Best Heli-Skiing Series:
The Best Short Heli-Skiing Trips – Coast Range
HELISKI.com clients often ask us to put together the best short heli-skiing trips. This usually includes 3 or 4 days of heli-skiing with minimal travel time and minimal risk. For some, it is more about getting the best deal. Others want to combine heli-skiing and resort skiing.
Here we discuss the best short heli-skiing trips to destination lodges. Here we discuss the best short heli-skiing trips to destination lodges in the Coast Range. In future posts, we will offer advice for the best heli-skiing in and around Revelstoke, Southeastern BC, and the best heli-skiing combined with resort skiing and boarding.
Travel Time
Travel time is often paramount. Many clients need to minimize their time away from the office and the family. So our list includes options with the most convenient travel, as well as the most reliable. Not all airports are created equally when it comes to flight cancellations.
Convenience
If convenience is very important, we recommend operators that pick up clients at the airport. Renting a car and driving on unfamiliar roads introduces hassle and risk that some clients would rather avoid. And some clients hate buses.
Heli Skiing Cost
Cost is also a factor for some. Unfortunately, the price-quantity curve dictates that the best deals are for the longer trips. But we have some alternatives for clients looking to stretch their dollars. There are also trade-offs between unlimited vertical options and fixed-price plus extra vertical.
Down Day Risk
A down day on a 7-day trip is not the end of the world. Re-group, rest, recuperate and enjoy some other activity. But a down day on a 3 day trip is a disaster. So our recommendations include operators with very few down days, as well as those with catskiing and resort backup.
The Best Short Heli-Skiing Trips – Coast Range
Northern Escape Heli-Skiing – One of the Best for Easy Access
Northern Escape Heli-Skiing is an excellent choice for short trips. NEH is located just 20 minutes from the Terrace BC airport. Guests can leave San Francisco at noon and easily make dinner at the lodge! Another great feature at NEH is cat backup. NEH guests ski even when the chopper cannot fly.
Northern Escape also offers a unique Vertical Option. For a few hundred dollars per day, committed in advance, clients can add unlimited vertical to any package. One catch – guests must decide in advance to add the unlimited vertical option.
Bella Coola Heli-Skiing Guests Make Turns on Arrival and Departure Days
Bella Coola Heli-Skiing has a unique travel set-up that works great for short heliski trips. Guests can heli-ski on BOTH Arrival and Departure Days! This is how it works: after staying the night in Vancouver, guests take a 70 minute, mid-morning flight to Bella Coola. On arrival, lodge staff provide a picnic lunch, followed by a safety briefing from the guiding team. Once this is completed, guests heliski their way from the airport to the lodge. Departure Day is just as cool. Guests heliski their way to the airport, arriving about lunch time. Since the flight arrives back in Vancouver around 2pm, guests are able to fly home that evening!
And airfare is included in their prices. On a 3-night trip, guests ski two full days and two half days. 4-night trips include three full days and two half days of heli-skiing. Cool, eh?
Bella Coola Heli-Skiing also has two packages for short trips. Tweedsmuir Lodge is their classic remote lodge experience. Big Mountain is hotel lodging, no frills and attractive pricing. By the way, BCHS uses the same approach on their longer heli-skiing trips, too.
Let me know and I will put together the best options for your short (or long) heliskiing trip.
Best,
tj
