Some great deals are still to be found, especially in January. We started posting them on the Heliski Forum at HELISKI.com
Crescent Spur has a great 5-day, 6-night packages in January for only $5639 US. Check it out.
Northern Escape has some prime weeks just come free. Check them out.
Snowwater Heli-skiing has a thing called the Kootenay Sampler, 2 days resort, 2 days catskiing and 2 or 3 days heliskiing from $3300 Canadian. Check it out.
Stay tuned for more.
There was for a brief period.
We would be happy to offer alternatives, based you your requirements. Just answer a few questions, and we will get to work for you. Oh, yea, it’s free to you. The operators pay us a commission and take us heli skiing for free! We have over 25 years and thousands of happy client experiences.
If you want untracked in Lake Tahoe, you can try catskiing with Pacific Snow Crest or Homewood Snowcat Adventures.
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Unleash the Inner Powder Hound:
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Embark on your heli-skiing adventure in Lake Tahoe and discover a winter wonderland unlike any other. The untouched powder, breathtaking scenery, and exhilarating freedom await. Remember, Tahoe’s secret stashes are calling – are you ready to answer?
We are working with a couple who want to go helicopter skiing in early December. Most heliski operators start the season after Christmas or New Years. (In fact some have great deals on heli skiing around New Years and early January.
As it turns out, we found some great options with both Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing, Canadian Mountain Holidays (CMH) and Northern Escape offer heliskiing trips are available starting the last week of November!
The resort-based heli-skiing operators start around mid December. These include Helitrax Heliskiing Telluride, Whistler Heliskiing and Powderbird in Snowbird, UT.
Resort + heliski options are available early season from Great Canadian Heliskiing, Snowwater Heli Skiing, Eagle Pass Heli-Skiing to name a few. Snowwater and Northern Escape also offer catskiing combined with heliskiing.
So, it’s never too early to heliski!
Google can’t decide. The number of searches for heli ski and heli ski are the same, indicating that Google does not differentiate between the two spellings. So heli-ski and heli ski show up as one term in their search stats.
Canadian Mountain Holidays (CMH Heli-Ski) invented helicopter skiing…..and they use Heli-ski and heli-boarding. But most operators eschew the hyphen and the space….go figure.
In terms of search popularity, heliski trumps heli ski and heli-ski combined, 18,000 searches/mo. to 12,000 in all search engines – good news for the recently launched HELISKI.com. The bad news is that more sites are competing to be listed in search engine results for heliski than for heli ski and heli-ski combined. And the search results show a difference. Search for heli ski in Google returns 663,000 results. For heliski, only 227,000 results.
The same is true for heli skiing, heli-skiing and heliskiing. The space and hyphen return 483,000, heliskiing 418,000. Not much difference, but it looks like the space is more popular than the hyphen.
One thing is certain…….
Untracked powder, all day, with your buddies and a helicopter lift…
by any other name, would be as SWEET!
We are getting lots of requests from customers who want to heli ski combined with resort skiing and/or cat skiing.
Many are looking to try helicopter skiing or heliboarding for the first time while on a resort ski trip. It’s easy to add a day or two at Whistler, Snowbird/Alta, Telluride, Sun Valley or just about any resort in SE British Columbia. It’s roughly $1000.
Some want to do some heliskiing without spending $6K+. By combining heliskiing with catskiing or resort skiing, you can cut the price in half.
Others are not in shape to heli ski every day for a week; others want the option to ski the result if the weather turns bad. For the same reasons, some want cat skiing as a warm up, or as a fall-back the heliskiing suffers a down day.
We now have multiple heli-ski operators with combinations to offer. They vary in trip duration and the combination of days. Shoulder seasons are less expensive. We recommend resort and catskiing first, so that your legs are in shape for the heli-ski days. Also, it’s hard to sit on a chairlift the day after heliskiing……..
Q: When heli skiing Canada, does it make more sense to pay for unlimited vertical , or to pay as you go for extra vertical?
A: It depends.
Unlimited vertical appeals to those who like certainty, ski like hell, or both.
For many BC heliskiing operators, unlimited vertical is the standard including Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing, Great Canadian Heli-Skiing, Snowwater Heliskiing, TLH Heliskiing and now Eagle Pass Heliskiing and Heliboarding. There is no stressing over how much you have skied, and no surprises at checkout (other than your bar tab). Proponents appreciate that there is no stress about racking up the vertical throughout the week; and no $1-3K bill at checkout. Northern Escape Heli-Skiing now offers unlimited vertical as an option, for a higher base rate.
Detractors point out that unlimited vertical lacks goal congruence with the operator. The hourly expense of the helicopter provides a huge economic incentive for operators to shorten the day. Some think it may tempt operators to call it early, take a long lunch, start late, etc. or even to call a ‘down day’ early. The operator has your money and a disincentive to fly.
Operators who offer a basic price with extra vertical charges point out that paying in advance for unlimited vertical can be very expensive if you don’t have a great week. It can result in a much higher price per run or per vertical foot. For some, the break-even point can be over 200,000 vertical in a week, although prices and extra vertical fees vary.
Another consideration is the date of the trip. Unlimited vertical in Northern British Columbia in January is limited by the hours of daylight. And conversely, unlimited Alaska heliskiing in April could go on for 16 hours…..
We encourage clients to do the math before booking (or HELISKI.com will do it for you). These minimums and extra vertical fees vary (not to mention the math converting currency and meters vs. feet). Let us know if we can help. 866-HELISKI
We will help you decide which is the best heliskiing deal for your group.
One of my favorite operators has a low base price and a low vertical charge. I calculate that you can get twice the guaranteed vertical for the same price that another operator charges for unlimited vertical.
Like I used to say to my ex, “Do the math.” Then decide what’s best for your group.
PS. Operators vary widely on their willingness to accommodate clients for missed vertical. In fact, some operators have been known to start late and quit early to minimize helicopter expenses.
PSS. Some packages include unlimited vertical. In fact, a couple of operators offer unlimited vertical on every package! Others offer it during the early and late season. It may be built into a higher price. It is worth shopping around.
Best Regards,
tj
Tom Jackson
CPO (Chief Powder Officer)
HELISKI.com
HeliskiingReview.com
WhistlerHeliski.com
866-HELISKI
(866-435-4754)
Expert Advice – Knowledge is Powder
Years ago I was sitting in a remodeled gas station in a remote corner of British Columbia. Fog from the nearby river combined with low clouds to keep our helicopter grounded. Our hosts suggested a road trip to Alaska so that we could say we had been there……I passed.
I said to the person across from me, “I wish I could talk to someone who has been to these places before I book.” That was the genesis of the first helicopter skiing review site, HeliskiingReview.com. It offers objective reviews and advice, based on both my heli skiing experiences and those of many others.
From that modest beginning, Heliskiing Review has grown to be the biggest directory of heliskiing Canada operators. In later years, we added Alaska heliskiing, North America heliskiing and beyond.
Heliskiing is like other high-end all inclusive holidays – the experience must meet the expectations. That’s where we come in for helicopter skiing information.
This summer my partner Mike and I introduced Heliski.com, the ultimate resource for BC heliskiing and the Canadian heli ski community. It includes details on 95% of the heliskiing and heliboarding operations in the world. Heliski.com is also a community, facilitating communication and networking among those of us who love heliskiing and heliboarding.
We have added a store, newsletter, forum, pictures, videos and a Heli Finder utility to help visitors find the best trip for their group. Also new this season are partnerships with the two biggest operators – Canadian Mountain Holidays and Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing. Check it out, join Club Heliski.com and let us know what you think.
See you there,
tj
