Untracked powder skinng in Jackson Hole Wyoming

Is Heli-Skiing Extreme?

If visions of 2,000 vertical feet in a couloir 60-degrees steep and no wider than the corridor in an elementary school are your idea of heli-skiing, then please don't come to Jackson Hole. You might find that on the menu in Alaska, but it is not the normal day offered by High Mountain Heli-Skiing.

Sure, we have skied couloirs of 60-degrees, some narrower than the hallway, but that is not what heli-skiing is all about. At High Mountain Heli-Skiing we like to offer you the best powder skiing experience possible. We like to challenge our guests as much as conditions and individual abilities allow.

Heli-skiing is about powder. It's not about sideslipping down a chute and sloughing all the snow away so the guy behind you has to ski the bone underneath. Powder skiing is about smooth, untracked slopes, on an angle that will support a skier without avalanching "the goods" to the bottom of the hill.

Heli-Skiing in the backcountry is not a Disneyland ride (although some customers have said it is better!); you don't just get your skis on and go hurtling down the first slope you see. Heli-skiing is more like mountaineering, having your guide take you (as a small group) safely throughout the mountains, avoiding the hazards and finding the best snow. We look out for each other; we test the slopes to see if they are O.K. to ski first. We use good judgement, skiing as steep a terrain as the current snowpack conditions or the group's ability will allow. It is a team experience being in the mountains together, not a selfish quest to find the ultimate run of steep and deep.

Travelling in the mountains is like running a Class V river; you need lots of experience to do it by yourself (otherwise you go with a guide, or be forever known as a fool). And you always give Mother Nature the respect she deserves. The intuition to know what slopes are safe to ski on any given day comes with experience, and your guide will tell you which slopes are good today.

Heli-skiing is also a day in the mountains, away from the urban-like experience of a ski area. It is pure powder skiing at its finest -- tranquil, pristine, and luxurious. We take a pace as fast or as slow as you like, we have lunch deep in the mountains far from the nearest road, and we contemplate how lucky we are to be able to experience all this in a single day, only because of our unique mode of transportation.

At High Mountain Heli-Skiing we are not running an extreme skiing contest. We are not here to make the next TGR movie featuring you and your friends. We are here to provide you with as much fun as you're ever going to have with your ski boots on, and cold snow up to your crotch.