A Ski Pole’s View of Heliskiing in Canada
This morning I awoke to the season’s first snow dusting the high peaks of the Rockies. The view got me daydreaming about skiing, and I started looking through my photos of heliskiing in Canada with CMH for a bit of early season inspiration.
For some reason, each photo that caught my eye had something in common: the ski pole interacting with the powder snow. On further inspection, I realized that the ski pole is perhaps the least heroic aspect of ski imagery, but while heliskiing in deep Canadian powder, the interface between the ski pole and the snow is a sight to behold.
The snow is often so deep, that most experienced heliskiers prefer shorter poles than they would use at a ski resort. Here, you can see why – the pole might as well be 10cm long:
Good heliskiers lead with their poleplants, but don’t lean on them. This snow is so deep that if the skier leans on his ski pole it will sink to the point of face plant instead of a pole plant:
During a heli-assisted ski touring week in CMH Adamants, I shot an especially scenic run with a camera mounted on my chest and a remote trigger down my sleeve. The view past the ski pole of the Adamants splendor is the result:
At one point in each deep powder turn everything is moving except the ski pole; a momentary respite from the moving, flying, floating world of powder skiing:
This is one of those moments that defines heliskiing in Canada. When CMH Cariboos Manager John Mellis gets eaten by a snow mushroom he gets spit out on his feet and smiling…
Curious if you ski well enough to go heliskiing in Canada? You probably do, but give us a call at (800) 661-0252 to ease your mind.