The quality of the skiing right now at CMH Heli-Skiing is the kind that makes a single run worth an entire trip - or for that matter, an entire lifetime of skiing.
Here’s the latest first hand report:
“Today was more than Epic... not sure if there is a word for it!!!! The snow was unbelievable. Everything we skied yesterday was covered with new snow as if no one had been there before. It was one face shot after another, run after run. We had a chance to ski in the alpine this morning, but the snow was wind blown so we headed back to the trees which was SICK!!! Definitely the best skiing I have experienced in my entire life!”
-Marie T.
Which brings up the point that you don’t have to book seven days to experience CMH Heli-Skiing during this exceptional winter. I just got off the phone with Katie Coccimiglio, with CMH Heli-Skiing reservations, who told me that they have opened up two more short programs to meet the high demand for shorter four-day trips.
These trips provide three and a half days of skiing, which in these conditions is a once-in-a-lifetime experience; and a short trip is easier on the legs than a full seven-day bonanza with CMH Heli-Skiing. Recently in the Bobbie Burns they have been skiing double the guaranteed vertical in a seven day trip, meaning 60,000 metres or nearly 10,000 metres each day.
Here's the inside soop on shorter trips with CMH Heli-Skiing:
- For skiers and snowboarders wanting to jump on the conditions as soon as possible, book the January 26 - 30 at the Gothics.
- For those who need a little more time to plan, book February 9-13 in the Gothics.
- For those who have limited flexibility but want to be part of the CMH powderfest 2013, there is also limited space scattered throughout the 11 CMH Heli-Skiing areas for both four-day trips as well as CMH Heli-Skiing's Signature seven-day trips.
- At CMH K2, skiers booking both four day and seven day trips also get a free pair of K2 powder skis to keep. (You read that right - you get a free pair of K2 skis!) At CMH K2, there are two options: three groups of ten serviced by a Bell 212 helicopter, and three groups of five serviced by a Bell 407. Also, a number of K2 athletes are joining regular CMH Heli-Skiing groups at CMH K2 for maximum inspiration.
One thing to consider when debating which length of Heli-Ski trip is best for you, remember that every reputable Heli-Ski operator will take the time to train you in avalanche and helicopter safety. This means that one day trips are often not the best value because the training will cut into your day. It is for this reason that CMH Heli-Skiing doesn't offer one day trips.
That said, the important thing right now is that snow riders get to BC and get some. The best I can tell from research and talking to the old timers, the last season that was like this was the winter of 1971-1972.
The ski resorts in British Columbia and Alberta are going off too. Book a short trip with CMH Heli-Skiing, and tack on a few days anywhere on the Powder Highway - a string of ski resorts that is really living up to it’s name this winter.
If you've ever considered a Heli-Ski trip, this is the season to do it. Call Katie, or anyone else at CMH Reservations at 1 (800) 661-0252 and get your slice of this epic season.
Photo from CMH K2, January, 2013.
CMH has teamed up with K2 Skis and Poorboyz Productions to capture some of the best athletes skiing the best terrain in the world. That, combined with the the winter storm that has dumped over four feet of snow in the last week, has created a truly "Perfect Storm" for a legendary shoot.
Seth Morrison Getting Deep on "Mugwump" - CMH K2
With the likes of Seth Morrison, Sean Pettit, Andy Mahre, and Collin Collins, we knew we were in for a treat.
The first day, we headed to an area that guide Patrick Baird took our "Steep Shots and Pillow Drops" two days prior. With 50cm new snow since the last skiers were there, the pros had a wicked time selecting lines and shredding.
At the end of the day Monday, Pettit came out of a pillow line saying "That landing was NECK DEEP!" It started snowing last Saturday, and it is still coming down 4 days later!
You might think that because we are up here with one group of professional skiers exclusively using one Bell 212, we have been doing a LOT of skiing. Wrong. Tuesday, we accomplished 5 runs in 5 and a half hours. Well under half of what any average group on any CMH trip would accomplish. My respect for these athletes has grown exponentially. The ability to ski the lines they do on a count down of 10 seconds after not moving for 20 minutes is truly amazing.
I can't wait to see the finished films that come out of this week. Stay tuned next week for another update!
Sean Pettit on "Square head" CMH K2
Photos: John Entwistle
Last night I heard a horrifying rumor about Heli-Skiing in British Columbia. One of the CMH Heli-Skiing staff was enjoying herself in the lithium-rich springs of the Halcyon Hot Springs Resort, the legendary springs where the CMH Nomads South program is based, and she heard someone say:
“I’ve heard that when Heli-Skiing the snow is so deep they simply lose people up there.”
Wow. I spent three years researching a book, Bugaboo Dreams, that tells the story of Heli-Skiing from its invention by CMH Heli-Skiing in the mid 60s through the state of the art today. In the process I interviewed dozens of guides, including competitors of CMH, attended guides training, and went through accident statistics with the president of CMH. I heard hundreds of stories, and never did I hear even a whisky-induced whisper of a skier getting lost in the deep snow.
It makes me think that people who have never been Heli-Skiing must have the most outrageous and inaccurate perception of what we do out there. One of the greatest unknowns is how skiers avoid getting lost in the fantastical tree skiing terrain of the Columbia Mountains that CMH Heli-Skiing calls home.
Well, here’s how it works:
The Track. When a ski goes through fresh powder snow, it leaves a really obvious track, so the guide leaves a pronounced trail all the way down the hill. Then the next skier leaves a track next to the guide's track. And so on. Stay close to the guide’s track, and it is virtually impossible to get lost.
Guide Instructions. When a run enters the trees, or the guide reaches a place where he or she plans to traverse or enter new terrain, they stop and give instructions.
For example: “The group ahead of us skied to our left, so I’m going to ski to the right of their tracks leaving space for you on my left. Stay to the left of my tracks. When we break out of the trees into a meadow, stay to the left to the heli pickup. Stay left of my tracks and you can't go wrong.”
The Buddy System. Early in the day, the guide asks everyone to pick a ski buddy to ski with in the trees. For the rest of the day everyone skis in teams of two, or sometimes three if there are odd numbers, while following the guide. The buddy system consists of five important aspects:
- Take turns going first - just because it’s really fun going first.
- The first skier leads the way, keeping an eye on the guide’s tracks and listening for the second skier.
- The second skier yodels, whistles, cheers, yelps, howls, sings, whoops, and makes noise frequently so the first skier can hear that everything is ok.
- If the first skier suddenly stops hearing the second skier. STOP IMMEDIATELY. If the first skier falls over, it should be obvious to the second skier...
- Most of the time, the other skier shows up and you both carry on down the hill. If the second skier doesn’t show up really soon, CALL ON THE RADIO for the other skiers in the group to watch for them. Usually, they have just fallen, and are searching for a ski or pole, and a little help from another skier can save a lot of waiting and exhausting work.
The buddy system is so important because tree wells are a very real danger in tree skiing; a hazard not unique to Heli-Skiing. Any backcountry areas or ski resorts with deep powder have tree well hazards, and using these techniques anytime while skiing deep powder in the trees is a good idea.
Tree wells form around trees, where the falling snow is pushed away from the trunk of the tree by its branches. The tree forms a hole in the snow called a tree well. If the snow is four metres deep, the tree well can also be four metres deep.
While deep powder skiing in the trees, be it in a resort, while ski touring, cat skiing or heli-skiing, change your technique around trees:
- Don’t stop right above a tree - It is easy to tip over while trying to stop, so stop with at least a couple of body lengths of space between you and the nearest tree in your fall line.
- Don’t turn right above a tree if you can help it - Often you can turn a little earlier, or wait a bit to turn below the tree, or go straight into a clearing, to avoid a hard turn directly above a tree.
- Take it easy - You’re going to get more powder turns than you can imagine in a day of Heli-Skiing. No need to squeeze in that last turn before a group of trees. Instead, give the trees a wide berth.
CMH Heli-Skiing guides are almost uncanny at helping skiers in the trees and showing everyone a good time. We’ve skied in snow so deep that we step out of the helicopter and sink up to our armpits. Our areas see nearly 50 feet of snow each winter. We’ve skied when it’s snowing so hard that we ski back to the lodge rather than use the helicopter for the last flight, but we’ve never, ever, in 48 years of Heli-Skiing, had the snow so deep that we “simply lose people up there.”
Photo of tree buddies during an epic storm cycle at CMH Galena by Topher Donahue.
"Jumping in to the Sun"
Photo: Michael Welch
Skier: Joey
Date: January 4th, 2013
Area: CMH Galena
Run: Cocoon High
Camera: Nikon D3S
High Resolution Version: Here
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Stay tuned to the Heli-Ski Blog every Monday when we will be posting the best picture from the past week.
Photo: Bruce Howatt
Skier: Carla Demyen
Date: January 1st, 2013
Area: CMH Bobbie Burns
Run: Big Mother
Camera: Canon 5d MkIII
High Resolution Version: Here
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One of the first things any CMH Heli-Skier learns is that, as part of CMH Heli-Skiing’s endless quest to make Heli-Skiing as pleasant and safe as possible, each guest is assigned their own radio and is trained in how to use it. From a user’s perspective, it’s easy, but behind the scenes, CMH communications are a marvel of modern technology covering almost three degrees of latitude and costing over a million dollars.
For an insiders view of the CMH Heli-Skiing communication system, I tracked down Bob Lutz, the Manager of Infrastructure at CMH:
TD: How does repeater communication differ from direct radio communication?
BL: Every radio has a receive frequency, Rx, and a transmit frequency, Tx. When your radio is operating in what we call Direct Mode, the Tx and Rx frequencies are the same so you transmit on the same frequency that everyone’s radio is receiving on. This works great if you want to talk to someone nearby, like your guide or other members of your group, but the small battery and antenna on a handheld radio can only transmit so far and certainly not through mountains to reach a group in another valley. This is where our VHF repeaters come in.
When you change your radio to Repeater Mode, only the Tx frequency changes so that you can still hear radios sending on direct, but you broadcast on a different frequency that only the repeater is listening for. The repeaters have a much larger antenna, plus they are positioned up high to be able to cover a much larger area. The repeater also has four to eight batteries similar to the ones in your car for power so it can re-broadcast your transmission much longer distances on the Rx frequency that everyone’s radios (including yours) are listening for.
This leads to the natural question of, why don’t we set the radio to Repeater Mode all the time? For most of the communications between you and your guide the direct mode works well and there is the possibility you might be too far or too low to reach the repeater that might be 10km away when your guide is just 200m below you. Secondly, the repeaters are in low power standby state most of the day but when they kick into gear to re-broadcast someone’s message they use a lot of power to reach as far as possible. If they were running all the time the batteries would run out faster than our solar panels can recharge them.
TD: How do the repeaters support the remote internet at the lodges?
BL: Well, our remote lodges are too far from towns to make running phones lines or fibre optic cables feasible especially when you look at all of the avalanche paths we would have to cross along the way. So for each lodge we had to find a location in a neighbouring valley where we could get telephone service and an Internet connection fast enough to support a lodge full of guests and staff. Then we had to find sites with a direct line of sight to the lodge and that site. The shortest leg is 6km and the longest is 31km. The Bobbie Burns connects to phone lines and a fibre optic cable that are 73km away by the time you add all three legs together.
The phones and people’s web browsing use the same link, the trick is that there is device at the lodge that converts your voice into data packets to join the flow of Internet traffic, but when they reach civilization we convert the data back into an electric signal that we transmit down the phone line.
TD: What is the value of the complete CMH repeater system?
BL: Hmm... a lot of maintenance and upgrades have occurred over the decades and it would be hard to add all of that up. If you had to rebuild everything from scratch, it would cost roughly $50K-60K per site so a little over $1,000,000 to manage our safety communications, coordinate the ski program, and let people connect to friends and family when they get back to the lodge at the end of the day.
TD: Where is the southernmost CMH repeater?
BL: CMH K2’s Kuskanax repeater at 50°23'54"N
TD: Where is the northernmost CMH repeater?
BL: McBride’s Mt Halverson Repeater at 53°15'30"N
TD: How much maintenance do they require?
BL: Most repeaters require one inspection visit during the off season but during the winter some of them need to be visited regularly to remove rime (ice) from the solar panels to allow the batteries to recharge. With the Internet repeaters faster radios are coming out every few years so this summer we also went out to upgrade all of the radios that link the Bobbie Burns and Bugaboos to the Internet at Brisco.
TD: How does the power system for the repeaters work?
BL: The VHF and UHF repeaters are all solar powered with several batteries similar to the ones in your car. The Internet repeaters use solar power over 97% of the time but they also have propane Thermal Electric Generators, TEGs, as a backup in case the panels are covered in ice and for those weeks where it snows a lot during the day and they don’t see any direct sunlight through the clouds. The TEGs rely on a principal where a small electrical current can be created between two different types of metal if there is enough of a heat difference between the two metals. One side is heated by the propane flame while the other is exposed to the cool mountain air. The Bobbie Burns system ran on propane for 961 hours last winter during the dark stormy days of December and January.
TD: When did CMH start using the repeaters for internet as well as radio?
BL: Our first attempts were in the summer of 2006 to try and connect Valemount and later the Cariboos to a farm house that was close enough to the Town of Valemount to get ADSL service from Telus. Our Valemount lodge is farther than the 4.2km limit for ADSL service from the phone company’s central office in town. In 2009 we realized that we could no longer find parts for our old telephone repeaters for five of the areas so we spent most of the summer of 2010 combining the phone and Internet repeaters into a single site that brought both services to the lodge much more reliably than our early experiments.
TD: Are the internet telephone repeaters and the radio repeaters always in the same locations?
BL: No, we position the radio repeaters to provide good coverage to our ski tenures. This often means putting them up very high near the middle of the tenure. The Internet/telephone repeaters are placed wherever we can get a line of sight to the lodge and a location with good Internet and telephone service. We try to keep the Internet repeater sites as low as possible to reduce the electronics’ exposure to harsh mountain weather.
TD: How many repeaters does each area have?
BL: It varies from one to four.
TD: Anything else you'd like to add?
BL: We have three kinds of repeaters, VHF, UHF, and microwave. The VHF repeaters are the ones most familiar to our guests that allow the lodge to talk to the guides in the field when they are skiing in the outer reaches of our terrain. Most of our VHF repeaters have a set of UHF radios to allow one area to connect to a neighbouring lodge’s repeater to share information. If you activate all of the UHF repeaters together it forms a radio link over 400km long, the guides in the Cariboo Range up north can talk to guides as far south as CMH K2 and the Bugaboos.
Up until a few years ago, when we switched to telephone conference calls, this is how the guides in the different CMH Areas exchanged observations made in the field to give everyone as much information as possible about the snowpack.
The microwave repeaters are in separate locations and are used to connect our lodges to phone lines and the Internet at the fastest speeds possible regardless of how hard it is snowing.
CMH Heli-Skiing’s vast communication network is one of the many reasons that 70% of our skiers are return guests. For more information, contact CMH Reservations at 1 (800) 661-0252.
Don’t let the epic snow conditions pass you by!
There is still time to book a heli-ski trip for 2013
The blogosphere and ski reports are lighting up with the best early season snow conditions North America has seen in years, setting the stage for what promises to be an epic year for skiers and boarders. As the company that invented Heli-Skiing more than 45 years ago and the largest heli-ski operator in the world, CMH Heli-Skiing has created dozens of winter experiences that help dispel some of the myths around deep powder skiing or boarding, making it more accessible than ever. And, with 11 heli-skiing areas in and around Revelstoke in BC’s Columbia Mountains, CMH Heli-Skiing encompasses more terrain than all the major North American ski resorts combined.
Myth 1: Every ski resort says they have the best snow and one destination is no different than the other.
Truth: The Columbia Mountains around Revelstoke have 162 cm (5 + feet) MORE snow than the best year in the last decade. This is huge. Also, the snow that is falling in the region has less moisture, which means champagne powder conditions. Another little known secret of the Columbia Mountains is the latitude. Up here the sun is high enough in the sky to provide a full day of skiing, but low enough to not affect the surface of the snow. This keeps the powder soft, even during clear weather.
Myth 2: Only expert skiers can truly enjoy powder skiing.
Truth: The latest equipment has opened up the joys of powder to intermediate level skiers. It is more important to have the right equipment and guides on hand to lead you down some of the best ski terrain in the planet. CMH guides are among the best in the world and they work with every skier to determine the right powder skiing experience based on fitness levels and ability. CMH has designed Powder 101 intro ski weeks for those intermediate skiers unfamiliar with deep powder technique. Four, five and seven day trips are available throughout the ski season and range in price from $4,265 to $11,525 Cdn per person.
Myth 3: Heli-Skiing is a man’s sport.
Truth: Women should not be intimated by powder and Heli-Skiing. With the right equipment, the right guides and the right attitude, women enjoy deep powder just as much as men, especially in the light, champagne powder we're currently seeing. Girl Pow(d)er is available as a women-only trip for those who are ready to rip, as well as Powder 101: Girl’s School for strong-intermediate skiers wanting to build their powder skills. These trips are offered for 4 or 5 days and start at $4,265 Cdn. Bring a friend or we'll find a roommate for you, or maintain your privacy back at the lodge, but on the mountain each day, its just you and your crew, and your guides. CMH also provides specially designed women's powder skis, poles & all safety equipment.
Myth 4: Heli-Skiing is not for families.
Truth: Skiing powder in Canada is an experience people want to share with their loved ones. CMH guides select terrain appropriate for the entire family, and sometimes take three generations skiing together. Seven-day, Next Generation trips introduce powder skiing to the younger generation – with the younger skiers (ages 12 - 25) paying half price when booked with an accompanying adult. Next Gen trips are offered in March and April starting at $8,215 Cdn ($4,110 Cdn for the younger generation skiers).
Family Trips are for families with 12 to 17-year old skiers, designed around the Christmas holidays (think 2013!) Younger children who won’t be skiing are welcome (CMH has nannies available as these non skiers must be supervised at all times). Families begin the day heli-skiing together, but kids can return to the lodge when they tire to participate in fun, supervised, indoor and outdoor activities (leaving parents to ski at their own pace for the remainder of the day). In the evening, CMH’s chefs cook up a grand family dinner with special meals for the kids.
Myth 5: Fewer days heli-skiing is more cost effective.
Truth: The value increases the more days (and therefore guaranteed vertical) you book, with one day Heli-Skiing often the lowest value option due to the safety orientation cutting into part of your one day. There is also the myth that when booking a trip, you must ski all day, every day. At CMH, the guaranteed vertical system only charges you for vertical when you’re skiing, and opportunities are provided to stop skiing early and enjoy the amenities of the lodges, including cross country skiing, common areas and a fireplace for socializing, full-service bar, expansive outdoor decks, shop for gifts and gear, sauna, hot tubs and massage service.
CMH Heli-Skiing trips include lodging, meals, snacks and non-alcoholic beverages, transportation to and from Calgary International Airport for most trips, use of K2, Atomic and Rossignol skis and poles; a limited number of Burton snowboards are available. Guests are also trained how to use avalanche transceivers, and are provided with a CMH guest pack including shovel, probe and radio.
Myth 6: Snowboarders and skiers don’t mix when heli-skiing.
Truth: CMH welcomes boarders on all trips – and guides instruct boarders on how to manage different conditions and terrain including: anticipating flat sections, not getting too low on traverses, setting bindings towards the rear for deep powder, carrying extra binding parts, and using ski tracks to your advantage. Many CMH guides will lead on a board when riding with a full group of snowboarders.
To know more, contact CMH Heli-Skiing at 1.800.661.0252 or via email at
info@cmhinc.com. Our Heli-Ski Experts are on hand seven days a week from 7am to 7pm and are happy to answer your questions, or pop a copy of The Journal of the World's Greatest Skiing in the mail for your coffee table. Don't let another ski season pass you by!
With the over the top (literally) snow we’ve experienced in 2012, CMH Heli-Skiers have been putting their gear to the test, and both experienced Heli-Skiers and first timers are wondering if their gear will be up for the demands of deep powder skiing. So to help out, I dug back through The Heli-Ski Blog archives and came up with the year's top five gear tips from experienced guides, staff and guests.
#5 Don’t take new boots on a ski trip. Skiers spend a bunch of money on new boots for their dream trip and then end up with sore feet, blisters, and simply don’t have as much fun. You’d be better off skiing in your old, comfortable boots than buying a new pair and taking them on your dream trip without time to work out the kinks.
If you have time to break in a new pair of boots, consider this: most people prefer a softer boot for powder skiing, and stiff boots just make the fluid motions of deep powder skiing more awkward and difficult for all but the world’s best skiers. If you are going to use custom footbeds, don’t retrofit them to your boots - get them fitted from day one.
#4 Use large, double lens goggles for powder skiing. You’ll notice the ski guides all wear the big, dorky-looking goggles that allow lots of space between the face and the lenses. This keeps the warmth from your face from fogging up the goggles and work far better than the more stylish close-fitting goggles.
Also, double lens googles with ventilation holes in the lenses tend to fog more than the double lens models that are completely sealed. The idea is that the ventilation allows moisture to escape; the only thing better is sealed lenses that don’t let moisture get between the lenses in the first place.
#3 Wear puffy, warm gloves with long gauntlets. Many stylish, streamlined ski gloves have short gauntlets that quickly fill with snow, or have too little insulation to keep the fingers warm in the deep winter of Western Canada. You don’t need to have a lot of finger dexterity for putting on your skis or snowboard and ripping deep powder. Many Heli-Skiers even use big mittens rather than gloves for the ultimate in warmth. There’s nothing more distracting from the fun of Heli-Skiing than cold fingers.
Each CMH Heli-Skiing guest is given a small pack to ski with, and while you don’t want to carry a bunch of extra stuff, putting an extra pair of mittens or gloves in the pack can save the day when you first pair fills with snow.
#2 Dress for action. Sure, the best deep powder skiing happens in cold weather, but skiing deep powder can work up a sweat, especially if you're new to the game. Instead of wearing the kind of clothes you’d wear to sit around in extreme cold, wear what you’d need to go for a brisk walk or a easy jog.
Skiing bottomless powder and then jumping in a heated helicopter between runs is unlike any other outdoor activity. If you’re unsure, consult with a guide or other CMH staff - we all share the common goal of making your ski trip as fun and comfortable as possible.
#1 Don’t wear white! When you wear white, you blend in with the snow and you make it harder for your ski partners and the guides to see you, and if you take a wrong even the sharp-eyed helicopter pilots will have more trouble finding you.
Save the fashion for the streets of St. Anton or Aspen, and wear bright colours while Heli-Skiing. In the 15,000 square kilometres that is CMH Heli-Skiing, there are a lot of places for a skier dressed in white to blend in.
Happy New Year to all you snow riders, and may the next 12 months be as fantastic as the last!
Some seasons these tips are just suggestions, but this year, with every CMH guest experiencing once-in-a-lifetime powder conditions, these tips are verging on essential. For more information visit the CMH Heli-Skiing Equipment Information page.
‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,
Every skier was dancing, a few were quite soused.
The fat skis were all standing outdoors in cold air,
In hopes of more powder, face shots and big air.
The guides were still scheming with runs in their heads,
Planning tomorrow and finding sweet shreds.
And mama in tight pants and I in my chaps,
Had just hit the shot ski and made up silly raps.
When out by the spa there arose such a clatter,
We all stopped dancing to see what was the matter.
Away to the hot tub we ran with a flash,
Threw on our jackets, ignored the boot rash.
The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow,
Gave luster to the good times and party below.
When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But the Austrians, all naked, and drinking cold beer.
They were far from the hot tub, waist deep in snow,
Singing and shivering, putting on a good show.
Without words we all knew they were playing a game,
To see who could last longer and still ski the same.
At first we all wondered who these skiers could be,
until one raised his glass, and shouted “Prost! Pulverschnee!”
It was Gmoser and Grillmair poaching the spa,
Those two? The legends? We stood there in awe.
The next day they joined us as we took the first flight,
After not sleeping a wink - they had danced through the night.
They led the charge and we maxed out the fun,
From McBride to Galena we charged every run.
The Sasquatch was relaxing on a cornice to munch,
When we joined CMH K2 to share their fine lunch.
In the Bugs we held power and opened the hatch,
Clicked into our skis and carved the Snowpatch.
We skied every area, no one cared about vert,
We launched all the big cliffs and no one got hurt.
Back at the lodge, we were tired and sore,
But not Hans and Leo - they wanted some more.
They put on their touring gear, and skied into the night,
Yodeling, “Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!”
Last week, I posted a collection of recent photos showing just how exceptional the skiing conditions are around Revelstoke.
Then that night it snowed...
...50cm of low density champagne fluff on top of deep, soft powder.
Steve Chambers, the Manager of CMH Revelstoke, posted a comment to the article with a link to a video his team shot last Friday, a day they’re calling Big Friday. The combination of inspired powder skiers, creative camera work, and dreamy snow make "Big Friday" about the most fun two minutes of powder skiing I’ve ever seen:
Big Friday from Global Powder Guides on Vimeo.
Peter "PA" Arbic, guiding at CMH Galena, added this comment to last week's post after coming in for the day on Friday: "...and today was even better...we had to turn the amp up to 11" That's saying something; PA has spent decades dancing with snowflakes in the Canadian Rockies.
Today I talked to a writer in British Columbia who brought up this question: “Is it the best skiing ever?”
The best skiing ever? Them're fightin' words in some bars, and anywhere it's the kind of question that is hard to answer with certainty about something as ephemeral as powder skiing. Regardless of what truly defines the best, the fact that those are the kinds of questions being thrown around speaks volumes to the kind of snow riding going down in Revelstoke this winter.
Here’s what two veteran CMH Heli-Skiing guests had to say about it:
Eugene R. (Over 2 million vertical feet with CMH Heli-Skiing) “Had the best powder skiing ever!!! Can barely walk now –Great fun!”
Ed C. (Over 5 million vertical feet with CMH Heli-Skiing) “Couldn’t be any better – Epic Skiing!”
Stay tuned. More snow last night and nothing but snow in the 5-day forecast. It’s shaping up to be a white Christmas like no other at CMH. There's already more snow in Revelstoke than any December in the last decade. Bring it on!
Photo from CMH Valemount, Decempow 2012.