Why Early Season Delivers the Goods for Deep Powder Heli Skiing

At Northern Escape, one of the questions we’re often asked is, “When is the snow the deepest?” And here’s where a bit of an explanation is in order. The snow ‘base’ is almost always deepest in late April, after it’s been piling on all season. However, the ‘ski depth’ is often deepest in December.

It sounds counterintuitive, so let’s explain further. At your local ski hill, you might have 2m (6’) of snow base, but it’s pure groomer, and nothing on top, so the ski depth is literally Nada.

How to Go Heli-Skiing and Not Be a Climate-Changing Jerk

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Northern Escape Heli Skiing is excited to introduce the Blizzard Rustler 11 to our already stacked ski fleet. With so many amazing skis to choose from, let us help you make the right decision with some background information to get the best experience out of your heliski trip!Blizzard Rustler 11 ski in green.

Blizzard’s Carbon Flipcore D.R.T technology reduces the torsional strength of the rockered tip and tail making these skis extremely playful in the deep North Coast powder and because of the camber underfoot, holding an edge on the steeps is a breeze. This award-winning ski is an all day, all conditions favorite of many freeride athletes and now, you, our guests can also enjoy the ride. Read more

Fat Skis for Powder

In this K2 Pinnacle 118 review our heli ski experts will explain why we love them here at Northern Escape Heli Skiing in British Columbia Canada.

We offer K2 Pinnacle 118 fat skis to our heli skiing guests along with the Kastle BMX 115 fat skis we reviewed in an earlier post. We highly recommend both to our heli skiing guests.

K2 Pinnacle 118 fat skis are excellent all-around deep powder skis that can handle any of the 12 heli ski zones in our 5,500-km terrain.

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Our Go To Ski & Snowboard Fleet at NE Heli Skiing

Prior Snowboards and Skis

For go-to powder specific heli skiing gear, our Northern Escape Heli Skiing experts here in British Columbia Canada like Prior snowboards and skis.

Prior is an award winning Canadian snowboard manufacturer out of Whistler, BC. For nearly three decades they’ve been making exceptional, hand crafted, premium quality Canadian snowboards and skis.

At NE Heli Skiing, we believe that having the right heli skiing gear will help you make the most of your vacation when snowboarding or heli skiing in Canada.

No one wants to have to go in early due to having back leg fatigue, or because you are tired of tomahawking down the mountain. That’s why we offer two coast mountain powder specific snowboards as part of our complementary rental fleet.

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Deep Powder Fat Skis!

At Northern Escape Heli Skiing in British Columbia Canada, we love the Kastle BMX 115 ski. These are ideal fat skis for deep powder skiing in any of the 12 heli ski zones within our 5,500-km terrain.

In this Kastle BMX 115 review, our heli ski experts will take a closer look at why we love them and why we recommend Kastle skis to our guests.

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NE Heli Skiing Barryvox Avalanche Tranceiver

Barryvox Avalanche Tranceiver

When you come to heli ski with us here in beautiful British Columbia, Canada, Northern Escape Heli Skiing will provide you with a Mammut Pulse Barryvox Avalanche Transceiver. Safety is our number one priority and this essential piece of safety equipment is something you must carry at all times.

Approximately 90% of all buried skiers will be found alive if they are found within the first 15 minutes. The Pulse Barryvox Avalanche Transceiver is designed to do just that…it will find someone who is buried quickly and accurately.

In this post, our heli ski experts will offer a brief overview of the Pulse Barryvox Avalanche Transceiver and explain its many features, and how it can help save your life.

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Snowpulse Avalanche Airbag Backpack System

Avalanche Airbag System

In this NE Heli Skiing blog post we’ll take a closer look at the Snowpulse Avalanche Airbag Backpack System and outline exactly what they do…and how they can save your life.

At Northern Escape Heli Skiing, safety has always been our number one priority. While heli skiing in British Columbia Canada, one of the most essential pieces of safety equipment we provide to all of our heli ski guests is the Snowpulse Avalanche Airbag Backpack.

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(Editor’s Note – This original blog post from November 2014 has been updated to reflect current ski boot fitting practices.)

How tight should a ski boot fit and how important is a custom ski boot fitting?

Get Professional Help When Fitting Ski Boots

Ski Boot Fit – Get Help

Have you ever had a ski boot fit so uncomfortable that you’re sure the only solution is amputation? Before things get that drastic you should consider asking for professional ski boot fitting advice.

When it comes to finding the right ski boot fit, there are a few things you should keep in mind.

Ski Boots Should Not Be Painful

First and foremost it is important to realize that not only should your ski boots not cause you pain, but also the ski boot fit (or ill-fit) can drastically affect your skiing ability.

Too many times have we encountered skiers that are struggling needlessly to overcome poor fitting ski boots.

  • Ski boots too big can cause a skier to have limited control over their skis and can result in toe bang as your foot moves around in the boot.
  • Ski boots too small can cause cramping and lack of circulation; one of the leading causes of cold feet.

In order to help you avoid having to cut your heli skiing days short due to pain caused by ill fitting ski boots this season, our Northern Escape Heli Skiing staff caught up with 25-year veteran ski boot fitter Glen Delboscoe, who laid out a ski boot fitting guide and shared a story of an extreme reaction to sore feet. Read more

John Forrest – Northern Escape Heli Skiing Oct 13th, 2017

Image of Skier in Googles Near Mountain Chair Lift

Mind the Gap!

It’s amazing, I remember being a ski patrol back in the 80’s and wondering how long it would be before everyone would be wearing ski helmets. This was when some of the first recreational helmets were starting to be used on the ski hill. Now here we are, nearly four decades later and it’s now the norm to ski with a helmet. The only people you see holding out are the old bearded guys with duct-tape covering the rips in their pants and over the leaky gaps in their ski boot toe boxes.

Now-a-days ski helmets are simply accepted as part of the gear required to go skiing. A few years ago, Work Safe BC, the employee insurance plan of BC, invoked a new law (well actually, just reminded us all of the existing law we had been unaware of or ignored) that stipulated that all employees engaged in “sliding” activities would need to wear a helmet. Thus, now you’ll see us heli ski guides wearing helmets as well. Read more

At Northern Escape Safety Is Number 1. Not only for our guests but for our staff as well.

Safety is Number 1

That’s why we are working on getting our COR certification. The Certificate of Recognition program (COR) is an occupational health and safety audit and certification that rewards employers that go above and beyond the legal requirements of the Workers Compensation Act and Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Regulations. It is a process that is not easily met, but we are up for the challenge! Read more