Newsletter - July 2009 Great Canadian Heli-Skiing

Latest gossip from Great Canadian Heli-Skiing

Hi all.

We've got POWDER! Well, not quite yet, though we did get a dusting on the peaks a couple of nights last week. Maybe you are thinking sun and golf, but here at Great Canadian we've always got powder on the brain. Not that we are counting down or anything, but it's only 24 weeks until the helis fire up to take you to heliskiing heaven (yeah, ok, we ARE counting)!

Here's some news from your favourite heliski operation!

Your Great Canadian Team Members

Great Canadian strongly believes a huge part of our success can be attributed to our phenomenal guiding team, lead by GG (Greg Golovach). There's no formalised industry statistics, but surely our guides are some of the most loyal and experienced in the industry. In fact, most have been with us for at least 5 years and guiding for at least twice that. Due to this low turn over in staff, we have guides that have an intimate knowledge of our operation and terrain, increasing your comfort and safety!

Just recently 2 of our guiding team completed some rigorous guiding courses.

Rob and that
après-ski glow!

A huge congratulation goes to long time guide, Rob Dalinghaus for achieving his full Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) certification. Rob has been busy this summer in the office and in the mountains so that you will have an even better ski experience. To read about what Rob has been up to read the section "What's Happening At GCH Over Summer?"

Paddy with Gopher Snakes

Completing the same course was Paddy Jerome who also achieved the Mountain Guide ACMG certification and IFMGA (International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations). Paddy has headed over to France to put his skills to use. In addition to being a guide with us, Paddy has his own company, AlpineStar Mountain Guides. Through the site customers can learn more about Paddy and the guiding options he offers. So if you are interested in hiring an expert, check out his website.

We could not be more proud of our guiding staff. With a combined guiding experience of 173 years, you know that you are in great hands.

Speaking of our staff, there's a new face in our Golden office.........me, Tim Wilkinson! I'm working in the new role of Director - Marketing and Communications. As the "Communications" part of my title infers, one of my responsibilities will be our newsletters. I promise to keep them informative...the only marketing 'fluff' will be in reference to the quality of our snow!

GCH owner Greg Porter asked me to introduce myself, so I will try and keep it so my head will still fit into my helmet.

Tim

I hope to bring a wealth of experience from previous ski industry sales and marketing positions to my job here. Most recently I worked in the Sales and Marketing departments of Kicking Horse Mountain Resort (BC), Mt. Ruapehu (New Zealand) and Blue Mountain (Ontario). Yeah, Blue Mountain stands out eh? Blame that one on my ex-girlfriend (though I have to admit, it was better than I expected!). I've been fortunate to have worked in the ski industry in Canada, the US, Australia, Switzerland and New Zealand in various positions. A fun job has been working as a writer for the World Snowboard Guide which I combined with my love of road-tripping and have managed to check out 123 resorts and have heliskied with 6 different operators in BC, New Zealand and Alaska. So yes, snow is a drug which I'm happily addicted to. Having started work in summer for a heliskiing company is killing me... but I'm sure you don't feel sorry for me eh?

Greg has twisted my (rubber) arm and told me I have to go out and product test this coming winter. So keep an eye out for me ...I really want to hear what you think of our operation and any suggestions you might have (no, we can't ban snowboarders). Actually, you don't even need to wait for winter, let me know now! Click here to email me. I plan on updating the website fairly regularly, so make sure you check it out every now and then.

Love is in the air! Congratulations are in order for Marcie Taylor, Heather Mountain Lodge General Manager, who recently became engaged. Office Manager Deane introduced Marcie to her fiancée and is taking all the credit! Maybe she can help me out.........

What's Happening At GCH Over Summer?

• Rob Dalinghaus, Operations Manager, has been hard at work this summer. He will be glading various areas to provide some nice, spacious tree skiing for you this coming winter (glading is where a few selected trees are removed from a forest to make it more spacious, thus easier to navigate). Glades often hold the best snow.
• A nice new edition to all our guest rooms this winter are flat screen TVs with satellite!
• We have 3 weddings booked at the lodge this summer! Word is getting out that Heather Mountain Lodge makes a superb wedding location with stunning mountain views and without the fees of similar locations. Contact Marcie for further details.
• Did you know the lodge is open in the summer? If you are driving past on the TransCanada Highway why not stay the night? The lodge also makes a great base to hike around Glacier National Park.

Heli-Skiing Credits

Have you previously put down a deposit but didn't end up skiing with us? Well, it might be still on file and we'd be more than happy to use it as a credit for your next trip. If you don't think you will be skiing with us anytime soon, why not transfer it to a friend? They'd appreciate it! For more details, contact Deane by email or phone on + 250 344 2623.

Have a great summer and when you start thinking WINTER, like we are, give us a ring. We are holding a spot for you.

Cheers,

Tim and the rest of the team at Great Canadian Heli-Skiing