Northern Escape Heli Skiing is amazing! In my opinion, John Forrest has one of the best heliboarding operations in North America that is blessed with some of the best terrain on our planet for snowboard movie filmmaking! Also, the Koala helis are the cherry on top of the ultimate heli shredding experience!!! A must for all hardcore backcountry riders!
- Travis Robb, Standard Films
I like heliskiing.
- Dave Sagan, Alberta, Seasons Pass Holder
"This place is one of the best heli operations that I have ever seen! There are lots of different lines to rip...big lines...small lines...and huge glacier descents. Northern Escape has everything that a heli operation needs and the snow and terrain is amazing."
- Hugo Harrison, Whistler, Professional Skier
If you've heliskied before, Northern Escape is probably what you actually were looking for; whether or not you think you've found "ski nirvana", this operation will get you closer. If you've never heli skied, don't bother going with another operation just because they're more established; you'll probably end up in a large group, sharing a large helicopter with other large groups, enduring morning departures similar to a M.A.S.H. episode. At Northern Escape, the "machine" is state-of-the-art, the guides are among the best, the terrain is vast and varied, and the snow is tremendous. Back at the ranch, you'll be well fed and, if you like, well massaged. If the weather keeps you down, there's even a nice, level pool table and eagle TV out the window; even the dogs are cool...
- Chuck Glaser, Massachusetts, Classic Package Guest
Northern Escape Heli is the premier heliskiing experience in BC. It's quick and easy to get there, the terrain is huge and the NEH Staff is incredible. Of all the Heli operations I've been to in North America the Northern Escape Heli crew does the best job. As a snowboarder it's difficult to find a heli operation that understands our needs, our lines and our taste in terrain. The small groups combined with endless terrain and the powerful Koala helicopters are a recipe for an amazing riding experience. Next year will be 5 years in a row!!! Can't wait!
- Todd Roberts, ZJ Boarding House, Santa Monica, CA USA
When I go heliskiing, it's about quality, not necessarily quantity. In other words, I'm looking to get ass deep in blower pow, no matter what it takes. However, when you can combine the two, and not only get the shit, but also a lot of it, then you've basically entered skiers Heaven. Well, thats what happened to our group last February at Northern Escape Heli Skiing. We skied roughly 130,000 vertical feet of absolute cold smoke, with expert guiding, down some of the most killer lines of our lives. For example, there's a line, I believe in Wonderland, that begins in the alpine, and descends 4400 vertical feet, that gets gradually steeper and steeper as you near tree line. Combine this with a lightening fast ship like the Italian made Koala, and you have the makings of a "Tantric" ski day. We happened to ski about 45,000 vertical feet that particular day, which easily qualified as one of my lifetime top five. Of course it didn't end there for us. Apres ski included Four Seasons Hotel like pampering and fabulous food that would have satisfied any Roman. We happened to stay at Treston Lodge, which is situated on one of the most spectacular lake settings you've ever laid eyes on. How can you beat that?
- Derek Benham, California, Private Guest (2008)
NEH gets it. Snow and plenty of it, the best food I have experienced at any heli or cat lodge, stellar staff, an excellent heli crew, and a core group of guides who know how to find the goods even as storm after storm roar through the Coast Range dropping immense volumes of frosted flakes. Status seekers needn't apply, no one-piece powder suits are awarded here. Life is pretty simple here: 18 skiers in a very comfortable lodge, six skiers to a group.
Okay, here is the drill: Wake up - eat great breakfast - boot up - load into heliski freshies all day with break for most excellent picnic in the best lunchroom in the universe - return to lodge - eat - drink and be merry - sleep soundly. Repeat 6 more times.
The skiing: how about Superbowl Sunday 2005 when four of us along with John Forrest (managing owner and ski guide) christening 8 or 9 runs that had never been skied before, and arguing about what to name each one at the bottom of each run? "I think we need to ski that one again in order to figure out the best name". Oh, and the snow... knee deep, creamy, soft and perfectly consistent. On our final day this past winter of 2008 when we returned to the alpine peaks after great skiing for 5 days at lower elevations (can you say great trees?) while the snow pounded. 1.5 meters of fluff later we skied some of the deepest and lightest snow that I had skied in over ten years, and I live and ski in Colorado! Ski penetration of at least two feet made our legs disappear at our thighs as we literally floated through face shot after face shot under bluebird skies. It simply does not get any better than that, or if it does I sure have never experienced it anywhere else in BC.
As I think about it, why am I writing this? Forget what I just said and go somewhere else. The skiing sucks, the beer is warm, the food is cold, the lodge is rat-infested, the staff is rude and lazy, it never snows and I can assure you the weather will suck, and the helicopter is always broken down. Me and the boys will suffer through it while you go somewhere else. John, can we book an extra week once we have convinced the rest of the world not to ski with you?
Steve Langer, Denver, Colorado, Classic Package Guest
The operation is called Northern Escape. It's a small, soulful, boutique; Canadian owned and operated, which is important because it has a wonderful laid back flavour. But don't let that laid-backness fool you; when the Pow is on, the NEH boys know where to hit it hard: like Poison Apple to Sleeping Beauty: which is about 5000 vertical ft of "Climax" like steepness and quite frankly, one of the finest, if not the finest runs I've had in my, shall I admit to it, ok, 45 years of skiing.
Needless to say, the NEH tenure is sensational: the third largest in BC, most of which has yet to be skied and named, so there's a lot of fun in exploring new terrain and naming it. Our guides are terrific, and with all due respect, I've found that Canadian ski guides in general make the US guides look like amateurs. These guys train literally for years, as well as apprentice before they’re awarded their licenses. It's a program derived from the Swiss, and it shows in their thoroughness. They don't take chances and are safe, safe, safe, which makes my wife happy. Typically, our week consists of six to seven days of skiing (one can expect at least one down day due to weather), with total vertical ranging between 180,000 to 250,000 ft, 90% of which is the kind of snow that if you get one turn of it in a resort, you'd think you'd had a powder day (I know you know what I'm talking about).
Our digs are super comfy, clean, private, and located on a lake with a view of the Skeena Mountains that will take your breath away. NEH provides us with our own chef who cooks three meals a day for us from scratch, and I mean homemade scratch daddy baby, like the homespun granola for breakfast that comes out of the oven piping hot. In other words, we're waited on hand and foot, literally, with our own in house wait-staff and masseuse. If you get bored with the skiing, which is unlikely, you can go fly fish right off the front porch in one of the world's most notable steelhead holes. Simply put: this is the ultimate skiing experience. My only warning is that once you get the taste of Private POW, you'll have a mean little monkey on your back to contend with.
-Derek Benham, California, Private Guest (2006, 2007)
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