heli skiing in '06

[Anonymous]

What are peoople's( eg Tony and Marc ) recommendations for heli skiing next year. Speciffically we'd be a group of about 6 to 7 guys. We regularly ski Alta/Snowbird. (Several of us caught 2/15 there, and that was great. Marc I tried to give you a call on 3/13 on Sat 2/12, at ~900 , but maybe you were not there yet.)
Anyway, we're generally strong skiers, enjoying the circue , great scott, high rustler, and POWDER. We're in our 40's and not interested in "hucking" big cliffs. And for powder I find regulator johnson or sunspot a very good steepness for getting into a rhythm.

We'd be traveling from around the country, for 5-7 days of heli skiing. We're interested in choosing an area with the greatest likelyhood of great powder skiing. We've considered areas with heli ski attached eg snowbird or teluride and skiing the area during snow days, or "pure" heli areas eg CMH or Weigle. We've stayed for years at the Peruvian, enjoying the "value", ski lodge ambience and food.

We're very interested in recommendations for location and dates.

Thanks very much,
Jon

 

[Admin]

I'd have to defer to Tony on this one. Any comments from me would be pure speculation.

 

[hamdog]

how about those friggin idiots bombing the bc in UT? this has some bc enthusiasts rather "upset". :evil:
don't support these clowns! WPG
go to AK and far away from where anyone could possibly be touring.
......or get some skins and earn your turns.

 

[Cannonball]

I went through the same decision making process recently and ended up going with Chugach Powder Guides out of Girdwood, AK. I can't imagine how it could have been better. They have a huge permit area, with exposures in every direction to choose from. The AK snowpack is very stable, so steeper pitches are available even on new snow days. The terrain is a good mix moderate to very steep, with everything from massive open faces, to chutes, to trees. The elevation is moderate <6K' so acclimitization is not a real issue. The guides are a fantastic, down-to-earth group.

But the biggest reason we went with CPG (and why other resort-based companies are good too) is the garuntee that you will get turns in under almost any conditions. The biggest down side to Valdez (and maybe Weigle and CMH too) is that you pray and pray for snow....and then you get it....and that means you can't fly. Then you are stuck with nothing to do but hope it let's up so you can actually get out there. I'm sure Weigle's lodge is spectacular enough that being snowed in could be OK, but after 24 hours in Valdez -- well, let's just say it gets ugly. When we arrived in Girdwood it was dumping 3" per hour. We knew right away that we wouldn't be flying the next day. But we got up early and grabbed our comp passess to Alyeska, and rode waist deep fluff all day. This kept up for 3 days. It was really hard to get depressed about not flying while we scored endless untracked in the Christmas and New Years chutes. On the forth day we woke up to blinding blue skies. For the next 4 days fly in and out of endless glacier filled valleys and peaks. Almost every run had incredible view of the Chugach range right down to waters of Turnagain arm. (See pics below)

One more thing. Girdwood is only about 30 miles south of Anchorage, and puts you in stricking distance for a million other activities fishing, kayaking, hiking, etc, etc.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I wrote an FTO article a couple of years back discussing some of the issues, but mostly in the context of heli vs. snowcat: http://www.firsttracksonline.com/helivscat.htm .

I have done 8 days of heli with 6 different operators and 19 days of snowcat with 7 operators. All have been one to three day trips.

The next couple of years, on the Warren Miller theory (if you don't do it now, you'll be one year older when you do) I will be trying the one week heli trips.

Since you're contemplating 5-7 days, you should definitely go to a dedicated heli operator in Canada or Alaska. The day operators near resorts tend to get a lot of first timers, so you wind up with just a few runs and about 10K vertical, no more than you would get on a snowcat, but for more $ and probably less exciting terrain. I do go to Snowbird every year, and one year some of our group had a day with WPG. Their terrain is plenty steep, but you do about 15K for $795.

Cannonball's analysis of Alaska is pretty good. Chugash Powder Guides snowcat and lift service backup are quite attractive. I'm also considering Points North in Cordova, which charges just for lodging and minimal heli hours, and you pay the big $ only if you get clear flying weather. They also have some alternate activities. Alaska will probably be 2007. April is the prime month.

Next year I'm probably going to try Wiegele. They have access to both the alpine-oriented Cariboos and the tree-oriented Monashees. Wiegele is expensive, but does not charge for extra vertical if you get a big week.

You should definitely read the CMH manual. They have many areas and discuss the relative merits of remote lodge vs. town base, alpine vs. tree-skiing. These issues depend upon your personal preferences. The tree-oriented places tend to be lower and are best in January/February. If it's mostly high alpine, go for February to mid-April.

Another issue is big operator (CMH or Wiegele) vs. small or new operation. With a group of 6 or 7 you may have better luck getting in with a new operator for a popular week. Operations also vary by size of group (4 in an A-Star, 10 or 11 in the bigger ships) and number of groups per helicopter. Private groups (one per chopper) cost extra.