Heliskiing Unlimited Vertical!
Newsletter
November 2009
Hello all.
Not long until we will be skiing runs like this!
SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW!! We’ve had so much snow!! And our first group goes heli-skiing in only 12 days! We can’t wait! This winter looks like it might be one for the history books with all this early snow. In fact there is a large amount of ski resorts that have opened way ahead of schedule. Driving past our lodge the other day I felt like it was mid-February! This winter is looking VERY promising! If you haven’t booked don’t miss out.
What an epic start to winter! The weather gathering station at Mt Fidelity in Glacier National Park (our tenure borders the park) is reporting a snow base of 180cm as of November 23rd... and the average is 145cm for the whole month! A metre (3.28ft) of new snow has fallen just in the past week alone! So our snow pack is much deeper than average for this time of year. Oh yeah babyyyyyy!
You bet they did! We are proud to announce that long time Great Canadian Heli-Skiing Business Manager Deane Pickering won the Kicking Horse Chamber of Commerce Customer Service Excellence Award! Thanks to everyone that voted and thanks to Deane for being such an awesome colleague.
After missed flights, London Tube shutdowns, being ‘geographically misplaced’ (i.e. lost) and discovering that there is more than 1 city in Germany called Frankfurt (yes, I started to drive to the other Frankfurt...) I’m back safe and sound in our office in Golden, BC. I had a great time meeting various travel agents and prospective clients. Word is getting out that Great Canadian Heli-Skiing is a fantastic place to come to get a powder fix!
The thing that our agents were most interested in were our Combo Packages where we combine resort skiing, cat-skiing and heli-skiing options. These make sense if you want to do some pre or post resort skiing and they are quite economical. To see what options are available check out our combo packages page.
German and European heli-skiers will be pleased to know that there’s a new convenient flight from Frankfurt to Calgary that arrives in plenty of time to meet our Saturday shuttle! Having this option means you to not have to add on any extra ‘travel days’ like you might have to do with other heli-skiing operations.
Flight LH 494 will leave Frankfurt at 11:10am and arrive in Calgary at 12:50 local time the same day. This gives you plenty of time to get through Customs to meet our shuttle leaving at 3:00pm. The returning flight, LH 495, will depart Calgary at 14:45 and arrive in Frankfurt at 7:55 local time the next day. Our Saturday shuttle will arrive at the airport around noon.
The Thornton family enjoying some (snow) quality time!
Heli-skiing of course! Every winter we have families that come heli-skiing with us and have a blast. Taking your teenagers heli-skiing might make them think you really are cool after all! One of the great things about heli-skiing with us is our small groups format of 4 guests plus a highly trained and qualified guide. This works well as often the group will just be your family. This enables you to go at whatever pace you wish... if you have a family of rippers you can bomb it all day long or if you have less experienced family members you can take your time, enjoy your surroundings and take nice scenic family photos.
As the heli-skiing season is just around the corner bookings have been coming in thick and fast. In fact, this past October we had the 2nd highest number of bookings in the past 6 years!
It’s probably easier to mention when we still have decent availability. If the time of year is not listed below, then that means we have very few spaces available, if at all (but please drop us a line if you are wondering about availability in that timeframe)!
So as you can see we are filling up! Drop us a line to secure your spot... the way the snow is already flying, you do NOT want to miss out this winter!
Operations Manager Rob Dalinghaus (look Rob, I spelt your last name correctly!) has received our new fleet of demo skis. Of course we are still using our trusty Heli-Daddy’s as our main fleet ski, however we get in a few demos to help determine what to purchase for next season.
When you ski with us feel free to check out the latest big mountain skis from K2 and Armada. Please let us know what you think of them... we value your opinion.
The K2 Pontoons are a crazy looking ski with very untraditional dimensions. From the K2 website: “Like Shane, this McConkey inspired design is in a class by itself. The extra wide shovel and pin tail conspire with full rocker to make it virtually impossible to submerge the tips. Add reverse sidecut in the shovel and tail for unsurpassed predictability, normal sidecut underfoot to get you across the groomers, and you get a ski that provides the confidence to ski as fast as your nerves will allow, and the nimbleness to ski trees so tight that they were previously off limits.” So what that basically means is that the ski will keep you on top of the snow and they will also make tree skiing much easier!
Here’s a review on Backcountry.com about this year’s Armada JJ’s: “The JJ uses Armada’s Elf Shoe Technology-mixed rocker/camber—design and a 5-dimension sidecut for riding inconsistent snow conditions. With a superlight core, rocker at the tip and tails, camber under foot, and strategically located sidecut, the JJ floats like a yacht in powder, spins like a DJ, and carves like a three-fin thruster to the lift line. The JJ is a ski within a ski: 50% rockered powder fatty, 50% all-mountain carver, and 100% unique”.
Note: we only have limited quantities of these skis, so it’s first in, best dressed.
For skiing it’s all about layers! A Gore-Tex non-insulated shell plus several synthetic shirts and pants with varying thickness will allow you to adapt. Remember - no cotton, it gets wet and stays cold. There is no need to bring an extensive wardrobe, as the lodge is very casual.
Something to keep in mind is when you are sitting in the helicopter you tend to overheat and battle sweating and fogging up. Accordingly we emphasize the layering concept. Helmets can increase your heat retention and wind can increase the need for insulation, so adjust accordingly. Below are some suggested layering systems;
-8°C (17°F) or warmer: Gore-Tex Shell (non-insulated), Light micro-fleece pull over, Silk Weight long underwear. Thin hat and cuffed powder gloves.
-8 to -16°C (17°F - 3°F): Gore-Tex Shell (non-insulated), light micro-fleece pull over, medium weight long underwear. Thin hat, thin neck warmer and cuffed powder gloves. Lunch time vest ideal.
-16°C (3°F) or colder: Gore-Tex Shell. Medium weight fleece or soft shell jacket. Medium weight long underwear. Thicker hat, neck warmer/gator, and cuffed powder Mitts and glove liners. Down vest for lunch time stop for layering over jacket if cooling down.
Suggested Checklist:
Home | Latest News | Weather & maps | Galleries | Site Map | Privacy Policy | Contact Us
Great Canadian Heli-Skiing Phone 1.250.344.2326 Web codes by Serge Web Service © 2010