VIDEO 19mgs

A helicopter flight with White Saddle Air isn’t cheap, but the views are amazing and you can bring enough food to live like a king, what better way to enjoy a few weeks in the spring! Divide the cost by a few friends or skin in for free! Set up a base camp and let the YO- YO’s begin! Like Big vertical? Check out these Peaks (Mt. Waddington is over 4,000 meters)

Once you pay for the 1.5-hour return heli transport to the area and set up a base camp, the only costs are calories and sweat. You spend the next two weeks feeding your soul in a backcountry ski mountaineer’s Mecca. Waddington has been called by some the Alps of Canada. Heavily glaciated, steep peaks, big vertical and the WOW factor of mind-blowing scenery. Attempting a trip here is serious and requires Avy gear and training, navigational savvy, crevasse rescue training and a taste for adventure. You will be rewarded with an experience that will make you forget about money and realize what is worth living for.

The area is heavily glaciated and holds endless ski lines on all aspects from steep faces to couloirs to glaciated ramps and bowls. The three main base camps are on the Dais Glacier, Tiedemann Glacier and the Ice Valley Glacier. The Northwest Summit of Mt. Waddington, via the Angel Glacier is the cherry on top in terms of ski descents. The surrounding and obvious peaks including Chris Spencer, Brokenhead, The Tit, Cavalier Mountain, Jester, Regal Dome, Fury Gap, Combatant Col, Ice Valley Peak, and Mt. Munday all make for great side trips. Once you have hit all the peaks in a one area move camp to a different side of Mt. Waddington. Of course the weather is the main variable, and things change fast in the Coast range, but in the spring things tend to stabilize. Weather forecasts can be heard by radio from White Saddle Air! On our trip we lucked out with 10 days of Bluebird in a row, our legs were begging us for some rest. We were thankful of our good luck and were able to cover a lot of terrain and different lines. The weather changes very quickly because it so close to the coast. The remoteness can make you feel very distant from the hustle and bustle of everyday city life, which is nice.

Deep Thoughts and Pow Pondering: Every ski bum often struggles with this dilemma…money vs. the search for

POW. Do we live our lives for the love of what we do or for yearning to make money? Is there a balance? Should you get a corporate job, save your money or blow your WAD!! We blew our WAD on a two-week trip to the Mt. Waddington area and have no regrets.

PHOTOS: Alex Geary and Mo Rasiah
Video: powwowcreations.com
Story: Brian Baker