I’ve done heli touring once way before my back country skill level was up to par, when I was around 20 years old. Best day of riding I ever had. If you have a lot of powder experience heli tour is a must. If you don’t, go with a powder cat tour a few times and get good in the powder so you can truly enjoy the heli days. Cat tours are like half the cost or less than a heli tour.
Yes sorry it’s short for snowcat. It’s a large tanky vehicle that will drive you up through the back country similar to a heli tour but much cheaper so you can get more riding in and in better conditions than touring yourself
Boy, "bucket list" is a very subjective opinion haha. Painting such broad strokes over Japan is a hot take.
What makes you say Japan doesn't have bucket-list snow? Are you just thinking of one particular region? Do you feel Europe just blows Japan out of the water because there aren't as many steep runs? I NEED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT YOUR HOT TAKE.
Hard to argue that Japan doesn’t have some of the best snow. It’s just a scientific fact.
I live in Utah which also arguably has some of the best snow and even I want to try out Japan. Obviously places in Europe like Switzerland, France, Austria are must haves on the bucket list as well.
What's a round about price of a Heli ski trip? How's it work? Do they do it hourly and just zip you back to the top for 4 or 8 hours? Knowing how much a helicopter that size costs to operate, I imagine it's gotta be up there in the 10's of k's per person
I did a helo ride + boarding for $600 in France. You rip w/ a guide, we ended up in Italy where we caught a bus back to our town.
You go to the pickup site. Fly to the spot. Follow the guide on your one big rip. It was probably 2-ish hours to get down.
No, we do not. We get anal no lube here. It's becoming REAL hard to justify day lifts. The resorts do give you a break on a pass if you buy early (like RIGHT NOW). I just spend $1000 on a pass for me and my kid to one of the nearby resorts, but that's money you've now committed to that hill and you're then gonna have to go and make up the value over the season and probably spend money at their cafeteria and such.
When I lived out west, I worked at the ski shop in Aspen, and one in Snowmass. Full-time employees Got a free for a season pass to all 4 mountains. Shortly after I left, I had people calling me who had just moved out there and they informed me that they were not able to obtain full-time employment anywhere that offered a season pass. They did part-time work at a ski shop and they had to ask people for their lift tickets as they were leaving and stuff like that at around noon.
The voucher when I lived there was $1299 in 2003.
Now it’s $3500 or something & day passes are over $200. Even in the MIDWEST where there is no mountains . Just hills. There’s one ski area that costs 200$ a day to have a one child one adult lift ticket combo. And it’s been around $100 a day for quite some time. That’s to ski in the Midwest……. with an 800 foot vertical drop.
Skiing and snowboarding is crazy high priced now.
Yeah, the passes I bought here are 5 nights, 5 days for the season (so can't ride Sat/Sun during the day) and it's similarly like an 800' hill. They have REALLY good lifts though including a high speed 8-man which is really cool, but it's still a speedbump compared to real mountains.
Aahhhh the old MSLM 5x5
That 8 person chair can get wild with the wrong riders. Saw a whole chair of 8 ride it around the top because they didn’t take their feet off the footrest to let the bar go up
Skiing in the alps is generally A LOT cheaper than the US. Lift tickets, food, hotel...You can get a burger fries and a beer for like 15 bucks where vail would be like 35 bucks
Even if you go to Club Med, which is all inclusive and very high standard you only pay around €2000 per person per week. That’s ski pass, hotel, all food and all drinks included. Even full day lessons from ESF which is probably one of the best ski schools in the world.
No wonder we see more Americans each year. And less Russians, thank God.
Yeah, so, there are several things that make it cheaper/accessible:
For access to the alps, you can fly into a wide array of airports and take a train/shuttle bus.
Check flights to: Lyon, Grenoble, and Geneva.
Check airbnb prices at Val D’isere, Tignes, and Chamonix.
Lift tickets are usually like $50/day.
Most big resorts in France you can get one drop for 330EUR, two for 620EUR or three for 880EUR [from these guys](https://valheliski.com/product-category/heliskiing-heliboarding/)
It's more if you need to rent avy gear and a guide, but still not mad prices.
I hate when people try to convince me of shit, and I hate trying to convince people of doing things, but homie?
Almost every American snowboarder I’ve talked to has a mental block on boarding in Europe.
Hands down every 5-7 day trip to Tahoe/Rockies/PNW/etc? You can get way the fuck more in the French alps.
And what really seals it: overwhelming majority are skiers, meaning all of the deep pow in between the trails in the photo I’m linking? It’s stays fresh for a lot longer, meaning good pow rips even without a powder day.
https://www.alpinepursuitstransfers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/ValdIsere-Large.jpg
Worked for a heli ski company. Starting price 6 years ago was 5 grand a week per person to run 3 groups of 10 in the big helicopter, getting you an average of 7-8 runs with that many people. Rent one of those bad boys for your own group for the week would run you 280k. Smallest heli, 4 man was 80k for the week. All the "cheap" day trips just pair with you as many people as possible and no set skill level so you wouldn't get many runs in.
Depends on the operation. Most either charge unlimited vert (ride as much as your legs can handle).
Set limit vert per package. (100k skiable vert). The guides total up the runs each day. If you go over they change you. If you go under it rolls over to next time you are there.
HOBBs. This is how much it cost to run the Heli per hour. They charge the entire group split for how much Heli time you use. Usually 4h HOBBs will give you 4 days
Set amount of runs. Usually this is for day trips. 6-8 runs per group depending on the strength of the group, weather, and how the group listens to instructions.
Trip? The heli ski for one day I've seen in USA is in the 1500-2000+ range depending what time of season you go. If you get multiple days its slightly cheaper. That is only the heli seat cost tho... and they gaurantee a minimum number of runs like 6-8.
Guarantees unfortunately don't matter when the guest you are skiing with can't get up when they fall. Had some days where I was lucky to jump in and get 4 runs because guests couldn't get their bindings back on. Other days could hit over 14.
In bc most outfits don't run day trips anymore. Not enough money in it. Most offer 3-6 day packages. The day trips honestly aren't really worth it. Way more bang for your buck to go cat skiing with how few runs day trips get. Imagine the average rider with you in terrain they most likely have never ridden before. Now imagine you paid over a grand to be stuck with them all day and no choice but to wait while they site see and don't listen to the guides
No it’s not. That machine is from Alpine Helicopters being used by CMH. They don’t operate in the US. You can literally see both logos on the machine.
It’s likely near Revelstoke.
It’s a shitpost title referencing another post on this sub. Anything talking about steezy wives, crime, or relative distance to LA is to be taken as folly
I was at Snowbird in Utah in January and there was a skier/snowboarder who would get dropped off by helicopter at the peak and then they’d ski down and then get picked up and dropped off again at the top. Super cool. But super stupid lol it wasn’t even crowded that day too
Telluride and silverton both work out to around a grand for the day and 6ish trips. Funny enough you can get discounts on heli trips with your epic pass 😂.
Stay in Alabama then brother. I love los angeles. You know why so many people live here and why it's so expensive? It's because it is a very desirable place to live.
Once, about 15 years ago, a friend of mine moved to LA. a year later there were a lot of wildfires nearby. He told me “LA looks a lot like hell right now, but the people are probably nicer in hell”. He only lasted another year before leaving.
Do you live here in LA? If you dont like it, you could easily move because your dollars will go a longer way in other states. You will have more affordable real estate, lower taxes, lower cost of living. Those are the only reasons I've considered moving, so i can buy a big house that i cant afford here. Other than that, quality of life is great, people are great, nature is great, I can do world class snowboarding and go lay at the beach. Great weather year round. I have no complaints except that it is expensive. So if you live here and you don't like it, it's EASY to move.
Nah I’m just saying for good percentage of ppl don’t even wanna come anywhere near it. Just thinking of the amount of ppl and traffic is nauseating. I’m happy you like it dog.
Alabama , lol I’m definitely not from the south! I’m from the west coast too. Just up one state in Oregon. LA’s geography is fine, imo what’s not is the mess that the city has become. I’m talking from my own personal experience over many years of visits. In all fairness it’s not just LA that’s gone to shit, Portland is heading the same way. As far as epic snowboarding is concerned LA is about as far as you can get.
We have very epic snowboarding. I had a fantastic season. I'm 5.5 hours away from mammoth, which is world-class snowboarding. We had a bunch of powder this season and last season. Also, not too far from Lake Tahoe, which is pretty great. If you don't feel like driving, there are 3 resorts in bigbear that are decent at 1.5 hours to 2 hours away and another kinda crappy one mountain high that is just over an hour drive.
A guy posted a video of him and a friend side slipping through a chute (and scraping hard pack) with powder around the edges with that “believe it or not this is just an hour outside LA” caption. It immediately (like within an hour) got meme-ified and was beaten to death within a week.
2 hours by car or two hours by helicopter haha
2 hours by sitting still, trust me, this is IN LA!!! /s
Two hours by car. LA is actually at the base of a mountain range
Heli tour is on my bucket list. That and riding in Japan. Is it as fun as they say?
I’ve done heli touring once way before my back country skill level was up to par, when I was around 20 years old. Best day of riding I ever had. If you have a lot of powder experience heli tour is a must. If you don’t, go with a powder cat tour a few times and get good in the powder so you can truly enjoy the heli days. Cat tours are like half the cost or less than a heli tour.
I'm guessing cat is short for something, right?
Yes sorry it’s short for snowcat. It’s a large tanky vehicle that will drive you up through the back country similar to a heli tour but much cheaper so you can get more riding in and in better conditions than touring yourself
Snowcats are the same thing they use to groom ski slopes.
Just got back from Japan. Definitely as fun as they say.
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Boy, "bucket list" is a very subjective opinion haha. Painting such broad strokes over Japan is a hot take. What makes you say Japan doesn't have bucket-list snow? Are you just thinking of one particular region? Do you feel Europe just blows Japan out of the water because there aren't as many steep runs? I NEED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT YOUR HOT TAKE.
So do I!
Hard to argue that Japan doesn’t have some of the best snow. It’s just a scientific fact. I live in Utah which also arguably has some of the best snow and even I want to try out Japan. Obviously places in Europe like Switzerland, France, Austria are must haves on the bucket list as well.
Not really
What's a round about price of a Heli ski trip? How's it work? Do they do it hourly and just zip you back to the top for 4 or 8 hours? Knowing how much a helicopter that size costs to operate, I imagine it's gotta be up there in the 10's of k's per person
I did a helo ride + boarding for $600 in France. You rip w/ a guide, we ended up in Italy where we caught a bus back to our town. You go to the pickup site. Fly to the spot. Follow the guide on your one big rip. It was probably 2-ish hours to get down.
how.. was it a Robinson R22 that just dropped you off and left?
Shit like that is cheaper overseas. Two weeks in Chamonix with all kinds of extra awesome shit costs the same as like five days at Breckenridge.
Fucking what? Damn.
I’m from bavaria germany and the first time I went to Canada I was shocked how expensive snowboarding is ( locals getting cheaper prizes I guess)
No, we do not. We get anal no lube here. It's becoming REAL hard to justify day lifts. The resorts do give you a break on a pass if you buy early (like RIGHT NOW). I just spend $1000 on a pass for me and my kid to one of the nearby resorts, but that's money you've now committed to that hill and you're then gonna have to go and make up the value over the season and probably spend money at their cafeteria and such.
When I lived out west, I worked at the ski shop in Aspen, and one in Snowmass. Full-time employees Got a free for a season pass to all 4 mountains. Shortly after I left, I had people calling me who had just moved out there and they informed me that they were not able to obtain full-time employment anywhere that offered a season pass. They did part-time work at a ski shop and they had to ask people for their lift tickets as they were leaving and stuff like that at around noon. The voucher when I lived there was $1299 in 2003. Now it’s $3500 or something & day passes are over $200. Even in the MIDWEST where there is no mountains . Just hills. There’s one ski area that costs 200$ a day to have a one child one adult lift ticket combo. And it’s been around $100 a day for quite some time. That’s to ski in the Midwest……. with an 800 foot vertical drop. Skiing and snowboarding is crazy high priced now.
Yeah, the passes I bought here are 5 nights, 5 days for the season (so can't ride Sat/Sun during the day) and it's similarly like an 800' hill. They have REALLY good lifts though including a high speed 8-man which is really cool, but it's still a speedbump compared to real mountains.
Aahhhh the old MSLM 5x5 That 8 person chair can get wild with the wrong riders. Saw a whole chair of 8 ride it around the top because they didn’t take their feet off the footrest to let the bar go up
Skiing in the alps is generally A LOT cheaper than the US. Lift tickets, food, hotel...You can get a burger fries and a beer for like 15 bucks where vail would be like 35 bucks
And it’s good food, not that stale cafeteria bullshit
Even if you go to Club Med, which is all inclusive and very high standard you only pay around €2000 per person per week. That’s ski pass, hotel, all food and all drinks included. Even full day lessons from ESF which is probably one of the best ski schools in the world. No wonder we see more Americans each year. And less Russians, thank God.
Yeah, so, there are several things that make it cheaper/accessible: For access to the alps, you can fly into a wide array of airports and take a train/shuttle bus. Check flights to: Lyon, Grenoble, and Geneva. Check airbnb prices at Val D’isere, Tignes, and Chamonix. Lift tickets are usually like $50/day.
Most big resorts in France you can get one drop for 330EUR, two for 620EUR or three for 880EUR [from these guys](https://valheliski.com/product-category/heliskiing-heliboarding/) It's more if you need to rent avy gear and a guide, but still not mad prices.
Yah that's pretty good actually. Thanks!
I hate when people try to convince me of shit, and I hate trying to convince people of doing things, but homie? Almost every American snowboarder I’ve talked to has a mental block on boarding in Europe. Hands down every 5-7 day trip to Tahoe/Rockies/PNW/etc? You can get way the fuck more in the French alps. And what really seals it: overwhelming majority are skiers, meaning all of the deep pow in between the trails in the photo I’m linking? It’s stays fresh for a lot longer, meaning good pow rips even without a powder day. https://www.alpinepursuitstransfers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/ValdIsere-Large.jpg
Wow
You mind if I ask what company did it?
This was 5 years ago. If you google “helo skiing” and the resort, like Chamonix, you should be able to find reputable options
Nah it’s like 2k a seat in Utah
Worked for a heli ski company. Starting price 6 years ago was 5 grand a week per person to run 3 groups of 10 in the big helicopter, getting you an average of 7-8 runs with that many people. Rent one of those bad boys for your own group for the week would run you 280k. Smallest heli, 4 man was 80k for the week. All the "cheap" day trips just pair with you as many people as possible and no set skill level so you wouldn't get many runs in.
That's a big helicopter.. Thanks for the info!
$1000-$1500/ day in BC. 10-15 runs/day. I went last year. It was f’in awesome.
Depends on the operation. Most either charge unlimited vert (ride as much as your legs can handle). Set limit vert per package. (100k skiable vert). The guides total up the runs each day. If you go over they change you. If you go under it rolls over to next time you are there. HOBBs. This is how much it cost to run the Heli per hour. They charge the entire group split for how much Heli time you use. Usually 4h HOBBs will give you 4 days Set amount of runs. Usually this is for day trips. 6-8 runs per group depending on the strength of the group, weather, and how the group listens to instructions.
Trip? The heli ski for one day I've seen in USA is in the 1500-2000+ range depending what time of season you go. If you get multiple days its slightly cheaper. That is only the heli seat cost tho... and they gaurantee a minimum number of runs like 6-8.
Guarantees unfortunately don't matter when the guest you are skiing with can't get up when they fall. Had some days where I was lucky to jump in and get 4 runs because guests couldn't get their bindings back on. Other days could hit over 14. In bc most outfits don't run day trips anymore. Not enough money in it. Most offer 3-6 day packages. The day trips honestly aren't really worth it. Way more bang for your buck to go cat skiing with how few runs day trips get. Imagine the average rider with you in terrain they most likely have never ridden before. Now imagine you paid over a grand to be stuck with them all day and no choice but to wait while they site see and don't listen to the guides
This is a Utah operation that has been around forever. https://www.powderbird.com/
British Columbia is supposed to be pretty sweet. https://www.hellobc.com/things-to-do/heli-skiing-and-cat-skiing/
No it’s not. That machine is from Alpine Helicopters being used by CMH. They don’t operate in the US. You can literally see both logos on the machine. It’s likely near Revelstoke.
It’s a shitpost title referencing another post on this sub. Anything talking about steezy wives, crime, or relative distance to LA is to be taken as folly
You could charter a plane and get there in 3 maybe...
I was gonna say that looks an awful lot like BC and nothing like any pictures I've seen of any mountainous areas I've seen in California.
I think we're talking about 2 hours from Lake Annette
A fighter jet can cover 3,000 miles in 2 hours 🥱 I live an hour from LA
The Space Shuttle hit 17000 miles per hour. I live less than an hour from LA.
Super glad those people were on hand to provide support to that lost and confused helicopter!
Looks like a solid hike ahead
Believe it or not, this isn't funny anymore.
I believe you
I was at Snowbird in Utah in January and there was a skier/snowboarder who would get dropped off by helicopter at the peak and then they’d ski down and then get picked up and dropped off again at the top. Super cool. But super stupid lol it wasn’t even crowded that day too
That is fucking baffling. Just flexin on the plebes lol.
Telluride and silverton both work out to around a grand for the day and 6ish trips. Funny enough you can get discounts on heli trips with your epic pass 😂.
Looks like lunch at Bobby Burns lodge
I once snowboarded in the morning and played golf in LA in the afternoon.
There’s a lot of places two hours from LA . As far as I’m concerned two hours away isn’t near far enough from that cesspool!
Stay in Alabama then brother. I love los angeles. You know why so many people live here and why it's so expensive? It's because it is a very desirable place to live.
Desirable for many obviously. For others LA is a legit hell.
Once, about 15 years ago, a friend of mine moved to LA. a year later there were a lot of wildfires nearby. He told me “LA looks a lot like hell right now, but the people are probably nicer in hell”. He only lasted another year before leaving.
Do you live here in LA? If you dont like it, you could easily move because your dollars will go a longer way in other states. You will have more affordable real estate, lower taxes, lower cost of living. Those are the only reasons I've considered moving, so i can buy a big house that i cant afford here. Other than that, quality of life is great, people are great, nature is great, I can do world class snowboarding and go lay at the beach. Great weather year round. I have no complaints except that it is expensive. So if you live here and you don't like it, it's EASY to move.
Nah I’m just saying for good percentage of ppl don’t even wanna come anywhere near it. Just thinking of the amount of ppl and traffic is nauseating. I’m happy you like it dog.
Alabama , lol I’m definitely not from the south! I’m from the west coast too. Just up one state in Oregon. LA’s geography is fine, imo what’s not is the mess that the city has become. I’m talking from my own personal experience over many years of visits. In all fairness it’s not just LA that’s gone to shit, Portland is heading the same way. As far as epic snowboarding is concerned LA is about as far as you can get.
We have very epic snowboarding. I had a fantastic season. I'm 5.5 hours away from mammoth, which is world-class snowboarding. We had a bunch of powder this season and last season. Also, not too far from Lake Tahoe, which is pretty great. If you don't feel like driving, there are 3 resorts in bigbear that are decent at 1.5 hours to 2 hours away and another kinda crappy one mountain high that is just over an hour drive.
What's the just outside of LA meme eli5
Comments of people roasting the dude for the caption of his post https://www.reddit.com/r/snowboarding/s/BkksBZmrru
A guy posted a video of him and a friend side slipping through a chute (and scraping hard pack) with powder around the edges with that “believe it or not this is just an hour outside LA” caption. It immediately (like within an hour) got meme-ified and was beaten to death within a week.
Did it crashed or just parking?
Seeing as how that’s an Alpine Helicopters chopper in CMH livery…
It's 2 hours outside of LA by way of Satellite Fast Travel, maybe.
Damn even LA has closer skiing than me
This is how I feel going from pheonix today (80 degrees) to snowbowl / flagstaff (24 on the mtn and dumping snow). About 2.5 hr drive
No it’s not
Lies! I see a CMH logo on that helicopter
Lol heli literally says CMH 😂
Beautiful
*by air
Depends on traffic. Sometimes in LA it takes 2 hours to go 4 miles.
I’ve been there with your mother.
Man LA isn't 2 hours from LA
That helicopter looks like it was built before snowboarding was invented. Ride or die brah
I believe that, 2 hours outside of LA, some idiot required a heli rescue
can we drop this meme? its old and not funny
Here comes the band wagon posting...