Heli skiing in Europe

Although heli skiing is banned in France, her neighbours Switzerland and Italy both have established heli ski operations which are quick and easy to reach from most European cities. While the heli skiing in the Alps is excellent in its own way, it is a totally different experience to visiting a 'destination heli ski lodge' in the Canadian wilderness. For a start, you will be based in or near a major ski resort - which obviously has its advantages such as access to good resort skiing or riding if the weather is too poor to fly - not an option if you are at a remote heli ski lodge in Canada. Plus, there is plenty of choice when it comes to bars, restaurants and après ski.

When it comes to the ski experience itself you cannot expect the average snow conditions in the Alps to even compare to those in British Columbia or Alaska, where the norm is an abundance of deep, dry powder snow. You also can expect to do a fraction of the number of runs here - say two or maybe three per day compared to ten to twelve in Canada. However, they do tend to be significantly longer.

If we look a little further north to Iceland and Sweden there are some thrilling experiences to be had such as skiing or riding under the midnight sun with ocean views. Here the experience falls somewhere in between the Canadian and European ones.

For those of us based in or close to Europe, the major advantages to heli skiing here are the short journey times, the ability to experience heli skiing as a short break and to combine it with skiing at a world class resort.