by Tony Crocker

Heliskiing and snowcat skiing are perhaps the sport’s ultimate vacation, but each carries distinct advantages and disadvantages for the experienced adventure seeker. The choices at times can seem overwhelming. Let’s look at the world of British Columbia beyond the chairlifts.

GEOGRAPHY 101

Let’s start with a geography lesson.  Highway 5 is the demarcation between the Cariboo and Monashee mountain ranges.  The Cariboos are west of Hwy. 5 and are the northernmost range used for heliskiing.  Crescent Spur and Robson Helimagic heliskiing operations are in the northern Cariboos near Valemount.  The Monashees are east of Hwy. 5 and follow the west side of the Columbia River to well south of Revelstoke.  Mike Wiegele’s permit area surrounds the town of Blue River along Highway 5.  The Selkirks are across the Columbia from the Monashees, home to the Selkirk-Tangiers heliski area across the Columbia River from CMH Revelstoke.  East of that is Rogers Pass in Glacier National Park, where only backcountry skiing is permitted.  The Purcells are farther east, parallel to Hwy. 95 from Golden in the north nearly to the U.S. border in the south.  Purcell Heliskiing is near Golden and RK Heliskiing is in the Purcells just south of the Bugaboos.  Great Canadian heliskiing and Chatter Creek snowcat are located north of Golden.

As a generalization, the Cariboos and Purcells offer mostly alpine and glacier skiing (the tree line is lower at 5,500 to 6,000 feet of elevation), while the Monashees are most famous for their tree skiing.  In the Selkirks the proportion of tree to alpine skiing varies by latitude, ranging from mostly trees at Kootenay to mostly alpine at the Adamants.  Great Northern snowcat skiing is between Kootenay and Galena, and there are four other snowcat operators in the Selkirks east and south of Kootenay.  Fernie and Island Lake Lodge snowcat are at the southeast corner of B.C. in the Lizard Range, which has a localized microclimate similar to the southern Selkirks.  TLH to the west is much farther from the coast than Whistler and similar to the Cariboos and Purcells in glaciated terrain.  I’m sure I’ve left out some operators, but by location and altitude one can make an educated estimate of the terrain.

SNOWCAT OR HELI?

The obvious difference is cost (all quotes converted to U.S. dollars).  Most B.C. snowcat operators will cost about $1,000 for a 3-day all-inclusive package.  A 3-day heliski guarantee would run about $1,800, but with cooperative weather expect to spend an additional $300-$400 for an extra 15,000 to 20,000 vertical feet.  The normal CMH package is an all-inclusive week including transport from the Delta Calgary Airport Hotel with typical cost of $4,000 at operations based in town hotels and up to $5,000 at remote lodge operations.  Single-day cat skiing without lodging is $200-$300, or $400-500 for a heli with a low guarantee of 10,000 vertical feet or so.

The major uncertainty of heliskiing is weather.  In most seasons Canadian heli operators average less than one no-fly day per week. One of the people I skied with at CMH Kootenay had been to six different CMH operations, always for the whole week, and there is some compelling logic for doing that if you can afford it.  Losing a day to weather is not uncommon, but over a week you'll make it up with plenty to spare, unlike you may on a 3-day trip.  He said you can burn out, but then you just take a day off.  The standard week guarantee is 100,000 vertical feet, and at a typical CMH operation you would get that pretty easily in 4-5 days of skiing.  He had never failed to make the guarantee on his other trips.

Heliskiing offers a greater assurance of powder snow, with vast permit areas and access to higher altitudes.  The mobility can allow greater variety as well as quantity of skiing vs. a snowcat.  In particular, snowcats range no more than 1,000 vertical feet above timberline.  If you want predominantly glacier skiing, you should go for the heli.  A possible exception is Chatter Creek snowcat in the Purcells, where a helicopter is used to transport skiers to its remote lodge.

Canadian snowcat permit areas tend to be much larger than their U.S. counterparts and it would be quite rare for them to get tracked out.  At typically low snowcat altitudes there is a risk of spring conditions by March if it hasn’t snowed recently.  I therefore recommend sticking to January and February for advance booking a snowcat trip.  Untracked midwinter powder really does stay light and dry for a couple of weeks in interior B.C., hard as that may be for us in southern or coastal climates to believe. 

In March and later months a northern exposure and altitude over 6,000 feet are needed to have similar confidence in snow quality.  Some of the heliskiing terrain goes up to 9,000 to 10,000 feet, so well preserved powder into April is common on the glaciers.  Conversely, I believe that a snowcat is preferable to heliskiing in December and January.  The warm rides up the hill in the cat might be quite welcome during that time of year, plus flat light in the alpine is most severe in the early season.

TREE SKIING VS. ALPINE/GLACIERS

The first consideration in deciding between terrain above or below the tree line involves the effect that the timing issue just discussed has on visibility.  The alpine is preferable March and later when visibility improves, and the trees have the advantage in December and January when flat light days are common.  February rates highly for either mountain region.

The glaciers and high alpine have a unique aesthetic appeal.  On your first clear day up there you’ll burn up lots of film.  It’s easy to get in a rhythm of powder turns that are rarely experienced in a lift-serviced environment.  A fast paced group can really rack up the vertical, as it is easier to keep track of everyone and not regroup as frequently as you must in the trees.  Nonetheless, tree skiing is considered more demanding, and CMH advises inexperienced powder skiers not to choose an operation where tree skiing predominates.

The advantages of the trees lie in snow quality and weather.  The snow is not affected as significantly by wind in the woods and can be much deeper.  While no-fly days are infrequent, there are many other days when visibility is poor in the alpine and therefore skiing must start at timberline.  All three days that I have spent heliskiing in the Selkirks plus one of my snowcat days at Island Lake Lodge near Fernie were in this category.  This weather factor is the reason lead guide Ken France at CMH Kootenay chooses to work at that operation.  All of the CMH lodges offer some tree skiing in poor weather, but many of them are short vertical runs that have been cut above the lodges.  The higher tree line present in the Monashees and most of the Selkirks yields a great variety of 2000+ vertical foot runs of naturally gladed terrain.

Some of the heliski permit areas offer long fall lines of both alpine and tree skiing.  These would be Mike Wiegele (Cariboos and Monashees), CMH Gothic (northern Selkirks and Monashees) and CMH Bobbie Burns (Purcells and Selkirks).  In addition the CMH and Selkirk-Tangiers operations in Revelstoke have considerable alpine above their better-known tree skiing.

GETTING YOUR FEET WET

Skiing untracked powder from a snowcat or helicopter is less tiring than the tracked or chopped powder one usually experiences at a lift-serviced resort.  However, falling (and particularly retrieving and putting on equipment) is very exhausting, so it is understandable that skiers with minimal powder experience could be apprehensive.

If cost is no object, CMH offers intro weeks at several operations.  These groups move at a more relaxed pace and have an extra guide to assist with instruction.  With fat skis the learning curve is much faster than before.  Otherwise, the best option for a first timer would be the day heliskiing trips from Banff (RK or Purcell) or Whistler.  These offer three to six glacier runs for $400-$500. 

While snowcat skiing offers more comfortable rest time between runs, all of the Canadian cat operations I have tried emphasize naturally gladed and often steep tree skiing.  For first time snowcat skiing I would recommend Grand Targhee in Wyoming and Blue Sky West near Steamboat in Colorado.  Both average 450+ inches of snowfall and have abundant terrain with an intermediate pitch.

Experienced powder skiers should favor a multiple day trip.  On a single day trip the guides have to do the orientation/transceiver drills and generally don't get out onto the hill until 10:30 or 11:00 a.m.  They then have to evaluate the ability level of the group, which means they are going to be conservative in their terrain choice for a couple of runs.  Single day groups may also have a disproportionate number of first timers who may or may not be comfortable in powder.  On days two and three at CMH Kootenay, we were in the vans at 8:15 a.m. to head for the helipad.  Also, with multiple heliski groups the operator may reassign the skiers to another group if there is too big an ability divergence.  Thus, a "normal" day with CMH, Wiegele or TLH consists of 9 to 11 runs.

CONCLUSION

The cost and remote locations in B.C. deter many skiers from visiting these areas, yet I have observed several skiers who have made inappropriate choices.  Not only the stereotype punter beyond his depth, but also the hotshot who blows $500 on three intermediate runs and wonders what all the fuss is about.  Nearly all of the B.C. operators have websites (see links for heli-skiing and snowcat skiing operators), and careful browsing will usually reveal the type of skier to which they are appealing.  Do your homework and you may be rewarded with the ski experience of your dreams.