HELIGRASS IS AN INTIMATE HELISKIING AND ACOUSTIC MUSIC EXPERIENCE IN THE WILDS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA BROUGHT TO YOU IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LAST FRONTIER HELISKIING.
Join members and athletes of the Icelantic Skis team and Michael Kang of the String Cheese Incident, Lech Wierzynski of The California Honeydrops, Mark Morris of Rapid Grass, and Justin Konrad of Bowregard for the heli trip of your dreams.
Ripley creek lodge is located in Stewart BC. a rustic frontier town adjacent to the Alaska panhandle. Deep in the coast mountain range, the lodge is funky, the skiing is advanced, and the topography is breathtaking.
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Overview:
A once in a lifetime experience with 4 days of incredible heliskiing at Ripley Creek, BC and nightly acoustic music with some of the world's finest jam grass musicians.
Dates:
MARCH 23-29 2023
(4 nights lodging & 4 days of heliskiing. Full itinerary below)
Price:
$12,550 CAD OR (APPROXIMATELY)$9,850 USD
4 Day Heliski Tour Includes
- 4 days heliskiing at Last Frontier Heliskiing – Ripley Creek
- Guarantee of 17,500 vertical meters [57,500 vertical feet]
- Nightly acoustic music with some of the finest jam grass muscians [subject to change]
- Only 3 groups of 4 guests per A-Star helicopter
- Guide services (CSGA/ ACMG / UIAGM certified)
- Double occupancy accommodation at the Ripley Creek Inn and all meals included at the Bitter Creek Cafe
- Use of powder skis and poles [snowboards too if you ride a plank]
- Use of digital avalanche transceivers and ABS Airbag, probe and shovel
- Return ground transfers between Terrace and Ripley Creek In
Additional Costs
- Return air transfer Vancouver to Terrace
- Pre/Post heliski accommodation in Vancouver: from CAD $290/night and in Terrace: from CAD $240/night/room
- Extra vertical: CAD $185 per 1,000 vertical meters [$56 per 1,000 vertical feet]
LODGING INFORMATION
The historic mining town of Stewart, BC has a heart of gold, though its riches these days are in adventures of another kind. Opposite the Alaskan Panhandle, the landscape is dramatic: glaciers and craggy, snow-capped peaks at the head of the Portland Canal, a saltwater fjord that runs 114 km to the Pacific Ocean. The area’s bounty of rugged terrain makes up the southern part of our tenure, and fewer than 300 locals call it home including Last Frontier. Along the town’s main strip, a hodgepodge of funky heritage buildings were given new life as the Inn. There’s space for up to 24 guests, and with no two rooms alike, you may stay in a prospector’s house, an old clothing shop —or even a former brothel.
This heliskiing lodge is about the bare essentials; hot-tub and sauna for the muscles, and soulful food served across the street at the Bitter Creek Cafe, which conveniently doubles up as our Bar. During downtime, grab a bike and explore Stewart’s quirky back streets, check out the museum or cross the border to Alaska to get Hyderized (don’t ask, just do it).
>> QUESTIONS? Last Frontier Heliskiing and Icelantic will help with all logistical concerns!
>> EMAIL US to get in contact at experiences@icelanticskis.com
TRAVEL LOGISTICS & ITINERARY:
Thursday, March 23:
Arrive in Vancouver. Accommodation in Vancouver.
Friday, March 24:
YOU book Air Canada flight AC8437* departs Vancouver-YVR 08:20,
arrives Terrace-YXT 09:59. Last Frontier ground transfer departs
Terrace airport 10:45, arrives atthe Ripley Creek Inn at
approximately 15:30.
Saturday, March 25:
First day of heliskiing.
Tuesday, March 28:
Last day of skiing ends at 14:00 hours. Last Frontier ground transfer
departs 16:00, arrives Terrace at approximately 21:00. Overnight at
the ComfortInn.
Wednesday, March 29:
Your choice to book either outbound flight as best helps with your
international flight home.
- Air Canada flight AC8438* departs Terrace-YXT 06:00, arrives
Vancouver-YVR 07:34
- Westjetflight WS3118* departs Terrace-YXT 06:35, arrives
Vancouver-YVR 08:15
- Air Canada flight AC8440* departs Terrace-YXT 11:05, arrives
Vancouver-YVR 12:39
* Please note that Air Canada can change the flight numbers.
>> QUESTIONS? Last Frontier Heliskiing and Icelantic will help with all logistical concerns!
>> EMAIL US to get in contact at experiences@icelanticskis.com
ABOUT RIPLEY CREEK
Read all about Ripley Creek on the Last Frontier HeliSkiing website here.
At the end of Highway 37A, near the Alaskan border, lies one of the most remote heliskiing locations in North America – Stewart, B.C.
It’s a historic mining town that appears to have been forgotten by time. The houses are old, some even abandoned, remnants of former boom times. Prior to World War I, the town’s population was more than 10,000 people.
Nestled at the end of the Portland Canal, rugged peaks and glacier tongues make up Ripley Creek’s backdrop. There’s space for up to 24 guests, and with no two rooms alike, there’s the option to stay in a prospector’s house, an old clothing shop or even a former brothel.
Even if you have stayed at Ripley Creek several times, each visit is a new adventure. The lodge is at the southern end of our tenure – a tenure that is roughly four times the size of Hong Kong. The area is so vast, we’re still exploring it. If you’re lucky, you might even get a first descent and ripe a line never skied before.
Since we use small helicopters and have groups of just four, plus a guide, the ski options are plentiful. For example, we can ski steep narrow forested couloirs, while most other heliskiing operators, that have groups of up to 11 guests, cannot.
With smaller groups comes freedom.
Some of the heliski runs at Ripley Creek tend to be steeper and longer than Bell 2’s. If conditions are right, guests may get to heliski slopes that are up to 2,000 metres in elevation – that’s two kilometers of vertical – which is unheard of for most heliski operations.
It’s common to ski from mountain tops to valley bottoms via long glacier runs peeling off massive icefields. Skiers get to pass between trees that are as big as the pillars from the Parthenon temple.
Since Ripley Creek’s terrain is generally more aggressive, it’s not well suited to intermediate skiers and snowboarders. It’s for the strongest, keenest and most adventurous guests.
As a result, the average weekly vertical skied is almost 45,700 meters [150,000 feet], which is 8 times the height of Mount Everest. It’s also on average, 2,700 meters [9,000 feet] more than Bell 2 Lodge.
Stewart is dominated by the rugged Coast Mountains, which are draped in old-growth rainforest. When you step out of the helicopter at the top of a run, the view is an endless sea of ice and peaks, with the distant emerald green Pacific Ocean twinkling.
Here are a handful of questions and answers, many from Last Frontier Heliskiing directly. For more FAQs and general information, head to their website.
How good do I have to be to go heliskiing or heliboarding?
Heli skiing and heli boarding is not for novices — there we said it! As much as we’d like to invite everyone to join us, we want to ensure all of our guests enjoy their experience. You don’t need to be pro, but you do need to be proficient. Whether you ski or ride, you should feel comfortable in a helicopter and be able to confidently navigate the challenges of varied terrain and snow conditions. From chest-deep powder to wind-whipped crust, wide-open alpine to steep and narrow trees, we encounter it all in our backcountry. Skiers should be able to make strong and controlled parallel turns with confidence and, if the situation calls for it, you can side slip, step up sideways, traverse and make kick turns. Snowboarders need to have balanced pressure and edging skills. Even if you don’t have a ton of powder experience, you need to be able to maintain control in backcountry conditions.
How fit do I need to be?
The better physical shape you are in, the more you will be able to ski and ride and the more fun you will ultimately have. We have never heard someone returning home after their heli trip saying, “You know, it was a great trip, but I was fit.”
What do I need to bring?
See the checklist via the LFH trip preparation section here.
