Breakfast Buffet: Selkirk TangiersThe day starts with buffet breakfast at the Hillcrest Hotel and ends with apres at the same spot. During the day you either fly right from the hotel or you pile into a passenger van and drive to a staging area, this depends on where the other groups are skiing that day. Lunch, a guide, and avi gear is provided by the operation as well as a 45 minute avalanche 'lesson,' which is essentially the safety briefing.
In our case, after breakfast we took a van to a staging area about 15 minutes north up Lake Revelstoke. There, a 205 helicopter picked us up and bumped us up to a high point in the Central Selkirks. The ride was only about 5 minutes, but we were transported from dust and brown on the road to a land of white in minutes. The bowl where we were, on the north side of Mt. Dickie, had a lot of terrain to ski and was a perfect touring area with manageable climbs. Unfortunately, the avalanche conditions were touchy, to say the least, so we had to keep our turns pretty mellow. Our group contained some media people and we took our time shooting pictures and video. We only did 3 runs and 2 climbs but you could do a lot more if you wanted to push it. Besides some early morning valley fog, the day had great weather and we had stellar views of the Monashees and Selkirks.
rad zone: Selkirk Tangiers heli touring
Sick zone: Selkirk Tangiers ski touring day, March 2010.
Waiting for Heli: Selkirk Tangiers
Avalanche Saftey Briefing: Selkirk Tangiers
This product is a safe, turn-key way to ski tour that assures you time racking vertical and not slogging on flats. Earning your turns has way of enriching your body and soul that heliskiing does not and I think you can have just as much fun as if you were flying in the chopper all day. Ski touring lets you gain a better appreciation of where you are because you have time to soak in your surroundings. At $635 per person (minimum group is 3), the day is obviously a little pricier than skiing the resort or going out on your own but those are maybe not fair comparisons. It's cheaper than the heli skiing 3 run experience and in my opinion it's probably better.
The Selkirk Tangiers tenure is amazing. ST has one of the sweetest swaths of land in the world in which they operate and they can virtually guarantee powder skiing any time in the season. With a wide selection of the Eastern Monashees or Central Selkirks inside their operating area you can count on going someplace rad.
It's also like you get 2 free runs. The thing I hate the most about ski touring is long flat approaches, so naturally I was quite stoked when we landed on top of a peak. As well as dropping you off high, the heli also comes and picks you up low at the end of the day. So in my books, this is the equivalent of 2 free runs that you didn't have to climb for.
I was skeptical that we were going to be stuck listening to helicopters buzzing around us all day and we would be tortured by watching rich Germans ski five times as many runs as us, but this wasn't the case. In fact we had a noise free day. We were the last group in the air for the day and by the time the heli had dropped us off, we were left with nothing but the sounds of our own group for the entire day. It was as peaceful as a day in Rogers Pass.
I think motivated 24-35 year olds, who have more time than money, may feel like they can probably get a similar experience themselves for cheaper in places like Roger's Pass and it's probably true. However, for those with a bit more money than time, who want the convenience of having a day organized for them and want to exert less energy on the approach and to have the safety and security of guided skiing, then the touring package at Selkirk Tangiers is a good option. Cost is really the only deterring factor to going on this trip but if you're not in strong touring shape or are skeptical on your own ability to safely move in the mountains then having Selkirk Tangiers provide you a hassle free day in the mountains is going to be worth it.
http://www.selkirk-tangiers.com/index/Heli-Assisted-Touring-.html
