by The pristine carpet of fresh powder snow lay before me as I floated through the silent forest, its charred trunks in stark contrast to the white mountainside of British Columbia.
My eyes detected gaps between the trunks as my turns kicked up big waves of fluffy snow, which I blasted through like a surfer shooting a tube. Suddenly the sun broke through the clouds, turning the snow to gold, and I could hear myself laughing with incredulous joy as the course of my life unfolded around me.
A backcountry ski run on fresh powder feels like freedom. Our guide, Ian, had blazed a path ahead, through the Black Forest area of the slopes of the mountains above the Duncan River, in the Purcell Range, but we had the space beside his footprints as our own. playground.
Choosing your own line, deciding when to turn, and how to ski or snowboard in deep powder is wildly addictive. The best way to constantly access these dream lines? To catch a ride from a helicopter.
But heli-skiing is expensive, to the point that many skiers simply dismiss the idea when, for the same price, they could buy several ski vacations.
To find out if the experience is really worth it, he had returned to its source, the cradle of heliskiing. British Columbia is home to Canada’s snowiest mountains, famous for their waist-high fluffy powder. And the Purcells region of the Columbian Mountains is an adventure spot like no other place on Earth, with cleft spiers ending in mile-long ski runs that descend over rolling glaciers into steep, uninhabited valleys.
This terrain is ideal for heliskiing, but so remote that it’s also the only practical way to access it, a combination that led the sport’s pioneers to remote granite Bugaboos in the mid-1960s. The lessons learned over the decades since make CMH Heli-Skiing in Golden, British Columbia, one of the most knowledgeable on the planet. In fact, these areas are so remote that their names have been given to them by the ski guides and pilots who have explored them over the years.
CMH Purcell recently launched one, two or three-day heli-skiing packages to make this experience more accessible to the masses. On my trip, I helicoptered with skiers of varying levels and ages, including a group of skiers in their seventies who typically stuck to groomed runs; You don’t need to be an expert.
From the beginning, the guides made safety their top priority. Premium adventure experiences often please the customer, but as CMH founder and heli-ski pioneer Hans Gmoser said: “In heli-skiing, the customer is not king. The guide is not the king. The mountain is king!
If you stray too far from your guides’ orbit, you’ll essentially be alone in a frozen wasteland—it’s a huge learning curve. We spent two hours of our first morning practicing using our beacons and avalanche radios and learning about best practices in the mountains.
Our guides were friendly and patient, and went out of their way not to make us feel rushed. But you soon learn to listen when they speak and be a companion when they descend. On a powder run through snow-covered green pines, I have to mark my turns so my snow buddy, Ben, can keep in sight of me; It’s actually a lot of fun and adds to the sense of exploration and camaraderie.
We first boarded the Bell 212 helicopter on the concrete pad of CMH’s Purcell Hostel, but I soon discovered exactly how extreme the landings can be. A 15-20 minute drive took us far beyond civilization, where all you can see is spire after spire of snow-covered rock.
We descended in the middle of a white explosion, while the machine’s skids tapped softly. We got out of the helicopter and headed towards the little red flag planted in the snow and huddled together.
The engines roared and as I watched the bird take off into the cobalt blue sky, it almost felt like we were moving away from it. Once the blizzard subsided, I saw that the snowball toss to the right was a shark-toothed summit, beyond a snowy abyss plummeting toward the clouds; CMH guides called this exposed location Top Of The World.
Our guides consistently demonstrated knowledge of the vast area and were able to weigh slope angles, avalanche danger, weather, and seasonal snow conditions to mitigate risks. Which is how I found myself standing atop a drop in one of the most pristine open powder bowls I had ever seen, with no one else for miles around, but with complete confidence that my guide had properly assessed the risks.
“We’ll stop by,” Ian told me. “But the angle flattens out at the bottom, so give skiers room and make sure to maintain speed.” I went down the steep slope, kicking up waves of dust, but then continued straight as the slope slowed, picking up speed until the wind roared in my ears. I felt like I was flying over the powder bowl – a bit of a rush!
During my three days with CMH, we made eight to 10 fresh powder runs per day, thanks to the efficient guidance of Ian, Tom and Bryan. We rode through evergreen glades, over the Silent Glacier and down majestic flanks like Upper Whitehorn.
Being in this type of landscape is a tremendous privilege, and CMH recognizes that it comes at a cost, in terms of its carbon footprint. The operation has taken steps to track, reduce and offset the impact of burning jet fuel and, since the 1980s, has also worked to utilize micro-hydropower at its remote lodges, earning a host of environmental accolades in the process. .
Human energy is also essential, and dirt racing can put a lot of strain on your legs. Just as I started to falter, we stopped for lunch at specially designed, helicopter-equipped mountain huts for hot soup, sandwiches and refreshing tea.
Once refueled, the group would embark on another round of tree runs, zigzagging between green, white-laden branches, and with each run, learning a little more about how to spot the gaps and choose the best line to achieve the goal. final score. feeling of flow.
At the end of my trip, I felt like I had accumulated a year of powder experience and education in three days. It was hard not to conclude that it was worth the expense. And my classmates seemed to agree. At the end of a race, American businessman Allan uttered, astonished: “This is second only to sex.”
Later, at the pick-up point, I looked around the densely forested terrain and realized it would be a mission (requiring days of work) to ski this stunning part of the planet.
Fortunately, we had an angel on our shoulders: that distinctive percussive thud of an approaching helicopter grew louder and I felt my eardrums throbbing in time with the rotor’s downdraft. Our pilot flew blind, landing the belly of the metal beast right between the pile of skis and the huddled group of Gore-Tex-clad skiers. He could almost reach out and touch the skate as he came down in front of my face.
Trust: In the backcountry of the Columbia Mountains, it is the most valuable asset.
I need to know
CMH Purcell
An excellent ratio of two guides to eight guests and options for one, two or three-day trips make CMH Purcell (cmhheli.com), based in the mountain town, a flexible and accessible option that easily adapts to a wide range of ski styles. . Costing from $2,115 CAD per day (£1,243), plus tax, the price includes unlimited vertical meters of heli-skiing, refreshments, on-mountain lunch, equipment, guide and pre-ski training. Located six minutes from the city of Golden, British Columbia, which can be reached by flying from London to Calgary and then renting a car or booking a CMH shuttle service.
Timeline | The history of heliskiing in the mountains of British Columbia
-
1965 – CMH founder and heli-ski pioneer Hans Gmoser organizes the first heli-ski tour on the Bugaboos (after he and his friend Leo Grillmar emigrated from post-war Austria and began guiding ski tours in Columbia British, in 1955).
-
1968 – The first heli-ski lodge opens in Bugaboos.
-
1970 – The first heli-skiing takes place in the famous Revelstoke.
-
1975 – CMH’s Cariboo Lodge in the Cariboo Mountains opens for heli-skiing
-
1982 – CMH’s Bobbie Burns Lodge, in the heart of the Purcell and Selkirk Mountains, opens its doors for heli-skiing.
-
1989 – The CMH Gothics, in the terrain between the Selkirk and Monashee Mountains, see their first heli-ski.
-
1990/1 – CMH’s Galena and Adamat Lodges open (in the Selkirk Mountains)
-
2008 – CMH Cariboos launches first Steep Camp during periods of stable snow conditions
-
2023 – CMH Purcell offers its first one-, two- and three-day heliskiing experiences
How to Heli-Ski for Every Budget
Heliskiing is always a premium option, but there are levels that can suit your needs.
CMH Small Group Experience, Canada
A smaller helicopter and group gives you more verticality. Traveling with just four or five guests helps you move through terrain faster and spend less time getting on the plane, allowing for greater flexibility and races that fit the group’s shared goals and pace. You can book alone and be paired with similar skiers and riders, or as a select group.
Price: From $1,631 CAD (£953) per day based on a four or five day trip
Where: CMH Adamants, CMH Kootenay, CMH Monashees
cmhheli.com
Polvo Sur Heliskiing, Chile
The five-star Puma Lodge in Chile’s Río Los Cipreses National Reserve is the base for heli-skiing on light, dry powder in the central Andes. This unspoiled region offers heli-skiing terrain, from glaciated Andean peaks to rugged ridges and ravines, with elevations of 2,500 to 4,500 m. The guides make sure to find the best terrain to suit each skier’s ability.
Price: From $8,500 (£6,781) per person for three days of heliskiing
Where: Río Los Cipreses National Reserve, Chile
purepowder.com
ESF Heli-ski Méribel, France
The popular resort of Méribel in the French Alps offers a more affordable entry into heliskiing by offering a day of ESF-guided off-piste skiing, ending with a helicopter transfer from the mountains to locations in the Three Valleys and Italy. This allows you to gain fresh leads in otherwise inaccessible sections of the Alps.
Price: From €1,070 (£918)
Where: Méribel, French Alps
ski-school-meribel-mottaret.com
