Words by Julian Carr Got my first, 1st descent of my life. At the newest tenure heli operation in British Columbia, Kingfisher Heliskiing, on a heli-assit touring assignment with Backcountry Magazine, we stayed in a cabin in the backwoods you had to snowmobile to, we hopped in the heli each morning at a little farm off the dirt road middle of nowhere Canada, near Cherryville, BC, next thing you know our guide is pointing out a row of these chutes that had never been skied...

I arrived to South America looking at one of the lowest snow depths in the Andes in a decade. And to start the trip off, the helicopter aspect was lined up 2nd day in the country. My summer legs had...