Today's Question What is the number one backcountry skill people should learn? answer 
Today's Question What are the greenest colleges? answer 
Online FavoritesSpecial Issues
Photo Galleries |
Dispatches: Heli-Skiing The Great Ungroomed Let's be honest: Heli-skiing means blowing a significant sum—you'll typically drop at least five grand per week. Like all the finer things in life, however, it's not about the cost. It's about what you get for your money. And with more than three dozen outfitters now operating in North America, you can practically handpick the accoutrements that will make up your dream ski odyssey. Just grab your gear and go. By Christopher Solomon
Forty years ago, Hans Gmoser founded the world's first heli-skiing lodge, in British Columbia's Bugaboo Mountains. It still remains the crown jewel of Canadian Mountain Holidays' dozen outposts. Why? See the granite needles of Hound's Tooth and Marmolata Spire piercing Bugaboo Glacier, beyond the dining room window? You'll be making turns beneath them an hour after breakfast. US$6,333 per week; 800-661-0252, www.cmhski.com. At Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing's 35-year-old compound, in Blue River, B.C., captains of global industry conclude powder days with caviar-sprinkled dinners. But every last dirtbag would sell his mother to ski "Wiegele World"—3,000 square miles of the snow-smothered Cariboo and Monashee ranges. In December, Wiegele opens Albreda Lodge, an intimate 18-room inn about 25 miles north of Blue River. Prices start at US$5,042 per week at the Blue River compound, and US$7,022 per week at Albreda Lodge; 800-661-9170, www.wiegele.com. NEW FACES Runs on the peaks of the Pantheon Range, on the inland side of B.C.'s Coast Mountains, average a thigh-frying 3,500 vertical feet. Brand-new Pantheon Heli continues the extreme-frontier theme into the evening, when skiers gather to eat at communal tables on a 1,300-acre working cattle ranch–cum–lodge that generates its own power. US$8,500 per week; 520-465-2924, www.pantheonheli.com. The owners of Dream Catcher Heliskiing did their homework before choosing Bella Coola, in B.C.'s central Coast Mountains, to set up shop last winter. It shows: You'll touch down atop 70 feet of annual snowfall and point your skis toward the whales playing in the water of South Bentinck Arm, 4,000 feet below. US$6,008 per week; 403-762-0435, www.dreamcatcherheliskiing.com.
|
Resort Finderadvertisement
 
 
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
More From Outside Online
Outside Exclusives
Ask the Experts
Outside Features
Outside Photo Galleries
Top Gear
- Climbing Gear Reviews
- Mountain Bike Reviews
- Ski Gear Reviews
- Sleeping Bag Reviews
- Trail Runner Reviews
Personalities & Profiles
Outside Blogs
Outside Classics
- Home |
- Travel |
- Gear |
- Bodywork |
- Culture |
- Videos |
- Ski |
- Photos |
- Archives |
- Feedback |
- RSS Feeds |
- Subscribe to Outside Magazine
©1994-2009 Mariah Media Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction of material from any pages without written permission is strictly prohibited.
Reproduction of material from any pages without written permission is strictly prohibited.