Published March 19, 2010 12:00AM
I took a trip just south of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, recently with High Mountain Heli Skiing. The day kicked off in town with introductions to the guides, an overview of safety rules for the Bell 407, avalanche safety, and transceiveruse. Once in the air, it was only a few minutes before we hit pure winter. Our guide and HMH owner Jon Schick has been heli-skiing in the area since 1974, so he knew where to find blower snow without wasting any time. All day long, we dropped into run after run of poofy trees, soft chutes, and wide open bowls. A perfect, unbelievable, bluebird powder day, topped off with a ride back up along the Teton Range to the heli-landing pad in Teton Village, where a few cocktails were definitely in order at the Mangy Moose.
Want to have your own heli-skiing adventure? Check out my choices for the best heli-skiing companies in the lower 48:
High Mountain Heli-Skiing, Jackson, Wyoming; heliskijackson.com
Ruby Mountains Heli-Experience, Lamoille, Nevada; helicopterskiing.com
Silverton Mountain Heli-Skiing, Silverton, Colorado; silvertonmountain.com
Telluride Helitrax, Telluride, Colorado; helitrax.com
North Casade Heli, Mazama, Washington; heli-ski.com
Powderbird, Snowbird, Utah; powderbird.com
EpicQuest, Sun Valley, Idaho; epicquest.com
–Brigid Mander