Great Canadian Heliskiing Co. is the only privately owned heliskiing company in British Columbia, which allows for flexible and diverse business practices that cater to all kinds of needs. Our group of eight arrived at midnight, yet we were still warmly greeted by a young woman who was waiting for us. She arranged our accommodation and prepared food, giving us a feeling of being right at home.
The next day, breakfast was scheduled for 8 a.m., but because many preparations that should have been done on the arrival day hadn’t been completed, there was a lot more to do after the meal: selecting sandwiches for lunch (beef, turkey, tuna), signing waiver forms (they even had a Chinese version prepared specifically for us), choosing ski equipment (we could pick from Rossignol S7 and Armada JJ), grouping (four people per group), weighing ourselves, an outdoor practical session on using avalanche transceivers, emergency rescue drills, formation procedures for travel, and so on — all of which had us in a bit of a panic. When we were finally ready to head out, it was nearly 10 a.m. Since the helicopter was just 30 meters away from the dining hall, within two minutes the first group was airborne.
Me, Margot, Xike, and Laoshi (I forgot to mention that our assistant guide Diana renamed Laoshi as “CY” on the first day for easier reference. Laoshi was thrilled and started going by CY ever since, even signing his name as CY in the guestbook), and our guide was Rob, who had been working with the company for 20 years.
Shenlang, Lao Yin, Jiandu Lao Liu, and Shenyang Lao Li were in another group, guided by Mark, who had 11 years of experience guiding and had previously worked for Inland Lake’s snowcat skiing operation. At the time, he was juggling two jobs (he was also an avalanche monitor for the Canadian Railway Company). He guided us for three days before returning to his railway job.
One thing I’d like to explain is that we originally wanted to spend more money to hire someone for aerial filming, but the helicopter we were using could only carry four people, leaving no room for a photographer. As a result, most of the filming ended up being done by me. I brought a Sony HD camcorder and a GoPro 3D camera. The Sony went in my pocket, and the GoPro was either on my head or strapped to my chest. The only other person with a camera was Lao Liu, who had a regular GoPro. Everyone else used iPhones. So we didn’t take many photos, and the videos will be added later once I’ve edited them.
Our group’s first helicopter landing was on a run called Smoke. It’s said the name came from the misty clouds that often float out of nearby snow caves, but unfortunately, we didn’t get to see any. When we finally saw the endless powder snow we had been longing for, we were overjoyed. Looking out at the mountains, though they were shrouded in snow fog and hard to make out clearly, we could still strongly feel the grandeur of nature. Rob gave a brief introduction to the terrain and things to watch out for (basically, to follow his tracks either to the left or right, keep a good distance apart, not too close but not so far that you lose sight of the guide, and the person carrying the emergency gear bag should ski last). Then he took off down the slope. I waited until he had gone about 30 meters before following. Margot, Laoshi, and Xike followed in order. The snow was extremely soft — my Rossignol S7 sank nearly 15 centimeters with every turn. But with the board being 115mm wide, the floatation was great, and turning felt smooth and effortless. The feeling of skiing through untouched, ultra-deep powder was absolutely exhilarating. Even though we hadn’t even made five turns before reaching the guide’s waiting spot, we couldn’t help but shout in excitement, startling the guide who thought we Chinese were a bit crazy.
Little did we know that just as we were reveling in our joy, the guide had already stopped in front of a patch of woods. When we got closer, we saw that the slope was quite steep and the trees were dense, which made us a bit nervous. Just as we were hesitating, the guide dove straight in, zigzagging through the trees like parting flowers and willows, and quickly disappeared from view. We had no choice but to quickly follow, afraid of getting lost and not finding our way back. The visibility among the trees was surprisingly good. Despite the steep slope and thick woods, the deep powder snow was a huge help. As long as you kept your weight forward and maintained speed, you could turn freely. To be honest, in seven years of skiing in Whistler, I’d never skied such good snow. It was absolutely amazing.
Before we knew it, the guide had led us to the helicopter pickup point. We packed up our gear, and the helicopter landed. The vertical drop on this run was 670 meters, the skiing distance was about 2 kilometers, with the steepest slope being around 45 degrees. The whole run took about 30 minutes (including getting on and off the helicopter).
The landing spot for the second run was called Buffalo Wing, similar to the first run, where we skied from the open mountaintop down through the trees.
And so it went. We skied four runs in the morning, and then it was time for lunch. A platform was cleared in the snow for us to sit on. The 16 guests from the four groups, along with the four guides, sat down to eat. There were hot soups, hot tea, the sandwiches we’d ordered individually, vegetables, fruit, sweet desserts, chocolate, juice — it was pretty good.
Due to poor visibility, we had mostly skied through the trees on the first day. At lunch, Lao Liu expressed his disappointment, feeling that there weren’t any steep slopes or open areas, and that it wasn’t much fun. So I asked the guide if there were any open slopes to ski. His answer was vague, suggesting there were some, but maybe not today. As it turned out, although we skied the same spots in the afternoon, we took different routes each run — nothing was repeated. At one point, we even skied down into a gully. Though it was covered with thick snow, we occasionally spotted patches of clear, deep blue water, some of which even bubbled. Everyone carefully followed the guide’s tracks, zigzagging, hopping up and down, and eventually reached the helicopter pickup point — a small platform on top of a large rock in the middle of the gully. While waiting for the helicopter, we looked around the terrain. The narrow space was surrounded by big trees, and the bottom of the gully was full of jagged rocks. It was impressive to think about how the pilot managed to land there.
On the first day, our Chinese group skied eight runs per group. We wrapped up at 3:30 p.m. and returned to the lodge, where snacks were waiting for us. The drinkers among us naturally had some beer. For the rest of us, there was coffee, juice, fruit, chocolate, biscuits, sausages, ham, and more — we ate to our hearts’ content. Then there was a roundtable meeting in the hot tub at the lodge, followed by waiting for the five-course dinner at 7 p.m.
To be continued
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