Heli Skiing Trips + Resort Skiing Trips
Heli skiing trips plus resort skiing trips is next our series on the best heli skiing trips. Heliski.com clients often ask us to put together the best short heli skiing trips. This usually includes 3 or 4 days of heliskiing with minimal travel time and minimal risk. For some, it is more about getting the best deal. Others want to combine heli skiing trips and resort skiing.
Also check out our previous articles:
Revelstoke’s Best Short Heli Skiing Trips
Best Short Heliskiing Trips – Coast Range
Best Short Heli-Skiing Trips – SE British Columbia
Best Short Resort + Heli Skiing Trips
Here we discuss the best short heli skiing trips combined with Resort skiing.
Travel Time / Convenience
When combining resort skiing and heli skiing, minimizing travel time can save a day on the snow. Having said that, some prefer a day off.
Starting at a resort can help heliskiers get acclimated to the Pacific Time Zone.The is true specially for Europeans.
Short Heli Skiing Trips Cost
Another advantage to combining resort and heli-skiing trips is reducing the total cost.
Warming Up for Heli Skiing
Many HELISKI.com clients would like to get their ski legs before jumping into a helicopter. Combining resort and heli skiing trips is the obvious choice.
Whistler / Blackcomb Resort + Heli Skiing Trips
Whistler is probably the resort most commonly used to warm up before a destination heliskiing trip. Heliskiers connect through Vancouver on the way to all five of the Coast Range Heliskiing operators. And Vancouver is only an hour and a half away. For short trips including Whistler, consider Bella Coola Heliskiing, Northern Escape Heliskiing and TLH Heliskiing.
The Best Short Heli Skiing Trips – Resort + Heliski
Combo trips with BCHS and Whistler work really well. in fact, we have many clients that do a pre- or post- Whistler trip.
There’s busses that leave from YVR every hour to Whistler, so transfers are super easy. Guests could sleep the night in Whistler, take the morning shuttle to YVR to meet the flight to Bella Coola, and be heli-skiing the longest descents in North America that afternoon.
A sample 7 night combo could look like this:
Day 1) Take a shuttle from YVR up the scenic Sea to Sky Highway to Whistler. Potential to ski in the afternoon
Day 2) Ski Whistler-Blackcomb
Day 3) Ski Whistler-Blackcomb
Day 4) Take the bus from Whistler to Vancouver Airport South Terminal for mid-morning flight to Bella Coola (70 minutes). After lunch and the safety briefing, heli-ski the rest of the afternoon
Day 5) Heli-skiing the epic terrain of the Coast Range
Day 6) Heli-skiing the epic terrain of the Coast Range
Day 7) Heli-skiing the epic terrain of the Coast Range
Day 8) Spend the morning heli-skiing the way to the Airport. On arrival, the guests luggage will be waiting so that they can change clothes for the short flight back to Vancouver, arriving around 2pm. Guests can then fly home that same evening!
Therefore a 7 night trip will give people 2-2.5 days of resort skiing and 5 days of heli-skiing (2 half-days and 3 full days). Not bad!
Great Canadian Heli-Skiing makes this list as well. Golden is home to Great Canadian Heli Skiing and Kicking Horse ‘The Jackson Hole of Canada.’ So it’s a great combination of terrain and easy travel.
- Great Canadian Heli-Skiing will accommodate your group for as many days as you like, starting and stopping on any day.
- All heliskiing is unlimited vertical at GCH, too.
- 6 groups of 4 in an A-Star, so you can find a group with similar ability and aggressiveness
TLH Heli Skiing Tenure is just North of Whistler. A shuttle takes guests from Whistler to Pemberton, where short hop by a chartered plane completes the flight to the lodge. TLH is unlimited vertical, and just one group per helicopter!
TLH / Whistler Heli Skiing
Combo Package can include: Unlimited Vertical Heli Skiing trips at TLH
- 4 nights’ accommodation at Tyax Wilderness Resort & Spa
- 3 nights’ accommodation in Whistler, BC
- 1 night accommodation in Vancouver, BC
- Transportation from Vancouver to Whistler, Whistler to TLH and return to Vancouver (combination of land and air)
- 2 day lift pass for Whistler-Blackcomb Resort
- All gourmet meals at TLH
Northern Escape Heli-Skiing is just 20 minutes from the Terrace airport. So getting from Whistler to the lodge is very easy and convenient. It is possible to ski Whistler Blackcomb in the morning, and have dinner at the Northern Escape Heli Skiing lodge.
Snowwater Heli Skiing has a resort / catskiing / heli skiing trip combo that is unique. It’s called the Kootenay Sampler.
One Resort day, 2 Catskiing days, 3 or 4 heliskiing days.
I have not done the Sampler, but I have heliskied with them, which was great. And the lodge is a ton of fun.
THE PEAK SEASON KOOTENAY HELI SKIING TRIPS INCLUDE:
DAY 1
– your trip starts with a night at the Prestige Resort in Rossland
– breakfast voucher for ski hill in the morning is included
– a day pass for Red Resort ski area
DAY 2 and 3
– 3 nights accommodation at Nelson’s Lakeside Prestige Resort and Convention Centre
– 2 days snowcat at their sister company, Valhalla Powdercats, lunch and morning snacks included
– breakfast at Prestige Resort in Nelson
DAY 4
– breakfast at Prestige Resort in Nelson
– pass for Ainsworth Hot Springs Caves and Mineral Baths.
DAY 5, 6 and 7
– 3 or 4 days of heli skiing with Snowwater Heli Skiing
– 3 groups of 4
– UNLIMITED VERTICAL!
– all alcohol (except cellared wine and premium liquor)
– 3 nights accommodation at Snowwater Lodge
– 3 delicious meals a day for the length of your Snowwater stay
– personal safety backpack with avalanche probe, shovel and water bottle
– use of digital barryvox avalanche transceiver
– avalanche safety and transceiver training
– helicopter safety briefing
– specially selected poles and fat powder skis
– transfer to and from the lodge from the base office.
Honorable Mention Heli Skiing Trips
Last Frontier Heliskiing, for the ultimate warm up plus a full 7-day package. 3 days at Whistler, 1 in Vancouver, and 7 days heliskiing at the Bell 2 Lodge. It looks like this:
Let us know if we can assist with recommendations for the best BC heli skiing trips!
tj
