Want to take skiing to another level? Try heli-skiing with the following companies
Seaba
From the southern reaches of Southeast Alaska to the British Columbia-Yukon border, Seaba is your gateway to quality Alaskan “blower powder” from almost 2,500 metres above sea level. The small and inclusive operation offers personal ski experiences, with every group of four led by one dedicated guide. Doesn’t matter if you love long sweeping intermediate runs or a more challenging summit descent, Seaba guides are known to stay in tune with clients’ abilities and the type of experience desired.
Seven-day all-inclusive heli-skiing packages are offered at a starting price of US$11,400 per person. Groups of eight can go for the private package (US$112,000), which includes boat accommodation and slopes customised to ability and weather.
SwissSkiSafari
Founder Danielle Stynes, an Australian who for the past two decades has been curating custom multi-country ski and snowboard trips in the Alps, has long insisted that the optimal snow conditions must be chased. The company’s signature ski safaris cost upwards of US$1,500 per person per day (accommodations included), and over the course of a week, typically combine three to four regions in Switzerland, France and Italy, so as to provide a range of microclimates and maximise the chances of scoring great powder. While no one trip is the same—each trip is customised for a discerning cliental—SwissSkiSafari experts ensure that the high mountains remain equally accessible to everyone, all in a relaxed and safe environment. They manage everything from the big picture (hotel, guides, routes and transport) down to the smaller details, like a night in a treehouse or a visit to a monastery in the mountains. There’s even an avalanche expert feeding the guide hourly weather updates throughout a trip, so you are always one step ahead of fickle weather.
Great Bear Heli Skiing
Building on a family history of 60 years as fly-fishing guides on the Lower Dean River in British Columbia, Great Bear Heli Skiing is catching the latest wave of skiers who have become disenchanted with the cost-benefit of resort skiing and are hungry for increasingly exclusive experiences. Opened since 2022, the lodge has an open-concept main building, five guest cabins and a pair of A-Star B3 helicopters, which lift guests into a vast, powdery terrain. There are 6,250 square kilometres of alpine bowls, glaciers, glades, and old-growth forests—enough to fit 190 Whistler-Blackcombs—and with the small-group setup, there’s never a wait for a helicopter pickup. The vertical feet you ski every day is limited only by your quads and enthusiasm.
Featured photo by SwissSkiSafari
