The Heli-Ski Blog

One Heliski Guide's Idea of a Holiday

When my fingers slipped from the crack in the rock, I flew through the air for ten stomach-lifting metres until the impossibly strong, and comfortably stretchy climbing rope caught my fall. At the other end of the rope Gery Unterasinger, the Assistant Area Manager of the CMH Bobbie Burns Lodge, looked up at me quietly.

Gery has climbed Cerro Torre, one of the most difficult mountains in the world, can lead guide heli-skiers or snowboarders for 17,000-metre day after 17,000-metre day, and is the kind of guy you want holding your rope when you’re dangling on a rock face, high above a drooling crevasse, after a long fall.

Photos, from left: Gery approaching Snowpatch Spire, Topher practicing geometry, Gery at play, and Gery at work.

We were trying to climb a route called Sendero Norte the East Face of Snowpatch Spire, a dark granite tower that looks like a 700-metre high gemstone stuck in the ice of Bugaboo Glacier. Our strategy for the day was made of one part the demands of fatherhood, one part ambition, and one part experience tempered with laziness. To climb in the Bugaboo Spires, most climbers carry heavy packs into the Kain Hut or Applebee Campground and sleep before climbing. With limited time, and with too many heavy packs in our muscle memories, Gery and I opted to avoid camping entirely and go car to car with light packs.

After my fall, we made steady progress up thin, vertical cracks to a corner so geometrically perfect it seems to defy the chaos of erosion. High on the face, we followed the wrong crack and had to rappel to get back onto the right line. Then we couldn’t find an important anchor. Happy with our day, we opted to turn around and rappel to the glacier, 400 meters below us.

Later on, over a cold beer, we talked about what makes success and failure in the mountains. We didn’t make the summit and I took a big fall, but we both felt that the day was a success. If you compare it to heli-skiing, is success in the mountains about skiing from the very top to the very bottom and climbing to the highest bit of rock? Is success in the mountains about numbers, like climbing difficulty grades or metres skied?

Or is success in the mountains about safely getting into the best snow available for as many great turns as possible? On Snowpatch, we got eight hours of the rock climber’s equivalent of over the head powder. On Snowpatch, it really didn’t seem so different from the days I’ve spent with Gery, just a few kilometres away from Snowpatch Spire, skiing powder at the Bobbie Burns. There was no do-or-die attitude, no stress, a large margin for safety, just the right amount of suffering, great turns, lots of face shots, and a little bit of crud to keep us honest.

The funny thing is that in the few weeks since the climb, we’re already talking about going back next year – such is the addiction of the mountain holiday.

CMH Heliskiing Guide, John Furneaux, Summits Mt Everest

When I worked at CMH's Adamant Lodge in tthe winter of 2006 I met John Furneaux, one of CMH's incredible heliskiing guides.  John recently completed his second summit of Mount Everest and I had a chance to chat to him about his connection to the Adamants and his trip back to the top of the world.
 
JF: I love the Adamants!  It seems all my guiding has started in the Adamant mountains. My first trip there was to Fairy Meadows in 1997.  I was a client of CMH guide Tim Pochey and I told him I wanted to be a mountain guide and to teach me everything and now I am a mountain guide and work at the same company as Tim!  I also did my ACMG assistant ski guides exam in CMH Adamants area and then the next winter got hired there. I have wanted to be a guide since I was 12 years old living in Newfoundland. I saw a picture in a magazine of a guide guiding some clients in the Tantalus range above Squamish B.C. and was set.  I moved there at 15 and made it happen. It was a very fun journey and now I see myself in the exact spot in the picture working as a mountain guide. It's always a great feeling.
 
BC: This was your 2nd summit of Mount Everest, how do the two experiences compare? Did you find it easier the 2nd time around?
 
JF: The two trips were very similar but also worlds apart. Climbing mountains is like heliskiing, one minute conditions are great and the next things have turned bad due to the ever-changing mountain weather and conditions. The first trip up Everest we had great summit day conditions. Light winds, warmish temperatures and great snow conditions for travel. Overall it was "easy" as far as Everest goes. Our summit day this spring was a little different.  We had very high winds, deep snow and cold temps. We spent 2 nights at our high camp waiting for a weather break and at our last possible chance things cleared and we made it.
 
BC: On both of your trips you were with a pretty amazing group of guys. Can you tell me a bit about them?
 
JF: In 2008 I had a team of four with only one person making the summit.  Of that team one member has Type 1 Diabetes, one has Crohn’s disease and the other has no fingers from a pervious frostbite accident. The man with diabetes made the summit and the others had to turn back due to a variety of reasons.  This year I went back with two of the guys who did not summit. It was their last summit of the seven summits. In the end they both made it, and Rob Hill became the first person living with Crohn’s disease and an ostomy to achieve this amazing feat! It was truly amazing to watch these guys reach their high points in life and on the mountain.
 
BC: What are the major challenges with scaling the tallest mountain in the world?
 
JF: The biggest challenge hands down is staying healthy. You need to go to Everest with a clear mind, fit body and with lots of extra muscle on you. Most people will lose about 20 pounds on a Everest trip so you need to be able to withstand that and still be at a healthy weight towards the end of the trip for your summit push. Having a good cook is key. They will keep you well fed and keep your food and water clean which equals staying healthy. The next two are the weather, which is out of our hands, and how your body acclimatizes to the elevation. The key is always go SLOW and go down when you're not feeling right. That's why we spend two months there to allow for down time and to recover.
 
BC: Do you think you'll ever go back again?
 
JF: You never know! Life is always changing and it's hard to gauge where things will go.
 
BC: I hear you're reaching your own high point in life - Marriage!  What's more intimidating - Everest or marriage?
 
JF: That one is easy, marriage of course!  Everest is over in two months, marriage is for life!  The good and bad will happen as with mountains but I still will look forward to what everyday will bring.
 
If you'd like to hear more about John's trip up Everest come on up to the Adamants lodge this winter for a Signature Heliskiing trip, Ski Fusion, Ski Touring or one of our Small Group Heliskiing adventures.  Call our Heli-Skiing Experts to learn more at 1.880.661.0252 or email us at info@cmhinc.com.

Ski Psyche in the Off-Season - A Kid's Perspective

A few weeks ago I was walking to the store under cloudless summer skies with my three-year-old twins.  Out of the blue, my daughter says: “Papa, I miss skiing.  I want to go skiing.  Can we go skiing?”

I tried to explain how we needed to wait for the snow before we could go skiing, and that winter would come soon enough.  She seemed content with the answer, and I thought she’d forgotten all about winter fun, but the next morning she came down the stairs all groggy-eyed and crawled onto my lap.  She looked out the window for a minute, seemingly deep in thought, and then turned to me with a disappointed look in her eye and said, “Papa, it did not snow last night.  We cannot go skiing.”

Since then, my kids talk about skiing pretty much every day.  As a father, it is nice to see them so excited about something I love to do; but as a skier, my kids are driving me nuts.  Now I’m jonesin' for skiing too! 

I tried to order the new Fritschi AT binding that promises to be the rage for riding lifts and backcountry touring, but it’s not available yet.  I caught myself checking out the newest backcountry ski boots and wondering if my goggles would work for another year.  I surfed to one of the CMH guide videos with the excuse of checking out a chest camera that some of the heliski guides are using.

Last week we went hiking.  After perhaps a kilometer, the twins wanted to go back to the truck.  First I tempted them with a snack, but they were still not inspired.  Then I suggested they lead off the trail through some open woods and meadows. That worked for five minutes, and then they wanted to go back to the truck.  
Rather than push them I started to turn around, and then said, “Hiking will help you ski better when it snows.”

They both looked at me for a second, and then took off up the trail, teetering around some big puddles and tiny streams without even getting their feet wet, and kept going for another half an hour before I grew worried about blisters on their little feet and turned us around. 

Now, whenever the twins get tired of walking, I mention skiing and they both find a second wind.  My kids’ sudden and inexplicable late-summer enthusiasm for skiing has rubbed off on me.  I started going out on my road and mountain bikes, and hitting the local skatepark to practice physical balance and mental commitment - until I sprained my ankle, and then my first thought was, “I’ll be healed by ski season!”

Frosty window photo by Topher Donahue. 

Are you jonesin' too?  Want to just talk about powder?  Give us a call.  We can’t wait for that first face shot either.  

Helen Sovdat - CMH Heli-Skiing Guide & Queen of Altitude

By Lilla Molnar, CMH Heli-Skiing Guide

Helen Sovdat is a Mountain Guide and has been guiding for CMH Heli-Skiing for over 20 years, currently she works in the Adamants. In September of 2009, Helen was part of a successful climbing expedition to Manaslu, Nepal.  She is the first Canadian to summit the 8163m peak. Manaslu is the world’s 8^th highest peak.  In her career she has climbed many other high mountains around the world including; Choy Oyu, Ama Dablam, Mustagatah, Mt. Logan and Mt. Fairweather to name a few.

 

The planning for this fairly spontaneous trip started in the spring of 2009 with some vision of climbing something big with Val Pitkethy a trekking guide and friend of Helen’s with whom she has shared many other great adventures.  Val has some great connections within the world of Himalayan climbing.  And so, Helen, Val and their friend Mel Proudlock, piggy-backed with a commercial trip heading to Manaslu.

I sat with Helen to ask her about her recent adventure.

LM: How did the trip to Manaslu compare to other expeditions you have done?

HS:It was a holiday! – It was my chance to tag along as one of the members of an outfitted expedition.  Food, portering, and camp set up were taken care of. We climbed on our own but we had full support.  It was a nice treat as a guide to not have to take care of other people and focus on this climb for myself.  Climbing at altitude is tough because it always takes a huge commitment in terms of time and energy.  We felt like we were quite quick to acclimatize and we were on the summit within about 3 weeks of arriving in basecamp.

LM: How were the conditions on the mountain compared to other seasons?

HS: Great conditions on the mountain lead us to the summit, weather and conditions were perfect.  We had the best conditions I have ever heard of after talking to others who have tried to climb Manaslu.  At least 3 other Canadian expeditions had tried the climb in the past.  About 20 other climbers summited while we were there, so that was considered a good season.  Several other teams made it to just below the summit but turned around at the final corniced ridge.  The day after we were on the summit, the mountain got shut down for the season, as the winter jet stream moved in over us.  We anticipated the change in weather was coming so the last day of our climb we really went for it. 

LM:What was your climbing strategy and what was the crux?

HS: We drove NW from Kathmandu and then started on the Manaslu circuit which was a 5 day trek to basecamp. We set up four camps between basecamp and the summit. The route was quite interesting and included several crevasses, steep avalanche slopes and a dangerous icefall between camp 1 and 2.  It was a 300m section where you had to travel horizontally under the leaning towers of ice.  It was just one of those places you had to run and hope you didn’t get hit.  After we came down off the mountain a climber was killed there.  Summit day was long and exhausting. It was a thrill to be on top, but going down drained the last of my reserves. It was a struggle to keep moving one foot in front of the next. While we were there Manaslu also had its first ski descent by two Brits and one Chilean who skied from just below the summit.

Helen’s next trip is to Mongolia for trekking and general mountaineering.  She will also be guiding in Nepal and India in the fall of 2010.  The main objective is top secret but if you’d like in on it contact Helen helenso@telus.net. Or, if you'd like to join Helen next winter at the Adamants, contact CMH Reservations at 1.800.661.0252.

Photos:

Helen in Icefall between camp 1-2 by Val Pitkethly

Manslu Summit, Front to back: Tensing Sherpa, Helen Sovdat, mel Proudlock, Ngima Sherpa, Val Pitkethly by Rob Casserly.

When a Heliski Run Dies

Last winter I was standing on the rim of the Canoe River drainage, stunned by the view across some of the biggest glaciers left in British Columbia.  Above us, the 3516-metre bulk of Mt. Sir Wilfrid Laurier dominated the sky.  I turned to ask Dave Gauley, our heliski guide and assistant manager of CMH Cariboos, about skiing from the big peak’s summit.  He told me that it used to be a CMH ski run, but that a big crevasse opening had effectively killed it. 

With ten years experience as a professional freeskier, Gauley is not one to be easily deterred by terrain challenges.  He mentioned something about trying the descent, not doing it, climbing out of a big crevasse - and then skied away and dropped into the Canoe. Distracted by big terrain and stellar heliskiing, I forgot about his unfinished story. 

Earlier this week I was daydreaming about big mountains, remembered Dave’s story, and caught up with him – he’s easier to catch in the summer - and here’s what he had to say:

If you skied it (Sir Wilfrid Laurier) from the summit to the valley (which they used to do) it would be 2500 metres vertical.  I’m not sure how that ranks with other CMH runs, but it's pretty frickin’ long.  I tried to ski off the summit, but there is a big, melted-out crevasse a few hundred metres below the summit you have to climb out of.

The North Canoe Glacier (which would be the lower part of the run) also has huge crevasses, and an icefall that it did not used to have.  I think when they built the Cariboo Lodge in 1974, it was in the middle of the biggest snow decade in the area. From talking to oldtimers like Kiwi (Gallagher) and Ernst (Buhler), as well as (people) who grew up in the area - that's kind of their memory.

So I think the changing of the glaciers is a combination of back then they were really lucky with a huge snowpack to fill the crevasses, and glacier recession is now coupled with less snowfall. Bingo - less terrain to ski.

Other runs in the Cariboos are changing quickly too, like pretty much everything at the apex of the  Premier Range on all the big ice (“big ice” is guide speak for glaciers) is becoming trickier to ski.  Crazy Horse, Little Matterhorn, Penny, Ned's Moon, Thompson Glacier, Jerry's Perch, The Zipper…  These are just a few runs that are becoming difficult, or are no longer possible to ski.

Another thing that has changed is that they were much more aggressive on glaciers in the old days as well.  Those first Euro guides did not know anything about tree skiing, so they almost exclusively skied on glaciers. What was acceptable risk then would in no way fly today.

I heard, maybe from Bob Geber, that the Bugaboos has lost 30-50% of their glacier skiing from the original area over the last 40 years.  Just look at the S&S Glacier. I skied it on a guide exam in 1997 - we were roped up shitting our pants - and they used to take heliski groups down there!

Sounds like a good reason to book a heliski trip now before we lose more ski terrain!  Are there any of you lifelong heliskiers out there who can remember the natural closures of ski runs being a sad day?

Photo of skiing Ned's Moon in 2010 by Topher Donahue.

Ski Heroes: An Interview with CMH Heli Skiing Guide, Dave Gauley

Our founder, Hans Gmoser, was a passionate skier and mountaineer.  He was inspired at a young age by the local Catholic Priest, of all people, to spend time in the mountains.  This pasttime ignited a passion in Hans and he committed his life to persuing that passion. Now Hans is remembered as many things but most notably as the father of heliskiing and a founding member of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides as well as a world-class climber with remarkable first ascents to his name.

Today our CMH Heli-Skiing guides share Hans' passions and dreams and are making history of their own.  I asked one such guide, Dave Gauley about his life as a skier and who were the heroes that inspired him.  Here's what he had to say:

JC: Dave, when did you start skiing and what got you into the sport?

DG: I started skiing when I was about 6 years old in Rimouski, Quebec. I started because my friends were doing it and I got some hand-me-down equipment from one of my cousins.

JC: As a young skier, who were the athletes and skiers that inspired you?

DG: The skiers that inspired me were at first Scot Schmidt (the first ever professional extreme skier), then Trevor Peterson, Jean Marc Boivin, Pierre Tardivel and the likes.

JC: There are some pretty hot skiers out there these days that are pushing the envelope on technology and technique.  In your opinion, who are the skiers and riders that are the heroes for the next generation?

DG: Shane McConkey was an inspiration. I had a chance to ski with Shane a few times. He was very talented and always thinking of new ways to advance the sport. Many, if not all of today's  performance powder ski designs were his brainchild. That footage of him mounting ski bindings on waterskis, and ripping an Alaskan face to convince people that the spatula design was worthy is something i will never forget.

I am more inspired by the big mountain riders like Seth Morrison, than any jibbers. But Jon Olson is pretty impressive, in that he can dominate the jibbing world, and may compete in the next olympics in alpine racing.

JC: Did you always aspire to be a Heli-Ski Guide for CMH or like other young boys did you really want to be a fireman?

DG: I dropped out of university where i was pursuing a law degree, to move to Whistler to chase a dream. I watched ski movies, and wanted to be one of those people in the movies. I made that happen and had a career as a professional skier chasing first descents around the world for about a decade. During that time I had a chance to go to CMH for a photo shoot in the Gothics with Brad White. I saw what was going on and thought "This is a job?". I became a guide over the next 5 years, moved to Chamonix to guide for a year, then got started with CMH in 2000.

JC: And now, what do you want to be when you grow up?

DG: I don't want to grow up. I have achieved everything i have ever put my mind to. I just have to figure out what the next challenge is.

What about you?  Who are your ski heroes and where has your passion for the mountains taken you?

Ski with Dave: Dave Gauley is Assistant Area Manager at CMH Cariboos and the brainchild behind CMH's Steep Weeks held each April in the Cariboos.