March 2020 Heli Skiing Conditions Report & Photo Update

The first week of March extended the incredible snow conditions we witnessed throughout February with over 100cm [39″] of fresh powder. Our guests racked up over 48,500 vertical meters [159,000ft] of skiing at Bell 2 Lodge. Several days of high pressure gave us some excellent opportunities to sample high alpine terrain in perfect snow conditions. When the storms re-appeared, we found some of the best tree skiing we’ve had in years at both Bell 2 Lodge and Ripley Creek.

Deep Snowpack Creates Epic Heli Skiing Conditions

The snowbase crested 500cm [196″] at the beginning of the month. Our snow base measurements are captured at just below treeline – around 1,000 meters in elevation. It’s not a stretch to imagine our high alpine snowpack to exceed 7 meters [275″]. This has translated into unprecedented opportunities to ski lines that have rarely been skied – both up high and down low in the trees. The coverage is just amazing and is making for the best heli skiing conditions we’ve had since 2012.

Massive Vertical Skied @ Bell 2 Loge & Ripley Creek

Moving into the second week of March, the conditions got even better. For many of our long time repeat guests, it was the best heli skiing week they have ever experienced. The combination of a huge snowbase, early-week bluebird conditions and 20+cm snow reset made for all-time conditions. At Ripley Creek some of our longest runs that stretch over 2,000 vertical meters [6,500ft] were devoured at an incredible pace. Some of our guests skied over 73,000 vertical meters [240,000 ft] during the week. At Bell 2 Lodge the runs were skiing extra long – deep down into valley bottoms in places where we rarely venture.

An Early End to our 2020 Heli Skiing Season Due to COVID-19

As we moved into the third week of March, the skies cleared as a ridge of high-pressure established itself. It was only the second week of the season where blue skies hung around for more than two days in a row. Guests skied great snow under blue skies in some of our biggest terrain of the season.

Unfortunately with the global spread of COVID-19, we had to quickly mobilize to wind down operations. Our last guests of the season departed on March 18, 2020. We are very sad for those that did not get the chance to ski with us this winter and have worked hard to re-book your experience for next winter. Our thoughts are with all of those who have been directly affected by this illness and we hope you, your friends, family and colleagues stay well.

For a recap of weekly heli skiing conditions, please visit our snow reporting portal.

For those interested in skiing with us in 2021, we recognize the difficulty in making a decision now. As such, we have relaxed our booking conditions and all payments made until 31-May are fully refundable until 01-Sep, no questions asked.

Please get in touch via our trip builder for details or give us a call at 1-888-655-5566 in North America or 1-250-558-7980 elsewhere.

And if you haven’t seen it, here is our 2020 Season Recap Slideshow:

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