Flying over Lake Revelstoke to access the goods at Selkirk Tangiers Heli Skiing.
slope of the Rockies with access to more than 58,000 acres and more than 120 miles of cat roads. The excitement builds when the helicopter drops in elevation just above the valley floor and starts navigating up the drainage. Sud- denly, two massive log lodges ap- pear and it’s like something on a postcard. Each of these lodges are approximately 10,000 square feet and connected with a large breeze- way. All the log structures on the property were logged and milled on site because trucking in the lumber would be too costly. It was snowing lightly when we arrived, and apparently it had been snowing all day in this zone. You could feel the vibe from the other guests anticipating the next day. A 5-star dinner, a nightcap and a little socializing and it was time for bed.
rain. Due to the large amount of snowfall mixed with the overnight winds, Matt informed us we’d be staying on lower angle runs in the trees until stability increased. Sometimes that much snow is too much, especially on low-angle slopes. It was extremely hard to get up enough speed to keep moving. The first two skiers down were al - ways the guinea pigs. They broke trail so the next few people could carry enough speed in their tracks. Thankfully, by noon, the snow in the trees was settling out and our skis weren’t diving so deep. We wrapped up the first day with cold beers waiting for us at the cat mak- ing the 15-minute ride back to the lodge pass quickly. The next day, the weather and conditions were perfect. Avalanche hazards dropped, the snow settled
That much snow that quickly can be tricky and can limit where you can and cannot ski. We finished breakfast and geared up. Matt put us through the mandatory ava- lanche and transceiver training be- fore we headed out. After our training we loaded the snowcats and headed up the moun- tain on one of the many miles of cat roads built to access the vast ter- I remember waking up in the middle of the night. I could hear the wind howling. I looked out the window and the snowstorm had picked up significantly through the night. It snowed 23 inches overnight.
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