Heli-Skiing With CMH Gothics During a Monster BC Winter

I just got back from the best ski trip of my entire life.

IN FEBRUARY 2012, almost every resort in North America was having a pitiful ski season. One of the only places where it was really dumping was an area the Canadians call the Powder Highway. Matador organized a trip to explore three towns along this route: Fernie, Golden, and Revelstoke.

We ended up shooting an entire video series on the road trip, starting in with a couple days at Fernie Mountain Resort, then to Kicking Horse in the town of Golden, and finishing in Revelstoke, where we were lucky enough to get some epic days flying heli with CMH. Not only did we have perfect conditions for heli-skiing in Revy, we made a bunch of new friends and got to see why CMH is the most successful heli-skiing company in the world.

This year, we returned to explore a different CMH lodge: Gothics. Guests at the Gothics fly the Northern Selkirk and Monashee ranges. The groups are small and the skiing fast. The lodge isn’t part of a town — it’s in the middle of nowhere, two hours north of Revelstoke on the edge of complete wilderness. It’s the only place I’ve ever been heli-skiing where you don’t have to drive to a hangar or small airport in the morning. You just walk out the front door and the heli lands right there in front of the lodge. In addition, this seclusion makes for a very cool experience at the lodge. All the meals are served at big tables family style, and you eat dinner every night with the guides, heli pilots, and a global collection of guests.

The video above shows some highlights from our trip to the Gothics last week. I brought along Matador Ambassador Dylan Siggers, because he makes killer edits and, frankly, he’s a lot of fun to ski with because he CHARGES.

Below are some additional images from the trip.

Video: Dylan Siggers
Track: Justice – “Civilization” [lazrtag bootleg mix], mixed by dacops
Photos: Ross Borden

Cockpit

Our pilot, Rocky Cooper, and Icelandic guide Fridjon "Freon" Thorleifsson scope out the next run from the air. Rocky has been safely flying guests out of the Gothics lodge for over 17 years. It snowed the entire time we were there, and even with minimal visibility we flew and skied everyday.

No down time

As with many of the CMH lodges, the Gothics uses a Bell 212 helicopter. It can fit up to 14 people including the guide and pilot. This large capacity and the fact that Gothics is limited to only three groups means more skiing and less downtime waiting at the pickups.

Gale-force winds

You realize the power of these aircraft the first time Rocky comes to swoop your group at a pickup. Each landing produces gale-force winds and can knock you right off your feet if you're not ready for it.

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