Heli Ski and Cat skiing at same location

[marmot mb]

So I have searched a bit, but perhaps the collective can save me alot of grief.

I want to Heli ski for at least three days. Am willing to Heli ski for 5 days if weather permits. Mid February. Obviously I am mostly shit out of luck for booking, but I am going solo, and I am wanting to book right away to secure my spot.

There is the catcher. This is a 40th Birthday present to myself, never been Heli before, so really don't want to invest the time and money and then be grounded for 5 days and get no skiing in.

Is there any British Columbia, or even Alaskan Heli outfits that have a cat for down days ?

I have no concerns about almost all terrain (wicked stupid Steep Alaskan faces might be outta my league or risk tolerance level), and I am well skilled in the Pow Pow.

[Mudfoot]

Chugach Powder Guides at Alyeska have a weather guarantee with cat and area skiing to back up the heli skiing if the weather is bad, which it is about half the time.

[mntlion]

http://www.neheliski.com/

close to you too.

[LeeLau]

What mntlion said - also Powder Mountain in Whistler

[Ski to Be]

Valdez Heli camps as well

[Gunder]

Snowwater just outside of Nelson has a pretty pimp set up. One of the coolest lodges I've been to, and he has both a super pimp cat, and a pretty nice A-star with a colid pilot as well. I would highly recomend them!

[Atrain505]

Selkirk Wilderness has that setup going with Stellar Heli-skiing.

Lots of options.

[Mike Pow]

Revelstoke, BC

[TGR420]

Bc cat skiing is amazing. If you can add the heli in then sweet. Also, bc heli ops fly on storm days. It s kind of scary, but also pretty sweet.

[Shredhead]

I really like CPG, but in the three down days of cat skiing I've done with them. I would have just as soon skied the resort.
It's too much money to pay to take a chance that you'll get grouped with a standby or a very soft client that can't buy a turn.

[marmot mb]

great info all, thanks. So far I am leaning towards CMH in Revelstoke. they offer tickets to the resort on down days. Which is a good thing, pretty hard to have a bad day at Revy.

Price is great as it's not a remote lodge, but rather staying in town. Im in it for the skiing, not the swanky overpriced lodging and food. Give me Kraft Dinner and bottle of White Rum, I'm good to go.

Looking at a few others also. Alaska is so tempting, but I reallly think Weather in February has to be a big issue for cold temps and storms.

checking into some that were mentioned.

Anyone have input on CMH Revelstoke ?

[mntlion]

most of the BC heli operators dont have many down days in reality. I think CMH is 1.5 per season/lodge. I'd pick the operator that you WANT to go with, and as a 2nd, or 3dr point go with the backup option... When I did some seasons with MW in blue river, most of the down days where due to rain, and made for SHITTY skiing anyways. The machines blades where icing up, but the snow was horible anyways..

[heliski.com]

It would be easy to ignite the catskiing vs. heliskiing debate; or to get into the topic of who has the fewest down days. But to stay on topic for this thread - the combination of heliskiing and cat backup is nice. Because they are not all bluebird days....and helicopters sometimes break.

Here is a blog post on the topic. Blog Post on Heli-Skiing with Cat-Skiing Backup

Northern Escape Heli-Skiing added cat skiing backup last season. If you have ever experienced a down day while it’s dumping outside, you know how great it is to have this backup! NEH is also easy to get to and gets tons of snow (North Coast Range)

I was unlucky or lucky enough to take advantage of this last January at Snowwater Heli-Skiing and Valhalla Powder Cats. We heliskied in the morning, then it started puking. So, the cat picked us up at the bottom of the run. We catskied for a few runs, it cleared up. So the helicopter picked us up and we heliskied the rest of the day! Snowwater also offers a hybrid, called a Kooetnay Sampler, of resort, catskiing and heliskiing. Cool, small lodge, just 12 guests at a time.

Mica Heliskiing has cat backup, one of the coolest lodges and great skiing (Monashees), especially trees. Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing also offers catski backup. They also have a deal where your kids catski free while you heliski!. Drop me an email or call if you want my advice. BTW, Valdez Heli-Camps offers it, but I would steer clear.

[marmot mb]

So after alot of reading and contemplation.....
CMH Revelstoke while the price is nice, there is no cat back up (resort ticket for down day only), they I think mostly fly out of the valley bottom (fog and increased no fly chances), you stay at a hotel not a lodge, extra charge for extra vert. By the time you account for the extra vert charge (which I am told is very common, $1000 - $2000 usually) it's the same price as two other places and not near the same experiance or security to actually ski.

Northern escape Heli Ski.
Their price is pretty good, they have Cat back up (not sure if both are right at the site, or some loss time is expected between going heli - cat - heli.) they "claim" unlimited verticle, but..... UNLIMITED VERTICAL on all packages between Jan 1st, 2011 and Jan 14th, 2011

Snow water Heli
I beleive they started as a Cat ski operation, therefore I would assume their back up cat ski terrain is pretty damn sweet. They have unlimited verticle, doesn't seem to be any disclaimer about this but.... they don't state any refund amounts either. IE you can't get out for cat or Heli. No minimum gaurentee stated. most likely if you couldn't fly, there would be slim chance you couldn't heli. THey are the most expensive of the few I have researched, but they also seem to have the best set up, and likely the best back up terrain and smooth transition from Heli to Cat. Add to this the true unlimited verticle (IE no extra $100 - $2000 charge) and as long as the weather gods remotely smile on you, you can't really beat the price.

so any personal experiances with both Snow water and Northern Escape ?

Am I wrong in some of my details ?

Given the choice Snowwater or Northern Escape ?

[mntlion]

I know the owner, and some of the guides at NEH, and you should be well taken care of with them...
I have not skied with John (owner) at NEH, but I have over the years...

[heliski.com]

I've been lucky enough to heliski with both NEH and Snowwater. A few more differentiators below. Feel free to call if you want - 866-HELISKI (435-4754)

Travel is very different.
NEH is 20 minutes from the Terrace airport, very sweet for a heli trip. However, airfare from Vancouver is expensive, as there is only one carrier.
But you can usually get there and back in one day.
Snowwater requires you to rent a car and drive 3.5 hours north from Spokane, WA. But Spokane is cheaper and easier to get to on commercial air. Some connections will require spending the night in Spokane....where I spent a week on night.
You will fly in/out of Snowwater, cool but somewhat of a risk.

Choppers
NEH flies a Koala, three groups of 6, and very fast
Snowwater is three groups of 4

Steep
NEH runs a Steep Camp once a year, so if that's important, they have the terrain. I think NEH has more high alpine. However, Snowwater is literally in the tress, with some runs skiing back to the lodge, which is cool.

Lodging
Snowwater has a few cabins. My room was awesome. It's remote.
NEH lodge is more hotel-like, but has more amenities. It's on the river, which is cool.

Price
Unlimited vert is a big plus. When are you thinking about going?

CMH Revi actually has very good heliskiiing. Staying in town is cool, but most places don't "call" a down day in time to get much time in on the mountain.

All due respect to mtnlion, down days are way more of an issue than that. They vary widely among operators, too. Happy to discuss.
tj

PS we're giving away a 4-day heliski trip. Answer 7 questions to qualify