Silvertip Lodge Heli Skiing is the operation that delivers in all conditions. From SKIER Magazine 23.1
The Heli-ski dream made popular by ski movies goes a little something like this – Deep, untracked powder, steep lines, cliff drops, jumps, tons of variety in terrain and crushing huge vertical all day, every day. Silvertip Lodge Heli Skiing is THE place to live out your heli-ski dream, but in our case there was something standing our way.
On March 13th, 2024 the SBC SKIER media team arrived at the Silvertip Heli-Ski Lodge, a beautiful double A-frame cabin tucked into the far corner of Quesnel Lake, in Northern British Columbia. The Lodge nests on the doorstep of the West Cariboo Mountain Range, making it one of the most remote lodges in North America. Although isolated, our travel to the lodge was painless. We took a very conveniently organized charter aircraft from the airport in Vancouver direct to William’s Lake, BC and then jumped in the Silvertip Helicopter for the final 45-minute journey over the depths of Quesnel Lake.
Orientation Day
During orientation, we were excited about the week ahead. Our first day would be good but the four days after that looked rather bleak. Avalanche Canada forecasted the avalanche danger rating in this area at “Extreme.” The cause of this extreme danger rating was twofold. A rain event in early February caused an unstable rain crust buried by a meter of hard snow that remained skier trigger-able, below tree line weeks after the main cycle. Secondly, temperatures were forecasted to push nine or ten degrees daily, causing a second big avalanche cycle in the alpine. What Dale McKnight, the lead guide at Silvertip would call a “High probability, high volume situation.” There were even whispers that we may not be able to ski. Is this trip about to be a total bust?
“A high probability, high volume situation.” – Lead guide, Dale McKnight
A Tricky Situation
Dale and the guide team were in a serious pickle. As much as guides want to show their guests the time of their lives, their priority is always safety. To avoid volatility in the snowpack and skirt potential fatal avalanches, we stuck to the low-angle slopes and circumvented any areas with overhead hazards. Although these conditions are not the classic Heli-ski dream, initial disappointment was quickly replaced with stoke. Instead of skiing powder all day we skied a melt-freeze snow that was heating up throughout the day and turning to what my Swiss Uncle calls “The Butter”, also known as “Corn snow.” This is a special kind of snow that is only possible in hot sunny weather and is undoubtedly the second-best snow condition behind the pow-pow.
“Although these conditions are not what most guests dream of, being able to rage around at high speed through the terrain, racking up huge vertical and mileage, is really my favourite condition.” Lead guide Dale McKingh
Go With the Flow
By changing the mindset of the trip from powder hunting to spring hot-laps, trading snorkels for sunscreen, we skied all over the 1440 km-squared Silvertip tenure, down massive high-alpine glaciers, through feature-rich terrain loaded with interesting snow formations, berms, banks, and jumps. Balancing the safety factor with the fun factor, we ended up skiing an astonishing 50 runs and 70,000 feet of vertical in 4 days.
Every day was perfect bluebird skies, warm and sunny. We were spring heli-skiing in t-shirts all day and coming home to a beautiful lodge, friendly staff, and delicious gourmet meals. Although we may not have had the classic heli-ski dream experience, we played the hand we were dealt and had an absolute blast doing it.
