Heli Goes Uncharted at Northern Escape Heli-Skiing
Deep powder, endless terrain, and a behind-the-scenes look at heli-skiing in Northern British Columbia.
Last winter, the team from Heli travelled north to experience Northern Escape Heli-Skiing firsthand. Over the course of a week, they explored our terrain, visited our three lodge programs, met the people behind the operation, and discovered what makes heli-skiing in the Skeena Mountains so special.
Their adventure is now featured in an episode of Heli Uncharted, and we're excited to share it.
As the Heli team puts it in the opening of the film, they arrived looking for big lines but left with a deeper appreciation for what it means to spend time this far north.
Watch Heli Uncharted: Northern Escape Heli-Skiing YouTube video below.
It's Deeper Here
There's a reason heli-skiers travel from around the world to experience the Skeena Mountains.
Our northern coastal location delivers an incredible combination of abundant snowfall, dramatic mountain terrain, and long vertical descents.
During their visit, the Heli crew experienced everything from wide-open alpine bowls and glacier runs to deep tree skiing. And even after several days in the mountains, they felt they'd barely scratched the surface of the terrain available.
As longtime Northern Escape guide Ivan Sabourin explains in the film, the region's relatively low treeline and deep valleys create exceptionally long runs and a diverse mix of terrain that keeps the guiding interesting.
From the alpine to the trees, there's always something new to explore.
When It Snows, We Keep Skiing
One of the highlights of the Heli visit was experiencing something that sets Northern Escape apart: our snowcat backup program.
Heavy snowfall is part of life in the Skeena Mountains. And while those storms are responsible for our incredible powder conditions, they can sometimes keep helicopters grounded.
That's where the snowcats come in.
Rather than spending a storm day waiting for the weather to clear, guests can head into sheltered, gladed tree terrain for a completely different kind of powder experience.
The Heli crew got to experience this firsthand, trading the helicopter for the snowcat during a storm and discovering just how much fun a deep day in the trees can be.
It's one of the advantages of heli-skiing with Northern Escape: more opportunities to get out and enjoy the snow, whatever the weather brings.
Three Lodges, One Incredible Mountain Range
Throughout their week, the Heli team explored Northern Escape's different lodge experiences, beginning at our purpose-built Mountain Lodge before visiting Yellow Cedar Lodge and the Skeena Bay program.
Each offers a different way to experience the mountains, but all share the same commitment to exceptional skiing, warm hospitality, and a genuine connection to this incredible corner of British Columbia.
At the Mountain Lodge, the team discovered that the experience doesn't end when the helicopter lands for the day.
From incredible meals prepared by our culinary team to the relaxed atmosphere and camaraderie among guests and staff, the lodge quickly felt like home.
And as the film makes clear, it's the people who truly bring the experience to life.
More Than Just the Skiing
While the deep powder and dramatic terrain might be what first draws people to Northern Escape, there's something else that makes this place special.
It's the passion of the guides who have spent decades exploring these mountains. The chefs who take pride in every meal. The close-knit team that genuinely loves living and working in Northern BC.
That connection to the mountains, the outdoors, and each other is woven into everything we do.
And it's something the Heli crew noticed throughout their visit.
Experience Northern Escape for Yourself
A huge thank you to Spencer and the Heli team for making the journey north and sharing their experience of Northern Escape with the world.
We loved having you here, and we think the film captures something that can be difficult to put into words: what makes this place so special.
Ready to experience the Skeena Mountains for yourself?
Explore Northern Escape Heli-Skiing | View Available Dates & Book Online
Video Transcript: Heli Uncharted at Northern Escape
The following is an edited transcript of the Heli Uncharted feature, organized by chapter and timestamp. Automatic captions have been lightly cleaned for readability.
Chapter 1: Introduction to Northern Escape
[0:01] Narrator: In this episode of Heli Uncharted, our team traveled to one of Canada's northernmost mountain ranges along the coast. Here, we explored Northern Escape Heli-Skiing's three different lodge programs.
We came here looking for big lines, but left with a deeper understanding of what it means to spend time this far north.
[0:19] Spencer: Hey, this is Spencer from Heli. We're here at Northern Escape Heli-Skiing. This is this episode of Heli Uncharted.
[0:47] Guide: I knew when I arrived here that I could spend my whole career in this mountain range.
The way the snowpack lays itself out here, Mother Nature makes going to work easy.
[1:07] Narrator: For a long time we've heard about the Skeena Mountains. A snowpack that never seems to quit. Terrain so vast it feels endless, wild, almost alive.
We've heard of a tiny town so far up the Pacific coast of Canada it's nearly Alaska. So we went to see it for ourselves.
We spent a week there checking out each lodge and program Northern Escape has to offer and getting to experience the incredible terrain.
Our first stop was the Mountain Lodge.
Chapter 2: Inside the Mountain Lodge
[1:39] Ivan Sabourin: The Mountain Lodge is sort of, I think, more like the crown jewel that we have because the lodge is specifically designed and built for heli-skiing.
My name is Ivan Sabourin. I'm one of the founding guides at Northern Escape Heli-Skiing. I've been with the operation for 23 years now.
Everything is very different up here because our treeline is at 4,500 feet. So the mountains look really big, except they're only under 7,000 feet. But the valleys are very deep, so the long runs are very long.
It's an incredible range. The terrain has a lot of complex features, so it makes the guiding very interesting here.
[2:35] Narrator: After a big day in the mountains, coming back to the lodge was like returning home. There's something special about the atmosphere and the community here.
[2:44] Ivan Sabourin: This place has a nice warm feeling on top of a mountain with a great view.
You're isolated, but at the same time you're surrounded by a very strong team.
I think we are a very close-knit community and we all have this passion for the outdoors and heli-skiing. That's what really makes us stand out, I think, for the way we do things and the welcoming that we have and the passion we have behind what we do.
It shows, and it makes the whole difference.
Because a lodge is a lodge. It has a beautiful view here, you're surrounded by mountains. But I think what really makes a place unique is the people that are behind it.
[3:31] Kitchen scene: And we have to talk about Dom's stuff because it's amazing.
[3:39] Dom: That little slice is not for the taste. That taste comes from the 180-day Gruyère, straight from Switzerland.
I hope you guys like cheese because I like to go heavy on the cheese, especially for a French onion soup. I mean, it's part of it, right?
[4:06] Dom, Executive Chef: So, I'm Dom. I'm the executive chef here at Northern Escape Heli-Skiing.
I think from the staff to managers to owners, everyone's attached to the product we're selling.
By being guest-oriented, I feel like we're always striving to do better for our guests. And it's basically a one-team effort between everyone.
I think that's probably the vision throughout the whole company, to be honest.
And I think that's what makes it so enjoyable for people to work here, having fun at work, getting along with your colleagues. I think that's a big part of it.
It kind of sounds cheesy, but you end your shift with a smile on your face. You're only ready to come back for the next one.
Chapter 3: Snowcat Skiing and Mountain Terrain
[5:00] Heli host: We're out here with Northern Escape Heli-Skiing today. We're cat skiing because it's snowing, but we're still skiing.
[5:12] Heli host: Awesome. I'm here with Austin. What do you do here at Northern Escape?
[5:15] Austin: I'm the operations manager. I kind of run our snowcat program, which is a big backup option for us.
[5:22] Heli host: Let's jump into that. That's a pretty unique thing that you guys have that not a lot of operators around British Columbia have. When are you often using that, and what is it?
[5:32] Austin: Well, you know, we're on the coast. We get some stormy days, which means big resets in the snow.
On those stormy days when it's snowing hard, we can't fly helicopters. So we offer the cat-skiing backup.
We take our heli-skiing guests cat skiing. We have big timbered, deep-snow tree skiing, so it gives you reference when you're storm skiing.
I think the unique part about this is one of our lodges is basically at sea level, and you can hop in a helicopter and be at 6,000 feet within minutes, and then ski right down into the treeline, which is super cool.
It opens up options instead of just big-country skiing and no trees. It opens up options for cat skiing like this, where we can go skiing in the trees and we get a massive snowpack.
I think we have three metres of snow in here right now in January. So that's huge.
[6:53] Heli host: So we're here. It's been a couple of sick days at Northern Escape's Mountain Lodge. We're looking outside and it's just pure white.
How have the last few days been here?
[7:03] Heli guest: It's been so sick.
I mean, I've spent a lot of time skiing up in BC, but it was so fun, right? Because often you're skiing in the trees, which is amazing for all its own reasons, but being up in the alpine, incredible views.
We skied all sorts of great snow conditions, long runs, glacier runs, just really cool icefall and rockfall at different points.
Having those vistas and that wide-open terrain for me was so sick.
[7:31] Heli host: I mean, we didn't even scratch the surface of that terrain. You look around, you see just lines after lines.
[7:35] Heli guest: Today we actually got out in the snowcat. We were skiing in the snowcat because we couldn't fly the heli, which is sick.
We were skiing kind of no matter what, right? So, pretty special program.
[7:47] Heli host: Yeah, that snowcat backup is pretty unique to them.
There's really not many other operators that have that ability to get you out there and make sure you're skiing every day versus having that down day.
It's really cool for us to experience that and just see what the terrain is like a little bit.
[8:02] Heli guest: Yeah, exactly. And it's fun terrain. They've done a little bit of glading in there, so there's some really good alleys.
We had good conditions. I'm stoked that we got out skiing.
Chapter 4: Lodge Variety and Northern Lifestyle
[8:19] Narrator: Our time at the Mountain Lodge was epic, and we left there excited to check out the other options.
Next stop, Yellow Cedar Lodge and Skeena Bay.
[8:28] Northern Escape team member: Yellow Cedar is our Classic program. The Classic program is hosted with two AStars, and that gets you into the terrain easily.
The Private program, it's a very quaint lodge. It's a fly-fishing lodge.
It accommodates the guests very comfortably in the A-frame little chalet, as well as they have a very nice facility for leisure, a pool table and recreational area.
And then the dining room is spectacular. So it gives them the relative privacy that they want.
[9:13] Heli guest: If you need at least a couple of ski buddies, you know, give us some bacon and some heli-skiing and it'll probably do it.
[9:20] Heli host: So this is day five. Had a down day yesterday and it was dumping everywhere.
We're pretty excited to get out today.
Our guide just came and gave us a little debrief. They got, you know, 30–40 centimetres, so it should be blower in the field.
We've got broken skies. Probably get up into the higher elevations, maybe do a little high-alpine skiing. Hopefully a lot of high-alpine skiing.
I'm ready for some high alpine today.
[9:45] Heli guest: Yeah, me too.
[9:56] Northern Escape team member: We really have a lot of fun.
The core part of the team is a whole bunch of French Canadian crew and they're all hard workers.
The guiding team, we all fly fish together. Everybody has really great interests aside from work that you can really pursue here.
The lifestyle here is really tops. It's not crowded, and it's just a great place to live. That really melds everything together.
[10:31] Dom: I feel like if you're brought to the north, you probably have that outdoorsy personality hidden in you.
We have world-class fishing out there. We have world-class skiing.
For me, it's really the outdoorsy factor that brought me here.
It makes me realize, yes, we're so lucky to be here. It makes people's lives easier.
When you're having fun at work, I feel like people usually tend to come back.
[11:04] Northern Escape guide: The motto is, "It's deeper here."
It's a phenomenon to be able to ski in a mountain range that has that kind of snowpack.
It's really incredible to see the roughness of the mountains smooth out and round out, and then the spines start to show.
[11:24] Northern Escape guide: I really like to show how exciting it is to have deep powder shots and make the guests the stars.