Want Your Own Fantasy Camp Trip To Alaska Just Like The Pros?

Now you can charge steep and deep Alaskan lines like Ian McIntosh. Teton Gravity Research photo

Ever wanted to shred the steep faces of blower powder and Alaskan spines like the pros do at TGR's Fantasy Camp in Alaska? Now you can. Exum Mountain guides Zahan Billimoria Nat Patridge, along with Kent Scheler of Alaska's Mountain Safety Logistics, are offering the trip of a lifetime to the Neacola mountains in Alaska. This is an all-inclusive ski plane adventure to give you access to some of the greatest touring and powder skiing in the world, with five-star accommodations right on Alaska's Kenai Penninsula. The trip is limited to just 6-9 skiers and snowboarders and runs from April 17th through the 25th. With just a few days left to sign up, book your spot for the trip of a lifetime now, and for more details click  here. 

I had the opportunity to catch up with Zahan Billimoria, who's worked as a guide with TGR for several years and is one of the leading forces in making this trip become a reality.

Ian Mac made the Neacolas his playground last year while filming for TGR's Paradise Waits. Teton Gravity Research Photo

I started working and guiding with Kent Scheler, who has been TGR's long time guide on their Alaska Fantasy Camp trips. Kent and I have worked together for a few years at IPRW, TGR's annual on snow safety week. We ended up talking about a possible trip and wanted to try to pull our resources together; me having worked with TGR, Kent with Fantasy Camp, and logistically to see if bringing clients to the Alaska zones people see in the movies would be possible, and make it a full package-style trip. We noticed from looking at photos of the zones in the Neacolas that there's quite a variety of terrain that would be great for a group of clients with a general range in skiing ability.

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We definitely want people to have sufficient climbing and backcountry experience, and be advanced skiers. The trip accommodates a pretty wide range of ability for skiers and riders, but this is Alaska after all, and we do want people to be well-matched as far as skiing abilities go with one another. They should be considered an advanced skier, with ski touring experience and be able to climb and ski up to 4,000 vertical feet in a day.

The idea is to experience this pretty remote corner of Alaska, in the human powered way. We want to keep it a quiet and serene trip and enjoy the pure beauty of Alaska. It's definitely more of a touring trip, and as far as gear goes, you will want to be on lightweight backcountry gear. Preferably a relatively light weight Dynafit setup that you would feel comfortable touring long distances, and charging big lines.

Zahan Billimoria guides a group up the Middle Teton. Sam Pope photo.

I've been a guide here in the Tetons for about 10 years, and have worked with TGR and their athletes for a large part of that time. My interest is really in introducing people to the human-powered experience in the mountains. I climbed and skied the Grand Teton with Jeremey Jones, and skied the Middle Teton with Griffin Post, but as a guide, I'm always looking to make trips more accessible to regular skiers and show the power of the human-powered experience. So a trip like this really brings together all that, and offers an inspirational mission for people who watch the TGR movies and crave that kind of adventure.

The trip is all-inclusive, and the idea is we want people to know what they're getting into. We provide fully-catered meals from a 5-star chef. We're really fortunate to be flying with Doug Brewer, who's one of the pioneers in Alaska ski touring flights. Doug's been involved in Alaska wilderness skiing since its earliest days, and we feel very lucky to have him on board and operating in his home zone. 

All the flight time is included to and from the lodge as well. We'll be hanging out in very comfortable lodges on the Kenai Penninsula, just a stone's throw from the airplane hangar. We will have fully catered breakfasts in the morning, as well as a packed lunch to take with you when you fly out for a full day of ski touring. We also offer in the lodge a choice of private or shared rooms.

Doug Brewer knows the Neacola Range like the back of his hand. Kent Scheler photo.

The benefit to a trip like this is we aren't really bound by anything but the daylight. We can be out touring until we're totally satisfied, and we're not set to come back at any time. We could be out from dawn till dusk [just over 10 hours], or just a shorter day depending on the group's energy, and that's what great about a trip like this, we can be flexible.

Yes, our trip runs April 17-25 and according to Doug, that time is historically a prime window for Skiing powder in Alaska as well as a time that benefits for better snow stability.