My First Experience Heli Skiing in Canada
3000m up high in the middle of the Canadian mountains surrounded by fresh powder. Silence, only the sound of your own panting breath and your skis cutting through meter deep snow. Hazy memories of never-ending untouched runs and a rush of adrenaline like nothing else can give you...My first experience heli skiing in Canada...
I've always loved skiing. Having grown up in Switzerland and Bavaria, Germany, for a big part of my life, I've lived close to the mountains for many years and my parents put me on skies at the tender age of three. Over time I've gradually improved, graduating to the joys of off piste skiing, mogul slopes and learning to make my way through deep snow. Given my parents are major hobby skiers who've already accumulated 30k+ height meters of heli skiing, it was only a matter of time that I would make friends with heli skiing myself.
And so it finally happened, just on time before I'm off to Australia for an undefined amount of time. Yikes! We booked our trip with Stumböck (it was my parents 3rd time with them & they loved it every single time) for two days of normal skiing and four days of heli skiing in Canada. Together with eight other ski enthusiasts and our two amazing guides René and Quinn we spent our on-piste days near Banff (Sunshine Village and Kicking Horse) and then headed off to Revelstoke where we spent the rest of our trip. After an avalanche training (scary stuff) and heli introduction, we were finally ready!
And away we went, the noise of the helicopter filling our hearts with excitement for what's to come. Alone the first flight in itself was spectacular, cruising away over miles and miles of untouched mountains. Selkirk Tangier (the company that Stumböck works with) has over 5'00 hectares of land on which they can fly, which seems sheer insane coming from Europe.
I almost didn't want to sit down to write about this, because no words on earth can describe how magical the experience was.It's an indescribable feeling to be surfing through clouds of white powder, feeling weightless, free and connected to nature in a way that is so pure and serene.
That feeling of surfing down the mountain creating huge powder spray turns while you hear the echo's of happy yodels. That feeling of alpine runs turning into rollercoaster rides of pure joy.
Unfortunately my mom injured herself on the 2nd day of heli skiing and had to get emergency operated in Vernon. The whole ordeal cast a shadow on our stay and it's going to be a while until she is recovered, but we tried to make the best out of our trip nevertheless and it definitely won't stop us from going again.
But take a look for yourself!
