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One of the best vacations I've had was a heli-skiing trip to Whistler-Blackcomb in BC Canada. We went for a week, and had one day scheduled for the helicopter. They can't fly in foul weather, so our flight got bumped one day, two days, three days. We skied on the lifts at the resort in the meantime. Day four we check with the heli place at 5 AM, and they give us the thumbs-up. The flight is on. Whole other mountain, all the way to the top. It was six in our party plus two guys from the east coast and our guide. Full-on initiation for half an hour on what was happening, how things worked, how to be safe in a helicopter. We were given transponders to wear under our coats in case we got caught in an avalanche. It was amazing. There was low cloud cover at the lift-off place, but about 1000' up we broke through to pure sunshine, and three days of fresh, untouched powder. The pilot and guide were discussing where to put down, and the first place they picked was called something like "The Devil's Nose". Imagine a landing outcropping on the side of a mountain just big enough to land the copter and unload 9 people. Everywhere else was a 2000' drop. We had to form a bucket brigade to get our skis off the copter, but we were still on a slope that a slip meant you'd tumble for a hundred yards. We got our gear off, and get to a spot where we could ski-up. The guide did a snow-pack check to assess avalanche danger and he was good with it. The ski was on and it was wonderful; at least 3' of fresh powder. A single run was about an hour and a half. There was a meeting place half way down the mountain for lunch. The helicopters were ferrying other groups of skiers and guides to different slopes but we all met up for lunch, so there were about 25 people hanging out in a snowy, sunny meadow in the afternoon, there were hot lunches and beer and wine as well; with two choppers landed nearby. We did three runs total, taking up most of the day. Nowadays I cross-country right outside the front door; plenty of forest to enjoy; but downhill, and that trip still hold many fond memories for me.
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Dec 4, 2023 22:09
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| # ? Apr 30, 2024 08:16 |
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