Heliskiing: Tips on World Destinations for Maximum Adrenaline
You don´t know what else to try, but you are attracted by the excitement of winter sports? Set off with skis by a helicopter up to the mountain tips. You will experience not only a maximum level of adrenalin, but also slopes without any people on them. This is heliskiing, a sport, which was for the first time undertaken in 1958 in Alaska by skier Bengt Binks Sandahl.
Today this sport is offered on a one-day basis also by ordinary ski centres. A multi-day all-inclusive package tours usually include accommodation in a chalet in the middle of wild nature with luxurious amenities and superior full board. A three-day holiday will cost you about a quarter of a million crowns. However, heliskiing has its rules in every country.
Up to the skies, near the border
One of the most luxurious Austrian centres, Lech Zürs offers two options of skiing. For the more experienced there is Mehlsack, for beginners or advanced skiers, Orgelscharte offers slopes leading to the valley of Schneetal.
In France, this sport is prohibited due to protection of the environment. The only French place where heliskiing is available is in the centre of La Rosière; its greater part is on the Italian border.
The ideal place for this sport is also Mont Blanc; from the Swiss or Italian side. Since 2013, Livigno, too, welcomes aficionados of this adrenalin sport with open arms. You can ski down from the peaks to the valley of Val del Monte and Val delle Mine. In the valley of Aosta you will find Valgrisenche. In Switzerland, you can try the most luxurious Alpine centre at all - Zermatt. Other centres are St. Moritz or Verbier. From there you can go by a helicopter to the tips of the mountains and go wildly down the slope.
Up to the end of the world
However, the cradle of skiing from a helicopter is Canada. The ideal place is the luxurious mountain range of Carboos and Monashees, specifically for example the ski centre of Whistler-Blackcomb in British Columbia. However, heliskiing tours are organised by all sorts of agencies for example also to Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, the southern slopes of the Caucasus in Georgia in the area surrounding the five-thousand-metre Kazbek and also to Kamchatka. Heliskiing is also available in Alaska, New Zealand and the Himalayas.
Experience and quality
This type of skiing requires higher than averagely-experienced skiers, who are able to endure a long free-style skiing in an open terrain. Before the trip, it is necessary to be very well prepared, including having completed an avalanche course.
Before you set off for your craved adrenalin, it is important to purchase high-quality equipment both for the skiing itself as well as a possible avalanche. It is therefore necessary to have an ABS backpack ABS, finder, a robe and a shovel! Then all you need is to have sufficient financial means, choose your spot and your dream luxury sports experience may begin!
