AK Heli Trip

[stalefish3169]

I am not sure I would call it horrible advice. The last week in March and first week in April are definitely prime time up there. However, with the economy in the tank the past several years, I have found that there have been plenty of open seats in the Valdez area, especially with 5 ops from which to choose. Maybe the situation is different in Haines with only 2 ops.

With that being said, if one just shows up without a reservation, expect the possibility of flying later in the day when the op can get a group of standbys out. There is also the risk of all the seats being sold out, but like I said I don't think that has been a problem the last few years. Maybe that will change this year, so consider going early in March or later in April to avoid the crowd if you want to be safe.

Let me try to explain it a little differently. I think a walk on still has a chance of flying. That being said, I've seen how stressful it can be for people to hang out at the helipad for half a day during all-time conditions while they're trying to get a group together and everyone else is slaughtering it.

Sure, you could show up to prom stag and maybe get the ugly girl in the dark corner to dance with you. Or you could ask a hottie a while before the dance, boogie all night with her, and be practically guaranteed to get some.

[BGnight]

My first trip to AK last year and had the best day of my life w/ VHSG.
I can say that their guides get shit done. Rode w/ Jeff Zell and Doug Workman. Awesome, no frills guides that are just about the skiing.

Had fun w/ Rendevous too. The Jackson crew are a cool bunch of folks.

Going solo to Haines/AK in general this year for a month
Hope to get some days in w/ AHS.

[buildakicker]

h2o or aba!

[PointsNorth]

I always like to watch this thread and see all the same questions come up over and over. "Who is the best" and "this is what we did or did not do" etc.

The bottom line on Alaska is the weather. You get the weather there is not a bad op out there. You get bad weather, another op will look better if one op is out skiing due to a sucker hole over there base for an hour and the op you chose did not get it. Everyone in AK gets weather period.

You can read blogs where guests have sat for a week at my own operation in Cordova with others in Valdez where skiing and then you can read where we skied and they did not. You can read where Haines has sat for days on end and those in the Chugach have been slaying pow all week. Same goes for the opposite. They skied all week and the Chugach was hammered.

Its alway really entertaining to see guests start tweaking when they know another op is skiing and we are down or vice versa. It happens all the time.

DO YOUR RESEARCH on what serves your needs best! There is not a bad operation in Alaska! Everyone gets weather.

You will find whatever you want to find on the internet.

We would love to see everyone in Cordova, but maybe our operation is not for you. Again, there is not a bad operation in the State, I promise you!!

[Crinkle]

Points North,

perhaps you could expand/explain the trust curve that the guides have with new clients in allowing them on to bigger terrain. The most negative experience I have heard about with people that were disappointed with their Heli experience revolves around the guides not taking them to the bigger lines that they ask for or point out. We all undertand that it can be snow stability related. But most times it was people with thier own crew in the Heli, all very capable skiers that were not there to ski lower angle terrain.

Just an insiders look, if you will.

or better yet, the best way to get this done with the guides or heli-op that someone here might choose

[PointsNorth]

Not certain about other ops but we generally tell people to be careful what they wish for.

All of the ops do there best (generally) to take you to the terrain you wish. There is so much that goes into it however.

So many people come to AK and have seen way to many movies. Thats honest. Many think they want to get on what they see in the films and then only have one thing to say when they turn the corner in the mountains...: "ughhhh, can we have a warm up run or two?" Sometimes the response is "this is the warm up run". Alaska is very big and unforgiving, however, the maritime snowpack also allows it to be forgiving as well at times. Its a double edge sword.

If you show up to your guide with good questions and a good number of days under your belt prior to getting to Alaska, your guide is going to know that, just by talking to you.

My best advice would be to show up and ask for a warm up run or two but also be honest to the fact that you have only skied maybe 2 weeks this year at Vail or Aspen on your holiday OR have you skied Jackson, Squaw, Blackcomb, Mammoth, whatever mtn., 100 plus days this year already. I think you get my point here.

Come prepared and be ready for the best runs of your life and know that if your not honest with your guide prior to going out, well then you just might be in for more than you bargained for.....or unhappy.

If your not getting the terrain you looking for, well then you do have a problem and address it with the operator and guide.

I also know that when guests come and get 3, 4, 5 big days, you should be on fire by day 4 and ready for what they through at you...but often, a mellower day is based on quality and the fact that the guest is so tired do to the day prior they had there legs screaming by lunch. Yes, there mind says I want the steepest most burly thing I can find or I just want SPINES but there legs are just done so guides end up going a bit more mellow for the safety factor. It sucks picking up the broken pieces at the bottom with others in your group standing up top waiting for there run.

You have to remember the balancing act of run quality / quantity VS the steep spines and super burley, with the safety of the guest in mind.

I am often told of guides going to places that the film crew would not even go
to day after day. At some point thats going to catch up with ya and as much as you want the big and nasty, you also dont want to be in the group dealing with serious casualties. Hell, sluff management alone is serious business.

Coombs used to refer to a good day as a day you come home from with a bunch of runs that were quality with quantity. You cannot get the "Quantity" part of that equation if your out all day roping into lines and billy goating around in pucker factor central, skiing one by one in the most retarded places you can find.
Yes, that may just be some folks dream day or as some refer to as "Quality" but often times the 40 degree slope in waist deep blower at 50mph down the glacier can be just as fun.

What a lot of guest also dont realize is that in the films most athletes are riding and flashing "mini golf lines". There not flashing the 3000' lines like that. Consequences are just to high and the film will run out before they hit the bottom. So again, if thats what you want you need to say that, but riding lines that are 800' - 1500' all day with others needing the heli to bump around as well will probably get you a lot more time sitting on the glacier as your down so quickly. Again, its a balancing act.

I think we try to mix it up so guests are getting the best of both worlds. And by all means you should not be on Pucker peak at 5 or 6pm in the afternoon. Thats ramp down time. Eventually day light runs out and sooner or later there will be an emergency you have to deal with. Pucker runs take place mid day for X-factor alone. If your changing your diaper at 6pm on pucker peak, you should wonder why...

Sorry for the novel here. There really is a lot that goes into the whole game of guest satisfaction and safety of the client and operation. With all that goes down season after season in AK, we have been VERY lucky to say the least that more folks have not gone home injured. All of us as guides and operators take every precaution we can to make certain that all of the above is managed and mitigated.

[Imz]

^^ What PointsNorth said...

Couple other points: My buddy Dave described to me that part of the art of guiding is to have the whole day tell a story; Do something medium, slowly ramp up, then mellow out, then go big again... then chill. The guides I've met are totally willing to adjust to the crew.

That said, if you want to go crazy, be ready to fill a chopper with people of comparable skill. Lowest common denominator dictates terrain. If people are slow in other lifts, that can bog your shit too.

Better still. You want to go retarded, you should rent a guide and a private ship for the day- I bet they'd put you right where you wanted to go.

Once you have a rapport with the guides, often a private mission will shape up to a particular zone/ line; they ask who they are comfortable taking there...

It's all about trust. respect. good attitude. handling your business...

[Dirty]

Hey I have been reading about this tailgate Alaska thing in Valdez. I was planning on just showing up to AK around that time.....Do all of the people that go out to that try and get in heli time? Would this be a really bad week to go??

[Jim S]

There is not a bad operation in Alaska!

So untrue. I saw a fisherman try to repair some guys ACL and that operation did not go well.



Seriously, PNH probably hit it on the head and as someone else posted in one of of these million TGR heli threads, it more about whether (?weather) you want to drive to helis or have them outside your breakfast table and do you want meager accomodations or posh Bushwood.

And I'll echo Kevin's sentiments. Be careful what you wish for. If you ask for the gnar and the insane and have never been to AK, you will find yourself in runs where are sure you are about to self-terminate your life. AK redefines pucker factor.

Tangentially, the guides are amazing. There is concept referred to as fear management. Now, not to spook you, you can have modest angle long relaxing powder runs where you can open it up with no fear and ski as fast and as big as you can imagine. There's something there for everybody.

Just get in a group with comparable ability and responsibility with no attitudes.

[DudeLebowSKI]

What a lot of guest also dont realize is that in the films most athletes are riding and flashing "mini golf lines". There not flashing the 3000' lines like that. Consequences are just to high and the film will run out before they hit the bottom.

^^^This. Been to Haines 2 years consecutive with the same guide and the same group. The lines in AK are huge. You ski them pretty much top to bottom and you are by yourself. Generally you call back on the radio when you are at the bottom. To summarize, it's bigger than you think and definitely way fucking scarier. The other thing is, you really have no time to scope a line. I mean ya, you get a look at it on the way up but by the time you do a knarly toe in landing and get your shit together, the super rad line you saw on your way up has suddenly disappeared.

I have this one picture of our tracks taken from across the valley and a buddy of mine was asking "Why did you guys all ski the same line?" My response was "Because that was the least pant-shitting/only visible way to the bottom!"

[buildakicker]

I did the drive from Anchorage to Valdez a few years back to go heli skiing. It was off the hook for sure. HUGE lines. I just drove to each of the ops looking for a seat each day. It was great paying for rides and meeting different people each time. I had the most after skiing fun at ABA, and the best ski day at Rendezvous (GREAT GUIDE!). The other spots were full each day. Overall I had a great time at both places. Landing in the heli on top of big runs is off the hook. Standing on that line is even better! Think Middle Knuckle for 1k! Yeah! Watching folks fall on big lines is crazy! Waiting for them to get their gear is terrible... it's a long walk back up. Whatever you do, make sure you fill a heli with all experts, not "yes I can ski black diamonds" folks. Better runs that way for sure... oh, and when you think about straight lining at the "end" of your run, count to 10 or 15 after you think about it, then go straight. It's farther than you think to the guide down there.

...now I'm jonesing. See ya in AK!

[UTskiHokie]

TR posted. Thanks to Points North for a great trip.
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...572-AK-2011-TR

[Jim S]

CHUGACH POWDER GUIDES--GIRDWOOD

I just got back from a week with CPG out of Alyeska in Girdwood, AK.
Arrived Saturday and left Friday due my brand new torn ACL on Thursday at about 4:00 in the field.
CPG flew Sun, Tues, Wed, Thurs, and Friday albeit I think they had to come back early on Friday due to bad weather. By Thurs I had about 90,000 feet of vert and would have had more but cest la vie. Pillow line to back seat to a hidden wind lip in flat light to ACL buh-bye. I get to read my own MRI tomorrow.

GOOD

Awesome resort...posh.....great food, great restaurants and bar, good gym and pool and hot tub.

When you can't fly you can sign up for cat skiing or just ski Alyeska which has some serious gnarly runs via lift

Despite what I've read the group is fairly cohesive; a lot of folks congrated at the Aurora bar-grill in the hotel or made plans to dine together at several local restaurants; some were fantastic. Jack Sprat delivered in spades. Some guides tried to hang out with us after skiing.

Very well organized. No bullshit. If heli is delayed or on hold, they have precise updates. Nobody was upset about being led along a primrose path.

Cat skiing was fun: mostly untracked pow and plenty of short steep lines with pillows, drops, and small cliffs. We stuck to the tree areas because of flat light and fog which is why we could not fly that day.

I was fortunate enough to be there when MSP and other film crews were on site so it was great to see Abma, Townsend, get a hug from Ingrid, etc. It felt like a Squaw invasion of sorts. As well as Greg Harms and Kim Reichelm (sp?).

CPG at Alyeska has many locations for heli departure and end of the day heli-landing . You might drive 3 minutes or 30 minutes to the heli but this appears to give more options to fly out and get to the peaks. One day we left at 10am and got back at 6:45pm. Lot of skiing.

Diverse group of clients both riding level and location: Australia, Europe, New Zealand, Hong Kong, USA and even NJ.

My guides seemed to nail the quality snow. They really listened and watched and hunted. BLOWER!!! My guides could see I wanted more gnar so they would say "they'll go this way but YOU should go THAT way for a more challenging run" be it chute, cliff, or pillow line.

I hit some outrageously fun pillow lines because the snow level this year is so epic we skied alpine peaks down to the forests to the shoreline. Some runs were easily 3500 vert feet. My quads were screaming but it was incredible.

BAD

Very few super gnarly runs compared to my two trips to PNH. Could have been my group but I think very few folks came back having skied anything resembling a shower curtain. Granted there was a prominent hoar layer to produce slides but that's my observation. I don't want to be near puking status evey run but some more gnarliness would have been appreciated.

We seemed to milk the same areas 2 or 3 times. It's nice to hit new areas every heli drop but I will admit the snow was so friggin' blower than it was hard to say "I don't want more of that same slopewith the thigh deep super light pow and face shot heaven".

Some areas we wanted to hit had b/c skier or sledders on them so it wasn't totally isolated to CPG.

More expensive than PNH. But it for obvious benefits: supernice rooms with ethenet and wifi, damn good showers, heated towel bars which are great to dry out your gloves , neck gators or used condoms; superb meals with restaurants open 6am to 11am or later including a great sushi place, lift access from the hotel, etc, etc.

Only a few clients seem to be of the TGR mindset compared to what I encountered at PNH. That's an inflammatory comment . A few folks considered themselves level A skiers because they think railing the groomers at high speed defines such prowess. FML. Not all maggots shred for but those that don't shred seem to know their place and have an honest perspective of their level if not being humble.



So for me, PNH and CPG at Girdwood offer different experiences in AK. But as long as you get to heli in AK you've grabbed the golden ring.

[BigDaddy]

So for me, PNH and CPG at Girdwood offer different experiences in AK. But as long as you get to heli in AK you've grabbed the golden ring.

I'd say so... nice write up. I was hoping to to maybe get there this year on PNH, but not looking good right now. Maybe next year!

[BFD]

Nice write up. Sorry about the knee. This has been an incredible winter. I think it may have reached it's climax last week. Weather and stability things were really as good as it gets. You hit it right. Sorry at 29 cents a KWH you are not going to see any heated towel bars.

[GoldMember]

Sorry about your knee. At least you should keep your medical expenses down by self-diagnosis and surgical planning. Good write up on your trip!

[Shredhead]

CHUGACH POWDER GUIDES--GIRDWOOD

My guides could see I wanted more gnar so they would say "they'll go this way but YOU should go THAT way for a more challenging run" be it chute, cliff, or pillow line.

Your rolling the dice anytime you go as a single. That sounds more like group dynamics problem and there isn't much an OP can do about that?
A very experienced heli skier that I know, just had his best trip ever at CPG, but he was on a private?

[ghettostyle]

flown w/ ABA the past 5 years (excluding last year), and the location in TP is key to flying more regularly. tho there are down days, we have never missed our allotted fly time. ABA is under new ownership as of last year, which as i understand has added a little formality (we skipped last year due to the lack of snow pack so i cannot comment directly, just what I heard from guides). their staff did pioneer AK w/ coombs and are real good people. if you can rough it and do without some of the amenities, this is the op for u

[Jim S]

Your rolling the dice anytime you go as a single. That sounds more like group dynamics problem and there isn't much an OP can do about that?
A very experienced heli skier that I know, just had his best trip ever at CPG, but he was on a private?

I concur. But I did not have any peer ski pals who were going.