Untracked terrain,
flown by the book.
Heli-ski and winter access flying out of McCall for guide operations, lodges and private groups: the aircraft side of a powder day, flown by the crew that works this terrain in every season, with the snow-safety call left where it belongs, with the guides.
A ski day is decided
before the first lift.
Heli-skiing looks like a joyride from the outside. It is a series of precise landings at unprepared sites, at altitude, in the cold, with a cabin full of people and equipment, repeated all day. The flying that makes it safe is unremarkable to watch: shallow approaches, the same pickup the same way, a slope looked at from the air before anyone stands on it.
The snow-safety decision belongs to the guides. Ours is the aircraft: weights, weather, landing sites, and the point at which a day stops being sensible from the air even when the snow is good. Both decisions carry an absolute right to stop the day.
We fly this terrain twelve months of the year, on fire, survey and lift work, so the drainages, the wind and where the bad air lives are not things we learn from a guest.
- FAA Part 135 passenger operations
- Airbus H125, the altitude ship
- Pickup and landing zones assessed from the air first
- Actual weights for every guest and every bag
Six ways a winter day
uses a helicopter.
Guided heli-skiing
Lift cycles for guide operations running day programmes: guests up, guides in the cabin, the snow-safety call theirs and the aircraft ours.
- Multi-lift days with partner guide operations
- Cabin configured for skis, boards and packs
- Repeatable pickups, all day
Private groups & lodges
A lodge, cabin or private group with its own guides, and a ship dedicated to the day.
- Lodge and cabin pickups
- Exclusive-use days
- Lodge supply and staff movement
Backcountry drops & ski touring
One lift up and a day of touring down: the drop that turns a long approach into a full day of skiing.
- Single-lift drops with an agreed pickup
- Hut and yurt access
- Gear and supply movement
Film, photo & events
Aerial and ground-support flying for winter shoots and events, with a crew used to holding position for a camera.
- Aerial platform for film and photo
- Crew and equipment positioning
- Talent and safety-team movement
Winter search & rescue support
Winter access for search teams and agencies, on request, in the terrain and the conditions the season brings.
- Search-team insertion
- Winter access for agencies
- Flown inside the incident's structure
Snow-safety & recon flights
Terrain and snow reconnaissance for the people who make the call, before anyone is delivered to a slope.
- Avalanche-assessment flights for guides
- Slope and landing-zone recon
- Pre-season site surveys
From the morning brief
to the last lift.
Morning briefGuides and pilot
Weather, visibility, wind, the avalanche forecast and the guides' plan for the day. Terrain gets chosen here, not from the cabin.
Weights and loadingEvery guest
Actual weights, gear included. At altitude on a cold morning the numbers decide how many go up per lift, and a friendly guess creates a problem on the mountain.
Pickup and landing zonesFrom the air first
Each site looked at from the air before it is used: slope, snow surface, wind, exits. A zone that is not right gets changed, not managed.
The cycleRepeatable
Lifts flown the same way every time: shallow approaches, a settled hover, doors and loading on the guide's signal. A tempo the group can use, not a show.
The call to stopAnybody's
Guides stop it for the snow, the pilot stops it for the air. Neither needs the other's agreement, and there is no argument at the pickup.
End of dayAccounted for
Everyone down, gear counted, the day logged. A plan for tomorrow if the weather allows one.
What decides a day,
and who brings what.
What decides the day
- Visibility and ceiling in the terrain
- Wind at the pickups, not at the base
- The avalanche forecast and the guides' own assessment
- Actual weights and cabin loading
- Daylight and cold
- Aircraft serviceability, checked that morning
What you supply
- The guide operation and its snow-safety programme
- Guest weights, gear included, before the day
- A briefed base and a plan for the terrain
- Landing-zone permissions where the land status needs them
- Radio plan and emergency procedure
What we supply
- FAA Part 135 passenger operation
- Airbus H125 configured for skis and packs
- Pilots who fly this terrain year-round
- Landing-zone assessment from the air
- Daily briefing and stop-work authority
- Insurance certificates naming your operation
The winter pilot
is the summer pilot.
The crew flying your guests in February spent the rest of the year on long lines, fires and survey blocks in the same drainages. They know where the wind comes through, which slopes catch the afternoon sun and where a pickup that looks fine on the map does not work in practice.
That is not a marketing line here; it is the reason the aircraft side of the day is uneventful, which is the only kind of heli-ski day worth having.
What a winter day
actually looks like.
What guides, lodges and
groups ask first.
We fly it. The guiding, the snow-safety programme and the terrain choice belong to a guide operation, either yours or one we work with.
If you are a group without a guide, tell us and we will point you to one. We will not fly a ski day without one.
It depends on the day: altitude, temperature, weights and gear all move the number. A guide and four guests is the usual shape of a lift in the H125; some mornings it is fewer, and we will tell you before you are standing at the pickup.
Visibility, wind and the snow. The guides call it on the snow, we call it on the air, and either call ends the day without discussion. We would rather refund a lift than fly one we are not happy with.
Often, and it needs a look first: approach, surface, obstacles, wind and whether the land status allows it. Send photos and the location and we will tell you what is realistic.
Yes, gear included. Helicopter performance at altitude in winter depends on it directly, and it decides how many lifts your day takes. It is arithmetic, not judgement.
Call or send the dates, the group size, the terrain you have in mind and who is guiding. A person answers, and the quote comes with what is included spelled out.
Send us the dates.
We'll tell you what
the day looks like.
Guide operations, lodges and private groups, out of McCall.
CALL DIRECT · 208-315-5769