The Heli-Ski Blog

5 Things that Prevent a Great Heliski Photo

Almost everyone carries a camera heliskiing or snowboarding these days, even if it's just a camera phone.  Of the hundreds or thousands of photos taken by a heliskier or snowboarder during a heliski week with Canadian Mountain Holidays, there will be a couple of great photos, a lot of mediocre photos, a few really bad ones, and one or two that were almost great except for one problem.  Those can be some of the most fun.  Here are five of my favourite shots that best exemplify the almost-great heliski photo:

Timing: When you’re just about to snap that shot of your friend with snow up to his waist, right in the middle of a sunlit pocket in the trees, in perfect control, another powder hound cartwheels out of control across the photo.

Snowing too hard: There is a good reason the Columbia Mountains in interior British Columbia were the birthplace of heliskiing – it’s one of the snowiest places on earth - but sometimes it can dump too hard to see, ski, or fly and even the best cameras finally succumb to the elements.   You’re probably thinking, “Show me!”   This was the last run of the day at CMH Bobbie Burns.

Too many boards: Snowboarding zenmaster Rob Stevens decides to try heli-noboarding, a snowboard without bindings, at CMH Gothics, but accidentally ends up on the summit with both his boards.  Rob rides the entire 1200-metre run with no bindings and his regular snowboard strapped to his back.  It was a great display of skill, but a weird photo.

Trick goes sour:  Needs no explanation.  Approaching lunchtime at CMH Bugaboos.

Too much fun for fashion: Heliskiers are usually having such a raging good time that they forget to dress for the camera.  They also tend to forget about life’s pressures for a while, forget what day of the week it is, and forget to use their smartphones - except for taking pictures.

Ready to go heliskiing already?  During early season the powder is often as good as it gets - and it's cheaper.

Heli-Ski-aholics Anonymous

Having been on skis since the age of 2, I have now officially spent 19 summers waiting for the snow to fly again. Although I am sure many of you have spent many more summers waiting for snow, I still consider myself to be a pretty big expert on what to do to pass the time... The other day, I found myself committing what I would consider to be an amateur's mistake. I was sitting on the side of Cascade Mountain here in Banff, looking off in to the distance at the snow capped mountains. I realized I was sending out negative vibes about winter disappearing. I therefore had to remind myself of the things to do that create positive feelings towards next winter. So, I picked myself up off of that mountain and wrote out a list.

Here are some of the top tips from my list:

1. Put on your ski gear: Nothing gets you more excited for skiing than throwing on some snowpants and goggles and running around an air conditioned house.
2. Throw a coat of wax on your skis: If you love your skis as much as I do, you won't want to just throw them in the basement all summer to collect dust and let your bases dry up. In the ski world, this is the equivalent of leaving your dog in the car on a hot day. It is simply not acceptable! So drag those skis out from the basement, and throw on a coat of wax and do not scrape until fall. Either that or take them down to your local ski shop. They will usually do it for around $10. You will thank me in the fall (and your skis will thank me now).
3. Watch ski movies: Alright, maybe not as many as I do... I even have them on my iPhone for quick reference. But nothing can cure the skiing withdrawal like a quick ski clip. We have a large collection of heliski videos for a quick fix. If you are looking for something with a much higher budget that can be seen on a much bigger screen, check out the Warren Miller Road Show this fall. I hear that there is some EPIC footage from CMH! Or, if you need a CMH-specific fix, fire me an email @ jentwistle@cmhinc.com and I can send you a CMH DVD.
4. Find a glacier and ski there: Whistler and Mt. Hood offer skiing almost year round. I can tell you that the skiing is not great there though. Most of the good skiing can be found in the morning when the glacier is not open to the public and the glacier is as hard as a skating rink. If you prefer quality skiing, you might just want to wait until December when the CMH season starts up again.
5. Get up in the mountains: This can actually be an awesome activity as long as you don't catch yourself dwelling on the lack of winter. Get out hiking, biking, running, or whatever you love to do in the mountains. Or you can try something that I too will be trying for the first time this year. Heli-Hiking with CMH! I am ecstatic about going up to either the Bobbie Burns or the Bugaboos Lodge and exploring some terrain where few others have been. And who knows... Maybe I will even run in to a Bear!

Until next time, stay safe in your off season activities.

 

I hope to see you this summer!

 

John

What do your heli-ski guides do in the summer?

If you live anywhere north of the equator, and not in Western Alberta (where it has been snowing for the last week), you have probably noticed that the white blanket covering the surrounding mountains is slowly starting to disappear. For many of us, this is simply a transition from winter to summer. We turn the heating in our offices off, and turn the air conditioning on. Not much changes in our day to day lives. I mean sure, we can no longer ski or partake in other winter activities, driving becomes substantially less stressful, and we start to wear less clothing, but our day to day routines are, for the most part, the same.

Now this is all fine and dandy, but what about our faithful ski guides? Their day to day is dealing with that blanket of white stuff we all love to ski and snowboard on. But what on earth do they do when the snow melts away? Do they just stand in their ski boots and wait for it to snow again? Do they move to the other side of the world where it is snowing? Or do they go in to hibernation like bears in the winter?

A couple of days ago, an email came through the office asking the guides what their plans for this upcoming summer. I was lucky enough to be included in this email and all I have to say is that I am absolutely amazed at the lives that these guys lead! And just to give you an idea on how amazing these guides' lives are, they started out each of their responses with: Nothing too special, Regular life stuff, and Pretty mellow... YA RIGHT!

Steve Chambers, manager of CMH Revelstoke, moves south. And not so far south that he finds snow again, but just south enough that he finds himself in Los Angeles, California. In L.A. Steve takes over more of the parental duties while his wife (who is expecting the newest addition to their family in September) works as a film editor. When he isn't doing his fatherly duties on land, he takes to the water. Plans for this summer include "surfing as much as humanly possible" and joining fellow Revelstoke guide John Luttrell and family on their around the world sailing journey in French Polynesia. And finally, in preparation for next winter, Steve will be doing some work removing an old fuel cache and installing a new one up in Revelstoke so that us heli-skiers can get more skiing in next winter!

Jeff Bodnarchuk, guide with the Nomads Program, is hoping to be out heli-hiking in both the Bobbie Burns and Bugaboos. He is also planning to get out mountain biking and relaxing after his nomadic winter. His major expedition for the summer will be getting in as much family time as possible and raising his little boy.

The last guide we talked to, Mike Welch, hopes to be up at the CMH Galena lodge where he is lodge manager. He will be overseeing some potential renovations to the guest rooms. In his spare time he will be mountain biking and dirt biking around local trails. Lastly, Mike will be out in the wilderness sharpening his eye for photography and pursuing photo opportunities so that he can share some amazing pictures from Galena with you next winter!

All I know is that it sure would be great to live a summer in any of these guys shoes. I guess when you have such an adrenaline filled job in the winter, it pays to "sit back" and "relax" during the summer.

Personally, I am going to be hanging out around the head offices here in Banff, working on tones of exciting things for the upcoming winter. I hope to get up to one of our lodges to do some heli-hiking at some point. I have also set a personal goal to summit a mountain every weekend this summer (wish me luck!). Mountain biking, photography, and barbequing are also all in the plans.

What are your plans this summer? Will I be seeing out at one of our lodges for some summer adventures? Or maybe out on the trails in the backcountry?

Until later,

John

Small Group Heli-Skiing? At CMH?

Ok.  It's time to come clean.  We've been hiding behind fancy names like Powder Max and Revelstoke Private for far too long.  We've even gone so far as to use the term "Small Ship Heli-Skiing". It's time to stop, good people of the heli-ski world, and confess.  It's true.  We've been offering small group heli-skiing for a long time.  And we're not sorry.

In the late-90s we recognized that there were some secret stashes of powder within our enormous terrain that were not well-suited to our existing model of 4 groups of 11 skiers with a Bell 212 helicopter.  However, with a smaller machine and a smaller group of skiers, we could spend all week in completely different areas of our ski terrain. And thus, the idea of Revelstoke Private Groups was born.

Knowing a good thing when we skied it, when constructing the Monashee Lodge in 2001/2002 we seized on the opportunity to create enough space in the lodge to house 44 guests who would ski with the 212 PLUS a group of 4 guests with 2 guides and a 2nd pilot and engineer for 'the small ship'.  Et voila.  The first Monashees Private group skied Soard's Creek in the winter of 2002/2003.

Feedback from long time CMH guests reinforced the benefits of the new Small Group program:

• We love the freedom to ski at our own pace.  Go hard or take it easy.  Even sit out a run in the heli, if you want.
• The small group format allows us to ski lines that you just can't get to with a larger group.
• Guest to guide ratio of 2:4 is nice because when you're not skiing close to the other groups for back-up, you need to be self-sufficient.
• Unlimited vertical!
• The Bell 407 is like the sports car of helicopters - nimble and fast.

And so, Kootenay Powder Light was born.  We quickly learned that we'd incorrectly named this one and re-tooled this to become Kootenay Powder Max.  (We'd gone with light to imply the small helicopter, then went with Max to convey the 'Powder to the MAX' idea.) At Kootenay we use the 407 to access the tight terrain, but we have 3 or 4 groups of skiers sharing the helicopter.  It's our bread-and-butter model...but it's more like bilini-and-caviar.  This makes for quick lifts and opportunities to ski challenging lines.

Fast-forward to 2010.  Last month we took our Powder Max model to the Bobbie Burns and the Monashees.  Small group heliskiing in the Bobbie Burns?  The skiing in the Burns is already fast and fun because there are only 3 groups of 11 sharing the 212...can you imagine 3 groups of 5 skiers!  It just keeps getting better!  The guests loved it, clearly the demand exists for more. 

What does 2011 hold for heliskiers looking for small group heliskiing with CMH?  Picture this: 6 groups of 5 skiers with two 407 helicopters in the Adamants. Powder Max Squared?  How about Small Group Heli-Skiing with CMH.

One other thing we need to clarify.  Nomads.  Yes, heli-skiers, truth be told, this is also small group heli-skiing except we meander our way through the Monashees, Adamants, Gothics, Revelstoke, Kootenay and Galenaterrain.  We happily pick the best lines where we won't impose upon our other skiers and share the lodge with our friends in the Gothics or cruise down to Halcyon Hot Springs Resort.

Does all this come with a price? In some cases, but not all.  You might be surprised.  Call or e-mail one of our Heli-Ski Experts and they'll walk you through the Small Group Menu.  From private trips to not-so-private, unlimited to guaranteed vertical - we've got it covered.  And we're ready to ski it with you.

How to keep your heli-ski guide from getting nervous

Sometimes we are out playing in the snow with ski guides, and they seem to be having at least as much fun as the rest of the skiers.  Other times, it seems like they are about as stressed out as long-tailed cats in a room full of rocking chairs.

I thought it would help if we skiers knew better the things we do that make guides nervous, so I caught up with Gery Unterasinger, Assistant Area Manager of CMH Bobbie Burns, (and a gifted athlete on all things rocky, snowy and icy) to find out the kind of things we do that make him nervous, and how we could make heli-skiing more fun for the guides as well as for us skiers.    



TD: What do we do near the helicopter that makes you nervous?

GU:

• Heli Huddle: Go down on one knee or at least bend over – I have a hard time understanding why this simple safety measure is so hard to achieve for active people who can heli-ski hard all day.
• Pick up: Always watch the helicopter as it is coming in to land for the pick up – this one is not hard to achieve either, and you get a free face shot as a bonus.  
• Seat belts: From the front seat we can hear the “clicking” noise of seatbelts unbuckling just before the helicopter lands.  This is totally unnecessary, and dangerous for you and the rest of the passengers, since this is probably the time with the most risk involved during flight operation.  Wait until the door opens.  Nobody has ever skied an extra turn because they took off their seatbelt quickly.


TD: What do we do in the alpine terrain that makes you nervous?

GU:

• Passing guests from behind at high speed: With all the space we have available in the alpine areas of our heli-skiing tenures, there is no reason to have collisions between two skiers.
• Taking shortcuts: There is usually a reason why a guide tells you to follow his traverse. There can be plenty of hidden hazards like avalanches, crevasses, glide cracks, creek beds with open water, cliffs or wind scoops - to name a few.
• Stopping too close, and out of control, above the guide or group: Numerous times I have witnessed skiers crashing into the waiting group or guide.  Please slow down with your last few turns - your legs are tired and don’t always perform at their best anymore.
• Stopping below the guide: In open terrain where you can see the guide from miles away, this should be a no brainer. Your guide stopped for a reason.  (See also hidden hazards above)

TD: What do we do in the tress that make you nervous?

GU: Since I can't see through the trees, I can only judge from my experiences at a regroup spot, which offers a limited view.  My number one complaint is probably that too often skiers show up without their partner, which makes me, and everyone else in the group, quite nervous.  Please make an effort to stay within visual or shouting distance of your partner.  The second skier is the safety monitor - he or she keeps an eye on the first skier and hoots or yodels frequently so the first skier knows you are there.   This method has already proven to be a life saver in many tree well incidents.  With an attentive partner, these stories end with a good laugh over beers at the lodge instead of with a serious accident.  As a bonus you get to share your great turns with a like-minded powder friend. 

TD: Anything else?

GU: I would like to add that most of our heli-skiing guests ski very responsibly and are a great pleasure to guide, and a great pleasure for first-timers to ski with in any terrain. With my points above I am just trying to reinforce a few simple rules which most of you follow really well, but which consistently get violated by a few skiers for no apparent reason.
  It’s snowing right now here in the Columbias.  Fluffy powder unpatiently awaiting fresh tracks.  So let’s get out, have fun and play as a team together. I'm soooo psyched!

Heli-skiing is not the only place where Gery's suggestions and critique are valid.  Check out this website, Tree Well and Deep Snow Safety, that reveals some shocking facts about these hazards. (For example, in one test using volunteers placed in tree wells, under careful supervision, 90% could not extricate themselves without help!)
 

The "OTHER" Intern

John, a fellow intern in the Banff office, has begun posting blogs of his account.  I can't allow myself to be shown up in the office so I will describe my own exciting intern adventures! To start a little on my background, I am a Physical Education student from the University of Alberta, Edmonton specializing in sport, recreation, and tourism. I'm currently completing my final semester, in my 4th year, and will be graduating in April (if everything goes according to plan)! I chose to apply to do my practicum with CMH because when faced with the question of where to work I couldn't find a company or place where I would be happier to be. I love skiing and the outdoors and feel so lucky to be here. Here is my take on my first weeks with CMH:

Unlike John, I showed up for my first day of work at a heli-pad, not in the office. I was excited and the dark highway and wet snowflakes did not faze me one bit, I was on my way to a heli-ski lodge for my very first time! After a wrong turn, and a lot of tone deaf singing in my car, I arrived at the Bobbie Burns heli-pad. Two weeks later, sad to be leaving, I returned to my car to head back to Banff. Still, those first two weeks of work had taught me some important lessons.

1. You work hard for the money... so hard for the money: The first thing I learned was that you work really, really hard in a lodge and there is never a shortage of things to do. I also learned that if you think you have finished, you should probably keep quiet, because someone else will definitely prove you wrong.

2. You work hard for the skiing... not the money: This is an amendment to my first lesson. I soon learned that you work really hard so that when a ski spot comes up you can grab all your gear as fast as possible and get out to the helicopter. Lodge staff come from many different places and a variety of backgrounds, but the unifying factor is that they all tell you how much they truly love to ski or board. Getting my first taste of heli-skiing, I can assure John that, yes, it is every bit as good as all the promotions suggest, even better to be honest.

3. Beware of the lodge monsters: while all the lodge staff may seem warm and inviting, I'll warn you that some of these people are evil, i.e. the pastry chef, chef, and bartender. Everyday this group prepares a wide assortment of food and beverages...all too tasty and tempting. I learned first hand, as a victim in their delicious traps, that you can suffer a plethora of ailments such as a stomachache at night, a pounding head in the morning, a fuzzy memory of embarrassing acts, and great difficulty trying to zip up your pants at the end of your time there.

Other than these lessons I learned just how much fun, and how beautiful, visiting one of CMH's lodges can be. I am now am back in Banff, happily settled into my new position in the office...but you'll have to wait until my next post to hear more about that!

Cheers,

Frances Dewart

Heli-skiing teamwork - the myth of the Powder Pig

Leading heli-skiers and snowboarders has been compared to herding cats.  The excitement of the best skiing on the planet combined with the different personalities, languages and nationalities in the ski groups make the job of leading ski groups to good snow, and around dangers, an interesting one to say the least.  Some groups seem to ignore each other and take an every-man-for-himself approach resulting in frustrating days for both the skiers and the guides.  Others take more of a team approach making it more fun for the other skiers and easier for the guides.  I asked Lindsay Andersen, a guide who’s been at CMH Bobbie Burns for the last eight seasons, to talk about the teamwork she sees out there.

Without the teamwork the skiers provide, I think the guides would find it even more stressful to trust that skiers will make it down the mountain together and in one piece.  It’s always such a relief to see all our powder ducks in a row after a long run in the trees!

 

I think two extremes occur amongst guests.  You get the "old" regulars who have skied with us for longer than I've been alive, who are either really conscious of helping out, or the opposite happens, and they are out there for themselves and to get as much vertical as they can, which is funny because in heli-skiing being the first to the ski lift doesn’t get you an extra run!

The other side is the first-timers who come and are nervous and tend to hang back making sure everyone is safe, or they have their heads in the sand (or snow!) and have no experience in such an untamed environment.

 

In general, I find most skiers are quite good at helping others.  Every day in the Bobbie Burns, one of the most popular lodges among our international guests, we see skiers helping others who don’t even speak the same language.

• I see people bundling each other’s skis for the helicopter, especially in the Burns where typically the heli is hovering close by waiting to pick the group up.  Not much time to take pictures or tell jokes! 
  
• I see people hang back to search for lost skis, and sometimes you'll get the entire group standing in the middle of a big slope searching for one lost ski.  I'll be yelling to tell them they really only need one or two people helping out, but human nature makes it hard for even powder pigs to leave behind someone who is struggling.


• In the trees I find the teamwork most beneficial... Of course tree buddies are extremely important in keeping everyone safe and out of tree wells, and from getting lost.   In the beginning, we have to continually remind people to stay with their partner in the trees, but after a while most people realize they enjoy skiing with a friend.
• More and more skiers bring their own radios for communicating amongst each other, which is great for keeping the team informed if you lose a ski or whatever. 


• Around the helicopter I find some skiers are quite conscious of making sure everyone is crouching when the machine comes in.  The noise, the flying snow, the wind from the rotors and the power of the helicopter tends to stress people out the most in heli-skiing, so having someone who knows what their doing is a comfort to those who are brand new.


• Serving each other tea and soup at lunch so not everybody has to wallow in the deep snow to get a drink.
• Picking each other up after falling in deep snow.
• Scoping landings and lines for each other.
• Helping each other get their skis on.
• Lending each other spare goggles, glasses and gloves.
• Leaving space in the drying room for everyone's gloves and boots.
• The list goes on...

While heli-skiers have a reputation for being selfish powder hounds, most guests help out whenever they can.  Human beings are, in general, very kind and naturally nurturing and helpful and the mountains are good at getting people to work together.  You always get those bruised apples who don’t pay much attention to the other skiers or the guides, not realizing that they hurt their own skiing experience by being so selfish, but these seem to be few and far between. 

We all have skiing in common, and the people at the CMH Reservations office, and the guides who create the skiing groups in the field, are extremely good at fitting skiers with the groups where they will fit in and getting you into different CMH programs that will put you with like-minded skiers.  It's up to you to be honest about what you can do!