heli ski high

What Do You Need

What Do You Need

Heli skiing and boarding may be portrayed in extreme films as for experts only, but for us mere mortals the reality is thankfully very different. I am personally not an ex racer, nor an ex freestyler, nor a pro. I am just a very experienced, keen skier, with a hunger for powder and an attitude that seeks thrills and adventure. While heli skiing is certainly not for beginners or under-confident skiers, the wonderful experiences it affords are accessible to anyone capable of tackling with aplomb red and black runs in all conditions.

Speak to the experts at Total Heliski and we’ll soon reassure you that the level of ability needed to heliski or board depends on the type of terrain you’ll be skiing, the level of the other skiers in the group, and the time of year you go. And with the breadth of destinations we offer, there is a location out there that suits your ability perfectly.

Chasing The White Gold Rush - Part II

Chasing The White Gold Rush - Part II

PART 2: REVELSTOKE

Mrs Simpson, wife of Don Simpson, the original visionary and former resort developer of Revelstoke, once described Revelstoke to me as ‘It’s like Aspen was in the 60’s’. Of course, I wasn’t around in the 60’s in Aspen to be able to verify, but it’s a pretty complimentary comparison, and I think I can see why. 2011 marked 125 years of the community of Revelstoke, originally founded as a railway town, when the Canadian Pacific Railway was built through the Selkirk and Monashee mountains, the town soon saw the tourism potential and named Mt Revelstoke a national park in 1914.

Holy Heli Skiing!!!

Holy Heli Skiing!!!

I have written a number of blog posts about my passion for heli skiing and my experiences during my trips. And whenever I speak to people, especially the ones new to heli skiing, I speak to them about what it is like for me to experience the fresh powder when I ski. During one such conversation I said to myself “Hang on a minute. What they really need, is to hear from someone who they don’t consider an expert. They need to hear from someone, who until recently was just as new to heli skiing as they are!”

This got me thinking and I decided to get the thoughts of my client, and friend, Mike who had recently gone on a Total Heliski trip.

A Mid-Summers Ski Dream

A Mid-Summers Ski Dream

Midsummer in the northern hemisphere means lots of outdoor theatre, parties, BBQs, and picnics. But whilst we may be ‘ski-dreaming’ in summer, our operators are investing in improvements for your skiing pleasure.

In BC some heli ski operators conduct a run enhancement program referred to as ‘glading’. Open spaces that occur naturally in the forest are called glades. The operator’s crew goes in and mimics these opens with a specific cutting plan and thus opens the inter tree spacing. The wood, that is cut, is referred to as coarse wood debris and is cut to lie flat on the ground and return to the earth adding to the soil.

From Russia with Love….

From Russia with Love….

I set off for Sochi one January Friday afternoon after my business duties in Moscow with two aims in mind. One to check out Krasnaya Polyana, the Russian ski resort hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics. The other, to go heli skiing Russia- style with the French- owned Russia heliski operator I represent with Total Heliski. I achieved one of the two- you can guess which one.

Sochi is actually a seaside resort on the black sea, on the border of Georgia, a 2hr flight south of Moscow. I disembarked from the dubious sounding airline called ‘S7’ to a temperature about 15 degrees warmer than Moscow. S7 is actually Siberian airlines rebranded, and was surprisingly a very good airline experience going by the crew, interior and food. I was to meet my French guide and another 6 French clients for the weekend.