ChrisC
Well-known member
Courmayeur Day 2: February 3, 2023
I am not going to go into much background on the heli-ski operation - Heliski Courmayeur - since I covered it in a trip report in 2018
Heliski Courmayeur / Mont Blanc, Italy: January 30, 2018.
We booked our heli day for 8 (2 groups of 4 plus a guide) back in June. This makes sense since we were a large number. However, the heli operation will take walk-ons and bring another heli out (a total of 2) if the skiing is good and there is demand. Therefore, you can storm chase with these Italian heli operations (Courmayeur, La Thuile, Monterosa, etc.). You make no commitment until you see a storm or there has been recent snow. Given the expense/risk of heli-skiing, this is a nice way to mitigate poor conditions and choose premium bluebird powder days.
My brother and I had a top heli-ski day back in 2018 that we did not really commit/finalize until 2 days before flying. A 5-run day with 19k vertical feet.
This year we opted for 3 runs since some guys had never heli-skied before. This was actually a great option since the cost was about $600 USD (about the same as cat-skiing in Canada) and skied 12k+ vertical feet (similar to many full cat/heli days in Canada). It helps when one of your runs is a 5k vertical foot descent from the Mont Blanc massif.
Courmayeur Heli base near Val Veny
Mont Blanc from heli base - early morning light
Map of Courmayeur Heli Terrain
First heli flight up the valley
Passing by Courmayeur ski area - Bertolini pod center, Gabba and Youla/Arp upper right
Our heli terrain
Run #1: S/SE facing run from Shoulder/Sub Peak of Mont Blanc 12,050 ft - specifically, it is Aiguille de Tré la Tête. This was perhaps the worse run of the day since the top half was quite wind-impacted. Skiable. Lower-down surfaces started to soften.
Lots of open crevasses
Courmayeur off-piste is actually lower peak center-left: Arp. It's the Vesses couloirs/bowls coming off to the right.
Guide. Same one as in 2018. In fact, our guide is wearing the same hat in 2023 as he was in 2018. He no longer can land in illegal locations since the helicopter now has GPS.
Beautiful Seracs and Crevasses
Snow starts to soften. Nice corn in places.
Run#2 - Another 3.5k vertical foot run that faces mostly east. This had the best snow with powder and corn the entire way.
Getting ready for Run#3: North-facing couloir and lower open faces. Great powder in the lower bowl with a wind-buffed couloir. 2 Guys bailed when they saw the couloir and took a helicopter ride to the restaurant.
Couloir Entrance
Can see the open bowl down below
Jump turns down the couloir
Missed the powder turn photos in the bowl since we were finally skiing fast.
Some stats from the day:
More to come
I am not going to go into much background on the heli-ski operation - Heliski Courmayeur - since I covered it in a trip report in 2018
Heliski Courmayeur / Mont Blanc, Italy: January 30, 2018.
We booked our heli day for 8 (2 groups of 4 plus a guide) back in June. This makes sense since we were a large number. However, the heli operation will take walk-ons and bring another heli out (a total of 2) if the skiing is good and there is demand. Therefore, you can storm chase with these Italian heli operations (Courmayeur, La Thuile, Monterosa, etc.). You make no commitment until you see a storm or there has been recent snow. Given the expense/risk of heli-skiing, this is a nice way to mitigate poor conditions and choose premium bluebird powder days.
My brother and I had a top heli-ski day back in 2018 that we did not really commit/finalize until 2 days before flying. A 5-run day with 19k vertical feet.
This year we opted for 3 runs since some guys had never heli-skied before. This was actually a great option since the cost was about $600 USD (about the same as cat-skiing in Canada) and skied 12k+ vertical feet (similar to many full cat/heli days in Canada). It helps when one of your runs is a 5k vertical foot descent from the Mont Blanc massif.
Courmayeur Heli base near Val Veny
Mont Blanc from heli base - early morning light
Map of Courmayeur Heli Terrain
First heli flight up the valley
Passing by Courmayeur ski area - Bertolini pod center, Gabba and Youla/Arp upper right
Our heli terrain
Run #1: S/SE facing run from Shoulder/Sub Peak of Mont Blanc 12,050 ft - specifically, it is Aiguille de Tré la Tête. This was perhaps the worse run of the day since the top half was quite wind-impacted. Skiable. Lower-down surfaces started to soften.
Lots of open crevasses
Courmayeur off-piste is actually lower peak center-left: Arp. It's the Vesses couloirs/bowls coming off to the right.
Guide. Same one as in 2018. In fact, our guide is wearing the same hat in 2023 as he was in 2018. He no longer can land in illegal locations since the helicopter now has GPS.
Snow starts to soften. Nice corn in places.
Run#2 - Another 3.5k vertical foot run that faces mostly east. This had the best snow with powder and corn the entire way.
Getting ready for Run#3: North-facing couloir and lower open faces. Great powder in the lower bowl with a wind-buffed couloir. 2 Guys bailed when they saw the couloir and took a helicopter ride to the restaurant.
Couloir Entrance
Can see the open bowl down below
Jump turns down the couloir
Missed the powder turn photos in the bowl since we were finally skiing fast.
Some stats from the day:
More to come
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