To go heliskiing with Canadian Mountain Holidays in February, 2001 I had to make a reservation in December, 1999 (though I'm now told there are a few tricks you can try...), so a lot of anticipation went into the trip. I certainly wasn't disappointed! The skiing was terrific in general, despite a relatively poor snow season for the region.

The trip started in the Calgary Airport Hotel for a night, then a six-hour bus ride to our lodge. Some of CMH's other lodges require you to fly in on the helicopter, but I stayed at their Gothics lodge along a logging road about 60 miles north of Revelstoke (see the map). Upon arrival we checked in with Andrea at the ski shop to get set up (they provide skis and poles), and then spent an hour or so in the snow learning to use our avalanche transponders.

Next morning we got our helicopter safety training from the pilots (we had also gotten some reading on the bus and a video at the lodge), and we were off to the mountains. In general a full day of skiing was about nine runs averaging around 800 vertical meters; in total, in six and a half days, I skied 43,000 vertical meters, over 140,000 vertical feet.

I went feeling like I was in reasonably good condition, but quickly wished I'd done more, on and off the slopes, to get ready. As always, the better you ski the less you work. For me, the hardest skiing was through the denser tree runs. Fortunately there were two massage therapists on staff, one of whom led stretching each morning.

Most of the photos are self-explanatory; the one thing I'll comment on is the helicopter pickup at the bottom of each run. For safety reasons, the group actually huddles inside (i.e. closer to the helicopter's landing spot than) where the tip of the main rotor would be if it came down towards the ground, so the helicopter lands almost on top of you. The group huddles on one side, and the guide is on the other side with the skis. The Pickup photo is the best overhead view, and the Our Turn photo is the view from below right before the blast of wind and snow!