiing and boasts 200 kilometers of cat roads. Now in its fourth season, Mica Heli Skiing (north of Revelstoke) is operated by Dan McDonald, who created the legendary Island Lake Lodge near Fernie. Plunging down powder-caked boulders is what this area of the Rockies is best known for. Two operations are combining both heli and snowcat skiing this winter as well. Snowwater Heli Skiing in the west Kootenays also offers snowcat skiing in case bad weather grounds the helicopter, while Chatter Creek snowcat skiing near Golden is adding helicopter skiing to its already extensive menu of great powder skiing.
Travelers may want to note that prime weeks (mid-January to mid-March) fill up quickly. One alternative is to delay your trip until March or April, when the price is often substantially reduced. These longer spring days have just as much powder (skiing on north-facing aspects), while stable weather often brings sunnier 'bluebird' skies.
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