Related: The ACMG Ski Guide Certificate: What Does It Take?

How Was Heli Skiing Born?

Heli-skiing was born from a simple concept: alpine access. Before ski touring was in vogue, folks wanted to ski powder in remote mountain ranges. That was impossible for a time, until helicopters came along. Originating in the early 1960s in British Columbia, Canada, heli-skiing was pioneered by Hans Gmoser, an Austrian-born mountain guide and one of the founding members of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG).

Gmoser initially used helicopters to support alpine climbing expeditions, but quickly realized the aircraft’s potential for skiing. In 1965, he officially launched the first commercial heli skiing operation under Canadian Mountain Holidays (CMH). The base was located in the Bugaboos, a rugged subrange of the Columbia Mountains. That year marks heli-skiing’s official beginning. We’ve come a long way from the days of heli-skiing in a dinky Bell 47G-2. Nowadays, heli-ski operations offer both small and large group packages, mostly using the A-Star and Bell 212/412 helicopters.

A Primer On Heli-Skiing

The sport involves using helicopters to reach a high point in the middle of the mountains, the landing. From its perch, the heli-ski guide unloads the guests and leads them down the run while managing a variety of hazards. Since heli-skiing terrain is typically uncontrolled – unlike the resort – the sport comes with its fair share of hazards ranging from avalanches, tree wells, crevasses, and much more. Sometimes, the guests are a hazard to themselves! After skiing the world’s best powder, the group arrives at a suitable spot, large enough for the helicopter to pick up the group. That’s called the pickup. Now, rinse and repeat a few more times with a backcountry lunch sprinkled in the mix and some beers at the end of the day.

Most heli-ski operators offer a range of packages. Let me touch upon the basics. Starting with the cheapest, the multi-group package offers a shared experience, whereas a single helicopter ferries 2-4 groups. This can either be in a small group format (4-5 guests) or a large group format (8-10 guests). Next up, the private package is the pinnacle of heli-skiing, where one group books the entire helicopter for the duration of their trip. That’s the red-carpet experience, and it comes at a hefty price.

From the guest’s perspective, heli-skiing is just fun and games. However, from the guide’s side, it’s a symphony of controlled chaos, requiring complex decision-making in the face of mind-numbing logistics, overwhelming hazards and unpredictable mountain weather. That’s what I love about it. While you’ll have an easy time convincing me to go heli skiing, the job itself is equally mentally and physically challenging as it is rewarding.

What’s My Day Like?

A heli-ski guide is essentially a very specific breed of backcountry leader. For the most part, we manage the group’s risk throughout the day while trying to achieve an objective – in this case, providing a world-class ski program out in the remote mountains. There’s also much more guest service than one would expect: demanding guests, scared guests, happy guests. We’ve seen it all. Within the guiding community, we sometimes jokingly refer to ourselves as “backcountry butlers” for a reason. Like any good dinner, our day is structured around the main course, the heli-skiing program, but there’s an appetizer (AM Meeting) and a dessert too (PM Meeting).

5:45 AM. To dust off the cobwebs from our heavy eyelids, the heli-ski guide starts the day with the AM meeting prep. Faced with an overwhelming amount of data ranging from local weather forecasts to information from neighbouring operations, I spend a good 45 minutes summarizing the key information into an easily digestible report to be presented at the AM meeting. Little did you know, the Canadian Avalanche Association (CAA) uses an information gathering platform, specifically designed for avalanche professionals, called InfoEx. It’s arguably our most precious resource to share avalanche activity, incidents and hazard ratings throughout Canada. You can even see avalanche trends spanning from the West Coast to the East as a Pacific storm travels across the country.

6:30 AM. It’s time for the AM meeting, which has two components: the AM avalanche forecast and the runlist. Starting with the former, all working guides sit down to establish an avalanche forecast based on the weather forecast for the day, avalanche observations from nearby operations and recreational backcountry reports. That’s where the meeting prep comes in handy, saving us time when parsing through the large dataset. We then identify key considerations:

• avalanche hazards (wind slabs, persistent slabs, etc.)
• natural hazards (crevasses, early-season conditions, etc.)
• human factors (team fatigue, powder fever, etc.)

The heli-ski guides will then agree on an avalanche danger rating for the day based on the North American Public Avalanche Danger Scale. In short, what we expect to be the size, distribution and likelihood of potential avalanches in our operational tenure.

The AM meeting’s second step is the runlist. It’s a painstaking process that involves coding all of our heli-ski runs throughout the tenure. Since we have approximately 350 individual runs, some runs will remain undiscussed. First, we target areas that we’ll likely explore on the various ski programs. Green means open for the day. Red, closed due to the avalanche hazard. Yellow, open if certain conditions are met. Black, unskiable due to other hazards. This logical process maximizes the program’s safety and narrows down our options once in the field. The runlist also solidifies one concept: run selection is a team decision, not an individual one, even if our groups are kilometres apart in the backcountry.

7:30 AM. After a draining meeting, we’re famished. It’s time to have breakfast at the hotel bar with the rest of the team and chat with the lead guides about their plans for the day. We then gear up in the locker room, pack our bags with the appropriate equipment and grab our skis, ready for a wonderful day of heli-skiing.

8:30 AM. We met the guests at the hotel lobby. We either board our vans or take a short jaunt to the heli pads after completing an in-depth gear check. Before we can head into the mountains, the heli-ski guide delivers a clear and concise backcountry safety orientation to instruct guests on avalanche safety and how to ski with a guide. Shortly after, the pilot delivers a helicopter briefing – what to do and not do around helicopters. The last thing we want is heads flying off left, right and center.

9:30 AM. Let’s go skiing. Depending on the program and weather conditions, the groups will ski anywhere from four to upwards of 15 runs on a given day. Sometimes, this can amount to more than 12,000 vertical meters! That’s more than Mt Everest! At midday, we’ll hunker down in a remote, scenic location for a quick five-star meal in the mountains. Catered sandwiches, tasty treats, charcuterie and hot soup is on the menu.

A heli-ski guide’s terrain selection is often based on the weather, hazards and guest considerations. On a stormy day with high avalanche hazard, we might be skiing through low-angle old-growth forests. On a bluebird powder day with expert skiers, we’ll opt for steep descents on rolling glaciers, providing breathtaking views and deep faceshots. Optimizing our terrain use based on those considerations is one of my favourite aspects of guiding. There’s also the huge smile across your guest’s face when you’ve delivered an unforgettable experience.

4:30 PM. After an epic day of helicopter-assisted powder shredding, we’ll have a beer at the bar with our respective guests. We’ll talk about everything and nothing at once: the day’s highlights, tomorrow’s aspirations, life’s challenges. Who knows! That’s a great time to check in with my guests and give them instructions for tomorrow’s program, if they’re booked in for several days.

5:30 PM. It’s time for the PM meeting. The guides leading programs discuss the day’s details: what has been skied, what challenges were encountered, and how we could improve our ski product. They’ll also reflect on the accuracy of our morning avalanche forecast and issue a PM avalanche danger assessment based on our field observations. Thankfully, the process is much shorter than the AM meeting – about 30 minutes. After a long day, it’s time to head home and do it all again in the morning.

What Goes Through My Mind When Heli-Ski Guiding?

Guiding a heli-ski trip is not a simple endeavour. So many thoughts are going through my mind in a given minute. That’s what I love about heli-skiing – it’s so stimulating. Starting with basic avalanche considerations, I focus on finding the best snow given our avalanche forecast, the current weather conditions and my group’s experience. It’s a matter of combining all those variables to maximize the ski product.

I then add the helicopter logistics to the equation. Can I safely fly to my target location? Poor visibility, icing and unpredictable winds can easily derail my plans. How familiar is my pilot with the ski tenure? A new pilot might shy away from a landing if the winds and visibility aren’t perfect, especially if he hasn’t landed there in the first place. How much fuel is left? The amount of fuel left onboard will determine our operating range. And, this gets even more complicated when several groups share one helicopter, as they often do!

While flying over terrain, I spend most of my time scrutinizing the run. I’m specifically looking for key landmarks that I can use to steer the group on the slope. Over time, I’ve developed a strange skill: being able to visualize what those landmarks would look like from the ground after spotting them from the air.

As I identify potential hazards, whether it be from avalanches, crevasses or tree wells, I contemplate my options and settle on the best way down the mountain, one that maximizes the group’s safety while offering great skiing (or snowboarding).

I also guide a run differently depending on whether my group is mostly skiers or snowboarders. Unfortunately, snowboards don’t deal well with long traverses or slight uphills. This dramatically changes my route selection throughout the day. I’ll even avoid specific runs that are poorly suited for snowboarders. Minute details make a big difference to the guest experience.

What Do I Love About Heli-Skiing

Heli-skiing isn’t rocket science, but it’s not easy either. As you can tell, I’m passionate about heli-skiing as much as I’m passionate about ski touring. The two disciplines occupy two non-competing spots in my heart, and I split my time equally between them each winter. This passion goes further than simply wanting to ski the best powder in the world. I love heli-skiing’s fast pace and complex logistics. It’s both stimulating and challenging. As it goes with ski touring, it’s also highly rewarding. There’s nothing better in this world than witnessing your guests’ excitement after dropping them on top of a knife-edge ridge or after skiing snorkel-deep powder – the deepest they’ve ever seen. I strive to deliver a one-of-a-kind experience every day, and I consider myself incredibly fortunate! Based on my 32 long years of existence, there’s nothing else like it.

The post The Heli-Ski Guide: What’s My Day Like? appeared first on The Uptrack.

Related: The ACMG Apprentice Ski Guide Exam: Trials and Tribulations

What’s The ACMG Ski Guide Certificate?

The certificate provided by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) is the ski-centric chapter of a mountain guide’s training, involving ski touring and mechanized skiing (helicopter and cat-assisted). The other two chapters are the Rock Guide and Alpine Guide. Some call it the PhD. of mountain travel. Completing all three chapters makes you a full mountain guide certified by the ACMG and IFMGA, the latter operating internationally. Being part of the IFMGA means you can work all over the world. As a victim of the outdoor sport’s skyrocketing popularity, the ski guide program is especially highly sought after. The committee lets in up to 25 students yearly out of more than 200 applicants. That’s 12.5% of applicants.

Given the tough competition, all students vastly surpass the minimum admission criteria – most apply several times over. It goes without saying: the bar is high… and for good measure. After all, ski guiding relies heavily on experience and good judgement, which takes time to cement. For years before my admittance, I wondered what got applicants ahead of others, as I was trying my best to stack my recreational and professional ski touring and guiding resume. It honestly was a source of anxiety, always questioning my strategy, wondering if it was the “right” way. Talking to my peers, most students have been eaten up by this burning feeling. Bear with me, I’ll go the long way around to answering this question. I promise I’ll point out some crucial lessons from which aspiring guides could benefit.

Two Distinct Paths: ACMG Or CSGA

Let’s start with the basics. Two associations certify ski guides in Canada: the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) and the Canadian Ski Guide Association (CSGA). While the ACMG offers a full mountain guide certification through the three chapters (ski, rock and alpine), the CSGA focuses exclusively on mechanized ski guiding, helicopter and cat skiing. They’ve recently started offering a touring module that isn’t as widely recognized by employers as the ACMG ticket.

So here are the questions you’ve got to ask yourself. Do you want to be a fully certified mountain guide and guide in other countries? Do you want the variety of ski touring and mechanized guiding? Do you want to operate as an independent guide (guide for hire)? If the answer is no to those questions, the CSGA program might be a better fit.

A Forgotten Past

I figured I might as well use my journey as a case study. I wasn’t born into a family of renowned mountain guides or in the supposed birthplace of ski mountaineering. Really, I was born in Montreal, a bustling city, among a family of well-educated, loving parents working busy white-collar jobs. I grew up skiing in Mont-Tremblant, QC, but not the kind of extreme skiing I now adore. My family wasn’t particularly outdoorsy, but thankfully took me out skiing every winter. In my late teens and early twenties, I started backpacking as a way to escape the stress factors found in the city. I absolutely loved the adventure as well as the solitude that came with the backcountry environment. In 2016, I graduated with honours in mechanical engineering. I was a hard-working student with a particular aptitude in mechanical design and 3D modelling. After working for three years in an office, I was done sitting in front of a computer, 50-60 hours per week. My vision worsened, my lower back ached, and my wrist was throbbing. I watched silently as my body slowly withered away. I craved a more hands-on job. I needed to make a big move.

After months of rumination, I decided to get back to my roots, skiing in big terrain. I googled “ACMG” and looked into the ski guide program. It sounded so appealing, but little did I know, it would take years of hard (fun) work to get there. I ended a healthy relationship, abandoned my stable engineering job and packed my bags. Destination: Revelstoke, BC. I was 25 by the time I was fully dedicated to the path. In my mind, I was late to the party, and I needed to fast-track the process. Boy, was I wrong! This was totally the wrong way to go about it.

Enjoy The Journey Safely

Here’s a quick reality check for aspirant guides: there is no shortcut to getting in. So you might as well enjoy the journey. Thinking I was pretty old for starting on this path, I ground away at high-paying night jobs (serving tables) that allowed me to complete the pre-requisite courses and tour almost every day to the point of burning out by March. I was so focused on the objective of getting into the program that I had a hard time finding enjoyment in skiing. I had a few too many close calls with fast-moving snow, I was buried to my neck by a size 2.5 avalanche, and I lost a few toenails due to frostbite. It came to a point where I would complete an epic, week-long traverse and compromise on my own and my partner’s safety to see it yet become another line in my already extensive ski touring log. In retrospect, I had it all wrong. In a perfect world without this self-imposed agenda where accolades matter, this should have been about exploring new terrain through which few have travelled before, pushing my limits, and just having a grand ol’ time in the wild, most importantly, without compromising on safety. Isn’t that what guiding is all about: safety, followed by client care and enjoyment? It’s a curious irony: I was so obsessed with grasping the apple that I abandoned all the principles by which it is governed.

After an initial failed application, a Hail Mary that didn’t have enough substance, my second go got me into the ACMG Ski Guide program. I got the news in July; I should have been thrilled. In reality, I was numb, and I let out a sigh of relief. I figured: at least now, I won’t put my life on the line to add an impressive trip to my resume. Listen up, folks, don’t be an Oli. Take your time, wait for the right conditions and enjoy the journey… safely.

So What Did It Take?

By the time I applied for the second time (four years since starting on the guide path), I had accumulated the following:

• 203 ski touring days in total
• 41 days of multi-day traverses in complex, glaciated terrain, either tent or hut-based
• Most of my experience was in the Columbia Mountains and in the Rockies. I had a single 5-day tent-based traverse on the Coast
• A season’s experience working as a tail guide in the heli-ski industry.
• One practicum week in a ski touring lodge and a few days shadowing avalanche safety courses
• A few seasons of resort “guiding” on a part-time basis in Revelstoke
• Way too much time spent building The Uptrack
• A life-altering passion for ski touring and skiing in general

I tried to ski tour as much as I could and complete 1-2 big traverses or camping excursions every winter. I remained ambitious in my goals, sometimes taking on an objective that was way beyond my capabilities at the moment. My risk tolerance was way beyond what it is today.

I’m just one example out of many variations. Talking with some of my peers, I found out ACMG students come from diverse backgrounds. It seems like everyone has a vastly different journey. Some have little to no work experience but have completed massive expeditions traversing large swaths of alpine land and entire mountain ranges on skis. Some have a shorter recreational ski touring resume, but have worked in the ski guiding industry for 10 years. The scale truly swings around both extremes.

How To Work In The Ski-Guiding Industry?

It’s a pretty broad question that has been asked many times over and for good reasons. There’s a surprising lack of information online. I might write a piece about that at some point. My advice: persistence is key. I relentlessly contacted guiding operations about potential job opportunities. The job will not magically come to you – you’ve got to get your name out there and know the right people. It’s intimidating, but it’s the only way. The guiding community is very much a word-of-mouth industry. Generally speaking, mechanized skiing operations employ more tail guides than their ski touring counterpart. Managers tend to hire in May-June for the following winter, but job opportunities can come up much later. It’s hard for operations to predict staffing until September-October when bookings are confirmed. I also found it easier to get a job once the employer figured out I had already applied for the ACMG Ski Guide certificate. I figured it shows I’ve got decent experience in the mountain, I share a hardcore passion for skiing, and I’m serious about the career path.

Ski touring operations tend to take on potential students for a week-long mentorship opportunity at their lodge. Folks call this a practicum. It’s an unpaid work exchange where you get to follow two guides and their group in glorious, untouched terrain in exchange for completing basic lodge tasks. While generally speaking, this is a great deal, some operations tend to abuse the willingness of aspiring guides to get free labour out of it, but I won’t get into the matter at this time.

Any Questions?

This is it for today. I truly hope this piece answered some of the questions about the ACMG Ski Guide certificate and shed some light on the thick veil that hides the topic. There’s always more to discuss, but that will have to do for now. Feel free to reach out through my Contact page or Instagram for additional questions. I’ll be more than happy to answer to the best of my knowledge.

See you on the slopes!

The post The ACMG Ski Guide Certificate: What Does It Take? appeared first on The Uptrack.