Please forgive me for posting on this site if this is not of interest, but we are a group of folks from all over the U.S., including the DC area, although I happen to live in Colorado. We are trying to get the word out to a couple more like minded people who might want to join our annual trip, as we have had a couple of cancellations due to the tough economy.

We are an evolving/revolving group of folks from the ages of about 45 to 65 who are mostly old ski bums or just long time skiers who love our pow. We hail from different parts of the country, and in some years from Europe as well. Some guys come every year, others come every second year or so. We are all solid skiers with plenty of heli and backcountry experience who get together to enjoy a week of great skiing, comradery, and general carrying on.


Most of us are former CMH, Weigele or Selkirk Tangiers customers who appreciate the new style of the smaller boutique operation that we have found at Northern Escape Heliskiing. The primary differences are that because you can fly through Vancouver to Terrace and then have only a 20 minute drive to the lodge that we actually get a full 7 days at the lodge and a full 7 days of potential skiing, which, given the storm track in the area, historically leads to about 5 full days of skiing. We arrive on Friday night (Jan 30) and leave Friday night one week later. The snow is another difference, as the annual snowfall in the area is over 1000 inches/year, whereas the Bugaboos and Selkirks average more like 500". Also, we ski out of a two year old Koala helicopter which holds a guide and 6 skiers.


The lodge is informal but the food is outstanding; (we also have a deal with the owner whereby we order in all of our own wine for the week and pay $12/bottle for corkage, so those of us that want it we can have a much better product), the lodge is owner operated by John Forrest, who is in his early 40's and has been a full guide (certified both European and Canadian) for over 20 years, and who also is the president of Helicat Canada, the Canadian trade organization. The lodge itself is at 450 feet above sea level along the Skeena river about 90 miles east of the Pacific port of Prince Rupert, southeast of Juneau AK. It is 2 hours by Air Canada from Vancouver. John's staff are superb and highly skilled, and his safety record is also excellent.


The package sells for $8900 if you go on your own. We have supported John since he started his business 5 years ago, and have a discount that is grandfathered in; we pay $7500 cdn per person and for every 6 skiers (three groups of 6 make our full group, but the ski groups mix it up each day as we like) John gives us one half free seat so that when we hit 18 skiers we actually are discounted to $6975 cdn per skier (with the exchange rate as good as it is...that equals $5300 -$5500 US, UNREAL!). Rather than any of us getting a free seat for organizing the group, we have split the benefit among the group as a per person discount. This includes skis, poles, safety equipment, room, board yada, yada... extras are massages, extra vertical if you want it, alcohol, as well as plane fare to and from.


We have two spots for the discriminating middle aged skier, who like to ski deep pow, eat and party. This is an incredible opportunity.


Contact us back through this e-mail with your phone number and name. We will call you to answer any questions...You will book through the Heli-ski operation under our group name.


Heli web site: [url=Http://northernescapeheliskiiing.ca/]Http://northernescapeheliskiiing.ca/[/url]