Planning

To fully enjoy your heli-skiing holiday, you must be a strong intermediate skier or boarder. This means you have skied regularly over the last several years and are capable of 1) controlling yourself on treed runs and traverses, and 2) manoeuvring over variable mountain conditions. If you are able to maintain control on a black diamond run at your local ski resort, you are likely prepared for our terrain. Any experience you have skiing powder is an asset. We suggest regular skiing and fitness conditioning before your heli-ski vacation. For more, please visit our First Time page.

Please see our When To Go and Terrain pages for more information.

Fitness is often more important than ability when it comes to having fun and avoiding injury. If you’re joining us for a week, you may find it reassuring to know that it’s common to feel slightly tired at the end of your third day of heli-skiing. This is a turning point. By the second half of the week, your muscles have acclimated and your powder skiing technique has reached a level that can only be attained by committing to a week of powder turns.

We ski with four guests per group, max. Because of our awesome guest-to-guide ratio, we’re better able to accommodate you and other guests, allowing you to group yourselves. During your stay we encourage you to ski with others who have similar interests or abilities. As a result of using small groups, we’re generally able to match compatible skiers. For safety and efficiency, the Lead Guide will always choose the order in which each group departs, based on experience. The Lead Group will work harder during the day by helping the Lead Guide with trail breaking and preparing landing/pick-up spots.

Not exactly. We run a very similar length of day to a ski resort. Our day runs from 9:00 am to 3:30-4:30 pm (see Typical Day), which allows for a fulfilling day of skiing for our guests. On average, guests ski 7,170 vertical meters (23,500 feet). A big day is over 10,000 vertical meters (33,000 feet). Trust us—that’s a lot.

Our guiding team LOVES to ski! Our small groups make our days smooth sailing, allowing us to do 12 to 16 runs a day. Of course, this number depends on the ability of the group, the weather and snow conditions, and the time of year (since December has shorter days than April).

No. The helicopter refuels midday. This is your opportunity to go back to the lodge. Please advise your guide in advance if you wish to ski a partial day. If you choose not to ski any portion of your day (whether that means starting late, returning early, taking a day off, etc.), you forfeit your seat. Great Canadian Heli-skiing can use your forfeited seat at its own discretion without any compensation to you.

On average there are two days each winter when we’re unable to ski (whereas in 2015 and 2016, 2018 we had zero “down days”). Our on-site heli-pads, powerful helicopters, small groups, and  the fantastic treed runs near our lodge offer the ultimate in accessibility.

Luckily for our guests, refunds are extremely rare. In fact, we average just 2 down days all season long, so we almost always exceed the guaranteed vertical and guaranteed flying time.

We cannot allow music in the field. For your safety and the safety of others in your group, you must be able to hear your guide at all times, and react to other external stimuli.

That’s easy. ANYTIME! Over the course of winter we experience all types of weather and snow conditions. We’re fortunate to have vast tenure across both the Selkirk and Purcell mountain ranges, which gives us the ability to find the best conditions for you. Please see our When To Go page to learn more about our incredible conditions.

Ah yes—the question of our times. We have free wireless internet. But don’t expect too much of our wifi—after all, we’re “off the grid.” Our connection is quite capable of communication functions like emailing and surfing the web—but streaming can be tricky. If guests do decide to stream on our network, it may function at first, but will eventually crawl to a stop for all. If you feel like watching TV or a movie, we encourage you to use your in-room satellite television. Or you can use your cell phone data for streaming. We’ve invested in an antenna that boosts connection to our nearest cell phone tower (see next question).

We do! Our nearest cell tower supports Canadian telecom providers Bell, Telus and Rogers, which all have roaming agreements with American and international network providers.

We do! Our ski shop carries high-quality technical brands like Arc’teryx – This link opens in a new browser tab, Powder PipeLine – This link opens in a new browser tab and Smith – This link opens in a new browser tab, just in case you forgot something. We stock a few technical Arc’teryx pieces that are perfectly designed for heli-skiing. We also carry custom boot and board bags, Kicking Horse Coffee, and many mountain souvenirs.

The good news: with unlimited vertical, there will be no extra charges for skiing. When you check out, your bill might include liquor, charges from our ski shop, services like massage, gratuities, and/or your deposit for next year’s trip.

For guidance on what to bring, please check out our Equipment page.

All the details on what’s included—and what you need to bring—is available on our Equipment page. One thing in particular you need to know: we do not provide boots. You’ll need to bring your own.

Driving directions and other details on how to get to — including clearing customs and where to rent a car — are available on our Location page.

Yes. If you organize a group of 12 or more skiers, you’ll receive a 10% discount—or one free space. If you book a visit for next season before you leave the lodge, you’ll also receive an individual discount. You can also ask for information on Great Canadian Heli-Skiing Season Passes for individuals and groups.

Yes, as long as we have room availability. Please get in touch with us to request availability.