Heli-ski operations are sometimes isolated lodges in the mountains, miles from anywhere. That is part of the allure, to be in a part of the world where only you and a hand full of other people are skiing.
One of the deciding factors in choosing where to ski may come down to accessibility of the operation, and how much available time that you have for your holiday. Is it near an international airport and does it require another internal flight, and then more time traveling by vehicle from the airport to the lodge. That is likely.
All operations will list on their FAQ page the logistics involved to get there. To start, I look on the Skyscanner page for international and domestic flights to the closest airport. This will
list the cost and time of various options, including the airports that are on-route. Most heli-ski operations will provide transport from the closest airport.
There are a few operations that have the added incentive of being able to ski on your arrival and departure days.
Bella Coola Heli Sports in British Columbia is one of them. There is a 70 minute internal flight from Vancouver Airport
to Anahim Lake, where you will be met by staff. After a picnic style lunch, there is the safety briefing and then you will ski a number of runs, landing at the lodge at the end of the day in time
for après.
Similarly, at Greenland Heliskiing you will arrive at the airport on a flight from Reykjavik into Iceland and be transferred 5 minutes to the hotel lodge. On arrival you will have the safety brief and be flying in the afternoon.
On the departure day it is not uncommon for guests to ski a number of morning runs and to be dropped off at the airport in their ski boots.
Due to the nature of flying in the mountains, there is no guarantee that you will ski every day of the week. In reality, down days are a part of heli-skiing. Being able to ski on the arrival and departure days are an added bonus to maximize your available ski time.
About the writer
Chuck started out as a skier on the small island of Tasmania riding rope tows with nut crackers. A dream to ski in distant lands took him to Japan and Canada in pursuit of the powder dream. The best place he knew how to ski more powder was to work in the heli-skiing industry. After 4 years of working on the side of heli-ski operation management, he moved in to heli-ski guiding in Canada and New Zealand, where he worked for 9 seasons. He operates Hokkaido Powder Guides on the northern island of Hokkaido during the northern hemisphere winter. He is a qualified ski guide with the New Zealand Mountain Guide Association.
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