Video: The North Face High Country Heli 2011

The North Face High Country Heli 2011 on Vimeo on Vimeo

via The North Face High Country Heli 2011 on Vimeo.

The North Face High Country Heli 2011

The North Face NZ Team jump in a heli and go for a spin in the high country outside of Wanaka hoping to ski the southeast face of Mt Tyndall. After a brief 8am rendezvous at the Harris Mountain Heli office in town and a quick hit of caffeine, the team load up the chopper and fly into the upper Matukituki Valley, lifting up and heading deep into the surrounding mountains. With a solid snow pack, minimal risk of avalanches and a fresh cover of white fluffy stuff, they pick off lines from the heli like kids in candy store. Mt Aspiring and Rob Roy Glacier set the backdrop as the team hover above wild unskied faces pointing their fingers at where they’d like to go, the chopper banks and moments later they’re standing on top waiting to drop.

Heli-Skiing in Iceland

Heli-Skiing in Iceland – SKI Magazine

Check out the Ski Magazine photo gallery. Matthias Giraud and friends heli skiing in Iceland. Better get it before it gets warmer in the arctic! Iceland is far north, and high on my list of exotic heli-skiing vacations.

As indicated in the article, which is linked below, Skíðadalur, a heli-skiing destination in Iceland, is called “Ski Valley” for a reason  - skiers can experience heli-served turns late in the winter, often as late as June. In fact, Iceland is so far north, that you will be enjoying heli-skiing powder late into the night.

via Heli-Skiing in Iceland | SKI Magazine.

New Zealand Heli Skiing & Heli Boarding

Alpine Heli Ski – New Zealand Heli Skiing

The Heli Sklogoiing business appears to be a very competitive in New Zealand. Photos from the websites of various New Zealand Heli Skiing outfitters, many of whom are included in the heliskitravel.com links, clearly demonstrate that New Zealand qualifies as an exotic vacation destination!

Alpine Heli Ski , Queenstown NZ, claims to offer the “cheapest heli-skiing” in New Zealand. Prices for their freeride heli days start at $250. Of course, many heliskitravel visitors will also have to figure out how to get to New Zealand – which will cost much more that $250! The Alpine Heli Ski site also includes a link to the 2011 heliski guides training course. What a career!

As indicated in the article, which is linked below, Alpine Heliski provides day, multiday and private heli-skiing and heli-boarding adventures on untracked terrain. These heli-skiing exclusions also give adventurous powder skiers the  opportunity to explore world renowned adventure travel destinations surrounding Queenstown, Wanaka and the Mt Cook regions of New Zealand. The company’s website indicates they are passionate about deep snow, freedom, and alpine adventure. With the Southern Alps of New Zealand as a backyard, a heli-skiing or heli-boarding vacation in New Zealand qualifies as both wild and beautiful!

via New Zealand Heli Skiing & Heli Boarding with Alpine Heli Ski Queenstown.

Learn more about heli-skiing and heli-boarding at heliskitravel.com

Heli-Skiing in Alaska

Travel Channel: Heli-Skiing in Alaska

idea_heli-skiing-in-alaska_311x175.jpg

Heli Skiing in Alaska

Check out the heli-skiing article on the Travel Channel website. The article includes link to several outfitters, ending with a list of “things to know” when planning heli-ski travel.

As indicated in the article, which is linked below, advanced skiers and riders are heading north to Alaska to take advantage of one of the word’s most extreme winter-sports experiences – heli-skiing in Alaska!

According to the article, Alaska may be the “Holy Grail” for skiers and boarders “who worship the great snow wave.” Like many heliski travel locations, the Alaska mountains are surely awe-inspiring! The article suggests that the difference between skiing at a Rocky Mountain resort and heli-skiing in Alaska is as big a difference as we experience when making the change from East Coast slush to West Coast powder. Of course, it is all good, but heli-skiing in Alaska would surely exceed the excitement of my first runs at Swiss Valley!

via Heli-Skiing in Alaska : Winter Getaways : Adventure Travel : Skiing – Travel Channel.

Learn more about heli-skiing at heliskitravel.com

World Heli Challenge 2011

World Heli Challenge 2011 - open to non pro's

World Heli Challenge 2011

The World Heli Challenge recently brought together a handful of top heliski and heli-boarding athletes from around the globe to compete in helicopter accessed competition. According to event organizers, the stated goal of this competition was to find out which athlete was the best “all rounder” by combinin free-ride and free-style skills, in both heli skiing or heli boarding, demonstrating their overall talent.

The event, which occured between July 28 to August 11th, included many heliski events, parties and adventure days. these events included the Extreme Day and Freestyle Day, in which 50 heli-skiers and heli-boarders from around the globe demonstrated their talents.

Check it out:

via World Heli Challenge 2011 | Wanaka, New Zealand | July 27th – August 11th.

Learn more about heli-skiing and heli-boarding at heliskitravel.com

Heli-skiing targets intermediate skiers

Image: Helicopter and skiers

Heli skiing targets intermediate skiers

Check out the following from MSNBC. It makes sense to target intermete skiers. There are a lot more of them! But is this a good idea?

The challenge and excitement of alpine skiing can be experienced without frighteningly steep slopes. However, heli-skiing is expensive.

As the article reports, heli-ski operators like Canadian Mountain Holidays, Ruby Mountain, and EpicQuest are gearing marketing efforts toward intermediate skiers. The article ends would a “would you try it” survey. Results are presented when the survey is submitted. Dream on!

As the article points out, the heli-skiing experience is “not a leisure run down a beginner’s trail. It is a full-body, physically demanding sport that requires participants to be healthy and in shape to enjoy.” Some skiers even discourage intermediate skiers. According to one skier, the discouragement was “not necessarily a safety thing. You will enjoy the mountains, you will enjoy the view, but an intermediate skier would probably be wasting their money.”

What do you think? According to the article, which is linked below, one of the benefits of heli-skiing is that it is silent, providing an extraordinary sense of open space. We have all experienced the epric feeling of looking around and seeing nothing but snow-covered mountains for miles – much of it skiable. Imagine being at 14,ooo feet, the valleys far below, and you are about to ski down!

Joe Royer, president of Heli Ski US and owner of Ruby Mountain Helicopter Skiing, says there is not a day where he is not excited to get back in the helicopter, and on the mountain, to do the same thing again. What a job!

via Heli-skiing targets intermediate skiers – Travel – Seasonal Travel – msnbc.com.

Learn more about heli-skiing and heli-boarding at heliskitravel.com

Wasatch Powderbird Guides – Utah heli skiing and beyond!

Utah heli skiing and beyond!

Check out the following from Wasach Powderbird Guides:

According to the Wasatch Powderbird Guides website, their company began in 1973 when a few professional skiers began taking adventure loving travelers on heliski trips in the Utah backcountry. The company claims to focus on fun, adventure, and skill-instruction – with excursions gaining renown with powderhounds addicted to the thrill of skiing or riding untracked expanses of “the greatest snow on Earth.”
” Headquartered at Snowbird Ski and Mountain Resort, Wasach Powderbird Guides also offers heli-skiing excursions in Argentina, Chile, Greenland, Turkey, and Japan.

The website also includes an “are you ready for heli-skiing” survey. Although I can assure you a survey is not necessary in my case, the “About Us” page offers a short survey for those  wondering if they are ready for a heli-adventure. Give the survey a try! You don’t have to be an expert to enjoy heli skiing!

via Heli skiing, heli boarding, heliskiing | Wasatch Powderbird Guides | International Heli-Ski Tours.

Learn more about heli-skiing and heli-boarding at heliskitravel.com

Change on the Heli-skiing Mountain

Heli Skiing Politics - Vertical Online

The politics of Heli Skiing – and to think I am doing this to avoid politics! (see the about page ;) )

According to the article in Vertical Online, linked below, heli-skiing is one of the world’s elite mountain sports. Heli-skiing is also a major source of seasonal cash flow for helicopter operators in Canada. Heli-skiing has also been at the heart of a long dispute between Canadian helicopter operators, represented by the Helicopter Association of Canada, and the Canadian government.

The debate centers on an exemption to foreign ownership rules received by one heli-skiing outfitter in 1999. While the original exemption was accepted with little objection, in part because the company was only 3 percentage points higher than the allowable foreign ownership level, concerns were raised when the company became even more foreign-owned in late 2004, becoming a completely foreign-owned company less than two years later.

The politics make sense, and the debate is interesting. As the article concludes, it looks like the outfitter will have to change its ownership structure to meet the 75 percent “Canadian” regulation if they plan to stay in business.

via Change on the Mountain – Vertical Online.

Learn more about heli-skiing and heli-boarding at heliskitravel.com

New Zealand Heli Skiing and Heli Boarding

New Zealand Heli Skiing and Heli Boarding

Check out the Harris Mountains Heli-Ski site. It looks like a great heli skiing season in New Zealand!

According to the company’s website, linked below, epic snowfalls are leading to some of the longest heli ski runs in the history of Harris Mountains Heli Ski. Now is the time to heli ski, so if you haven’t booked yet… what are you waiting for?! In fact, guides recently skied “all the way down to Shania Twain’s hut from the Motatapu Ridge.” One of the company’s guides said it was the first time in 33 years of heli skiing he’s been able to do that. Sounds great!

via Harris Mountains Heli-Ski – New Zealand Heli Skiing & Heli Boarding – Longest heli ski runs in memory!.

Learn more about heli-skiing and heli-boarding at heliskitravel.com

Heli Skiing Guide – First skiing descent on Denali

Heli Skiing Guide

A cool story from ESPN. Not a heli-skiing video, but Fransson is a former heli skiing guide. Be sure to check out the video!

According to the article, linked below, Fransson grew up “sliding rails and jumping cliffs on telemark twin tips.” Skills were hoed while working as a ski instructor, and also a heli skiing guide. He followed the big-mountain competition scene, practicing rope work by rappelling off cornices near his home resort of Riksgransen. Then Fransson moved to Chamonix – a whole new world. Fransson says he is very challenge based. Like many of us, he reports that he doesn’t need to have perfect powder. I guess that is easy to say when you see so much of it! Anyway, Fransson reports that he likes the challenge of planning a run, going through the pains, fears, and doubts, then executing the plan in the best way imaginable.

via Andreas Fransson skis south face of Denali – ESPN.

Learn more about heli-skiing and heli-boarding at heliskitravel.com

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