ChrisC
Well-known member
Very belated, but I thought this trip report might be useful to some contemplating heli vs. guided skiing in the Alps.
My brother Greg really wanted to do a heli day in Europe. I am not sure he fully understood what you could do with a guide in the Chamonix region (Les Grands Montets?!) since he had never skied in Europe. But he loves to get on a heli. (Telluride Helitrax (heli-op in Telluride) giving him free days when seats are open. He then reimburses with goods/service in kind. Barter system. I'm slightly jealous.)
Reservation and Payment Process
I wanted to describe the heli skiing reservation/payment process because it deviates significantly from the US/Canada. Generally, North American operators want you to commit years/months in advance and take most of the payment far up front. Not so with the HeliSki Courmayeur operation. https://www.heliski-courmayeur.com/en/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (It appears Italian heli-skiing throughout the Alps is under a single entity called Heli Guides Group - with offices in major Italian ski centers)
So the strategy was to make a reservation for the first of 2 days we were in Chamonix - thinking if there was bad weather we could rollover to the next day. I was a bit worried of losing any pre-payments - or potential credits that would never get used. However, when we went to make reservation HeliSki Courmayeur did not require any deposit. They just said - there are two other guys who are interested in those dates. OK. We tried a few more times to put a deposit or something down before the actual heli date - wanting almost to secure our reservation. No. We show up the morning of the heli ski date - should we pay before we fly? No. :-k We finish the day. Tipped our guide. Greg - are they going to take our money yet? If not, I say we bolt for the car and drive off. :-D We did pay by that point. Also noticeably absent was any sort of merchandising. Are they running a business? Or is this just Italy??? :-k
Turns out - the heli operations are run more like guide offices. If the helicopter is going is going to fly - the cost is just going to be split across whoever shows up - the max number in your group being 4. Kinda like if you reserved a guide. That said - had the other two guys not shown up, our heli costs would have doubled. :shock: This was all very foreign to us - but it's how this group operates. That being said - you could always make reservations and not show up if weather is less than ideal.
Regulations
Heli-skiing is highly regulated in Europe. France does not even allow it. In Italy, there are specific sports where a heli can land. For HeliSki Courmayeur - they had about 10+ landing sites on the Mont Blanc massif. Our guide saw some areas that looked nice and we did not always land in the 'official' spots. Oops.
Ski Day
The ski operation itself was very well run and professional. Our Italian guide was perhaps more qualified than most North American guides because of European standards of certification - and he was just an all around mountain guy - climbs, skis, tours, etc.
The standard package is 5 runs - however some runs can be nearly 5,500 vertical feet.
Conditions
The snow was excellent - generally 6-12" in most places on a deep base. There were minor areas of wind compaction. The Winter of 2018/19 was epic - almost a once a generation winter for snowfall.
Ski Domain
The heli terrain is located in a valley due south of the Mont Blanc massif, and west of Courmayeur town/ski resort. The valley runs NE to SW - so the terrain faces SE or North.
Mont Blanc from the Italian side of the tunnel - Entreves, Italy ..... or I guess I should be referring to it as Monte Bianco since we are in Italy
Heli
Heli Run #1 - Shoulder/Sub Peak of Mont Blanc 12,050 ft - specifically it is Aiguille de Tré la Tête. We are directly on the French-Italian border. As a reference the summit of Mont Blanc is 15,777 ft. The vertical drop was 5300 ft with a S/SE aspect.
Panorama
The first 1000 ft Wind Packed
Guide
Similar to Mammoth's wind packed snow - but skied consistently. Hey - you are on the highest mountain in Europe.
After the initial pitch - the snow started getting softer and deeper
Guide. Our next run is far right.
Run #2 - Aiguille des Glaciers. The vertical drop was 4100 ft with an E aspect.
Guide scouting out next lines
Runs #3-5. Located on the opposing side of Mont Blanc. The vertical drop ranged from 2400-3000 ft and the aspect was due North. The snow quality and quantity was excellent. The terrain was very steep - especially the initial drop off the ridge.
Mont Blanc in background
A panorama of the heli-ski terrain
Guide
View of runs #1-2 - nearly 5.5k vertical.
Run #3
Next...Run #4
Run #5 - Final Run
Group shot - includes Australian snowboarders.
Ridge
At the end of the ski day the helicopter does not fly you back to the base. Instead, there is a traverse down the valley all the way back to Courmayeur. There is on flat mile where a sled will tow the groups - specifically to Italian restaurants at the base of one of the lifts at the ski resort.
Specifically, the sled ride ended at the restaurant Capitan des Alpes (base of Zerotta ski lift) and we were greeted with complimentary Prosecco and anti-pasta. The initial reaction was - "We didn't order this?" A little different than heli or cat skiing in the backwoods of North America.
The food was outstanding and reasonable - much cheaper than France or Switzerland. Turns out it is one of the better rated restaurants in Courmayeur and they run a snowcat up there in the evenings for patrons.
We finally made it back to the base via traverse from restaurant at 4pm....and proceeded to pack up the car. Finally went into office to try to pay - wtf?! Mission accomplished.
Afterwards we walked around Courmayeur - It's definitely one of the prettiest ski towns in Europe.
An amazing day skiing under Europe's highest mountain!
My brother Greg really wanted to do a heli day in Europe. I am not sure he fully understood what you could do with a guide in the Chamonix region (Les Grands Montets?!) since he had never skied in Europe. But he loves to get on a heli. (Telluride Helitrax (heli-op in Telluride) giving him free days when seats are open. He then reimburses with goods/service in kind. Barter system. I'm slightly jealous.)
Reservation and Payment Process
I wanted to describe the heli skiing reservation/payment process because it deviates significantly from the US/Canada. Generally, North American operators want you to commit years/months in advance and take most of the payment far up front. Not so with the HeliSki Courmayeur operation. https://www.heliski-courmayeur.com/en/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (It appears Italian heli-skiing throughout the Alps is under a single entity called Heli Guides Group - with offices in major Italian ski centers)
So the strategy was to make a reservation for the first of 2 days we were in Chamonix - thinking if there was bad weather we could rollover to the next day. I was a bit worried of losing any pre-payments - or potential credits that would never get used. However, when we went to make reservation HeliSki Courmayeur did not require any deposit. They just said - there are two other guys who are interested in those dates. OK. We tried a few more times to put a deposit or something down before the actual heli date - wanting almost to secure our reservation. No. We show up the morning of the heli ski date - should we pay before we fly? No. :-k We finish the day. Tipped our guide. Greg - are they going to take our money yet? If not, I say we bolt for the car and drive off. :-D We did pay by that point. Also noticeably absent was any sort of merchandising. Are they running a business? Or is this just Italy??? :-k
Turns out - the heli operations are run more like guide offices. If the helicopter is going is going to fly - the cost is just going to be split across whoever shows up - the max number in your group being 4. Kinda like if you reserved a guide. That said - had the other two guys not shown up, our heli costs would have doubled. :shock: This was all very foreign to us - but it's how this group operates. That being said - you could always make reservations and not show up if weather is less than ideal.
Regulations
Heli-skiing is highly regulated in Europe. France does not even allow it. In Italy, there are specific sports where a heli can land. For HeliSki Courmayeur - they had about 10+ landing sites on the Mont Blanc massif. Our guide saw some areas that looked nice and we did not always land in the 'official' spots. Oops.
Ski Day
The ski operation itself was very well run and professional. Our Italian guide was perhaps more qualified than most North American guides because of European standards of certification - and he was just an all around mountain guy - climbs, skis, tours, etc.
The standard package is 5 runs - however some runs can be nearly 5,500 vertical feet.
Conditions
The snow was excellent - generally 6-12" in most places on a deep base. There were minor areas of wind compaction. The Winter of 2018/19 was epic - almost a once a generation winter for snowfall.
Ski Domain
The heli terrain is located in a valley due south of the Mont Blanc massif, and west of Courmayeur town/ski resort. The valley runs NE to SW - so the terrain faces SE or North.
Mont Blanc from the Italian side of the tunnel - Entreves, Italy ..... or I guess I should be referring to it as Monte Bianco since we are in Italy
Heli
Heli Run #1 - Shoulder/Sub Peak of Mont Blanc 12,050 ft - specifically it is Aiguille de Tré la Tête. We are directly on the French-Italian border. As a reference the summit of Mont Blanc is 15,777 ft. The vertical drop was 5300 ft with a S/SE aspect.
Panorama
The first 1000 ft Wind Packed
Guide
Similar to Mammoth's wind packed snow - but skied consistently. Hey - you are on the highest mountain in Europe.
After the initial pitch - the snow started getting softer and deeper
Guide. Our next run is far right.
Run #2 - Aiguille des Glaciers. The vertical drop was 4100 ft with an E aspect.
Guide scouting out next lines
Runs #3-5. Located on the opposing side of Mont Blanc. The vertical drop ranged from 2400-3000 ft and the aspect was due North. The snow quality and quantity was excellent. The terrain was very steep - especially the initial drop off the ridge.
Mont Blanc in background
A panorama of the heli-ski terrain
Guide
View of runs #1-2 - nearly 5.5k vertical.
Run #3
Next...Run #4
Run #5 - Final Run
Group shot - includes Australian snowboarders.
Ridge
At the end of the ski day the helicopter does not fly you back to the base. Instead, there is a traverse down the valley all the way back to Courmayeur. There is on flat mile where a sled will tow the groups - specifically to Italian restaurants at the base of one of the lifts at the ski resort.
Specifically, the sled ride ended at the restaurant Capitan des Alpes (base of Zerotta ski lift) and we were greeted with complimentary Prosecco and anti-pasta. The initial reaction was - "We didn't order this?" A little different than heli or cat skiing in the backwoods of North America.
The food was outstanding and reasonable - much cheaper than France or Switzerland. Turns out it is one of the better rated restaurants in Courmayeur and they run a snowcat up there in the evenings for patrons.
We finally made it back to the base via traverse from restaurant at 4pm....and proceeded to pack up the car. Finally went into office to try to pay - wtf?! Mission accomplished.
Afterwards we walked around Courmayeur - It's definitely one of the prettiest ski towns in Europe.
An amazing day skiing under Europe's highest mountain!
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