After a fun night spent in a cozy mountain hotel in the Elbrus region, my clients hardly crawl into the helicopter, stacking skis and snowboards in a heap on the floor in the center of the cabin and, sluggishly leaning back on the cold walls of the fuselage, are actively fighting sleep, in a group resembling herring from a tin can with bulging eyes. Having loaded everyone, the First Pilot utters the magic: "The key to start ..." Starting the propellers and putting on the on-board headphones so as not to hear unnecessary noise, he cuts the theme song from the movie "Mission Impossible" to the full power of a hoarse tape recorder. The helicopter is filled with the roar of the engine, the rhythm of the music and the frenzied gleam of reviving eyes ... It has begun! ...
The board makes a small turn, causing us involuntary "nausea" and, rushing upward, goes to the place of the first landing. Those who have the strength and curiosity try to take pictures of the surrounding mountains through the open windows. From above, from a bird's eye view, the familiar peaks are seen somehow in a special way. We are already more than 1000 meters in height, and many peaks are still higher than us ...
After 10-15 minutes of flight, after another bend, which pressed all of us into the seats of the helicopter, a snowy platform appears in the windows through the crazy white mess - the landing point. The co-pilot opens
helicopter door. A meter to the ground, maximum - one and a half ... Over the top of the music, the salon is filled with the roar of turbines, wind, snow and cold. Then life rushes with a frantic rhythm of a cycle of ten to fifteen seconds ... Grabbing my snowboard with one hand and holding the camera in the other, I jump out first, taking a step into nowhere. After a moment of flight, I cut myself up to my waist in fluffy soft snow, crawl away in it a few meters from the helicopter, leaving a deep trench behind me, tear off my hat and glasses, for a moment ahead of another gust of hurricane wind in this, sit down on a snowboard so that it is not carried away, I direct the camera lens towards the helicopter hovering over the snowy slope, vaguely catching its outline in the viewfinder and, closing my eyes from severe pain (the snow literally tears the pupils out of their sockets, not to mention the clients' contact lenses), to the sounds of still
sounding music, drowning in the roar of the engine and wind, numb hands - like a machine gun trigger during a frontal attack, I press the camera shutter button for continuous shooting - 5 frames per second ...
In a moment, the rotorcraft, like a huge dragonfly or more romantic - a butterfly - soars up to the blue sky and, making a turn, is lost in the endless white expanses of the surrounding mountains. Eardrums, accustomed to rumble, enjoy the silence of the world around them. Snow from sharp bayonets, biting into the face, turns into light fluff, gently caressing the lips of a beautiful client girl, who here next to me, along with the rest of the group, begins to come to life, raising her head, somehow smiling in a special way with a snow-white smile of causeless happiness ...
Somewhere far away in the blue sky, flying away like “Madame Butterfly”, our helicopter blushes, leaving for a landing down the gorge to meet us again. The air is clear and clean, the insanely bright sun warms our faces with warmth. In the yard, March is the best season for heli-skiing for these places.
The people get up, shake themselves off, still having difficulty imagining where this has taken us. Elbrus, usually suppressing with its bulk, is in the distance. We are standing on a tiny area of a snow ridge. Our Russia leaves in one direction, Georgia breaks off in the other. Clearing the snow from skis and snowboards, we snap into the bindings and, feeling like real Macho, we begin our first descent along the endless virgin snow prairie, burning with millions of snowflakes, reflecting the Sun in itself ...
Descent.
I am the last, closing guide in the group. Before me is the endless northern circus, filled to capacity with fresh fluffy snow. Already far below, I see the first guide opening the track. He rushes on the board in front of the main group, whose tail - three "dripping" skiers - I still have to wait with some despondency. After a moment of their confusion, I guide my snowboard down the slope, drowning in white fluff, more than half a meter deep. Another moment and with my whole body I feel this frantic speed, air resistance, the snowy "comet's tail" behind me, mixed with the amazing feeling of rolling on pristine pure white snow.
Immediately I clearly see the advantage of my board, on which, in addition to the inscription “Pro”, there is a photo of Elbrus (against the background of which this is all happening), in front of alpine skiing while skiing in such deep virgin soil. Two skiers in front of me, like driven mustangs on the prairie, drenched in sweat and obscenities, work 100%, trying to cope with the increasing steepness of the slope and the depth of fresh snow. At one fine moment, one of them does not succeed and he, as if roped by an invisible cowboy, flies head over heels over his head, doing somersaults, and cuts himself on the floor of his body in the snow, dissolving in a sea of snow splashes. One of his skis comes unfastened and hides in white silence, playing hide and seek with him. Observing all this during the passage of my next smooth arc, I understand that it is not necessary to leave the client alone. I make a turn, directing the board perpendicular to my movement and, raising probably half a ton of fluffy snow into the sky, I stop about ten meters from him to dig out his ski and continue the descent.
A shovel is a faithful companion of a heli-skiing guide in case of avalanches and other evil spirits. Having dug more than one cubic meter of snow around, we manage to find a hidden ski, dress it with great difficulty, drowning in this fluffy mess surrounding us and continue the interrupted flight.
Behind the next snowy ledge, the bottom of the gorge suddenly opens and our helicopter plopped down on the snow with its belly. The whole group is already around him - they are waiting for us. From fatigue, heights and happiness, the heart is beating furiously somewhere in the throat - and it will jump out. A couple of sips of hot tea (or vodka - of choice) soothes him. The first pilot - our Chief Maestro, sitting in the cockpit in his battered leather chair, taps his index finger on his watch, as if telling us: “Tsigil, Tsigil! Ay lu-li !!! " And everything continues in a new way! It sounds magical: "The key to start ..." The noise of the screws, the chords from "Mission Impossible". We soar up (again “nausea” from overload in a bend) and after 10-15 minutes we land on a new tiny patch to again experience this amazing feeling of freedom, speed and flight on this endless untouched snow prairie surrounded by majestic mountain peaks.
So doing 5-7 runs a day for 1-2 or even 5-6 days, you can roll out hundreds of kilometers of virgin snow and, not finding the right words, at the end just whisper: “Yes! Heli-skiing is just super! ”
What is it - heli-skiing? A buzzword that came to us from the west and captured the rich minds of progressive skiers and snowboarders.
It's just fun skiing or boarding in the mountains using a helicopter to drop off to the next launch site. This is 30-50 km outside the piste slopes every day, with an altitude difference for each descent of more than 1000 meters.
This is the beauty of the mountains from a bird's eye view.
This is a virgin slope, painted only by you and your group. This is a game of "hide and seek" with avalanches, the fear of falling into them and the science of defeating them.
This is the outfit of knights, starting with newfangled skis or boards and ending with helmets and special protection for almost the whole body - a direct analogue of knightly helmets and armor.
This is a girl in a bathing suit (or without), sunbathing at the helicopter landing point, while you walked a couple of meters away to “take a piss” and flew away with a snow cornice twenty meters down.
Stuck upside down in the snow, you believe and wait for the guide to come and get you out of here.
And while he is walking towards you, you remember - what kind of breasts did that girl have?
Where to ride?
It so happens in the world that there are not so many places where you can ski using a helicopter. They can easily fit on the fingers of one or a maximum of two hands. Well, of course this is Alaska - the land of extreme, in the same place in America, but much to the south, Chile - the Andes. Moving across the ocean, one should name New Zealand, and then - our vast Motherland (in its former and current borders) - Tien Shan (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan), ghostly Kamchatka - the land of volcanoes, and, of course, the Caucasus, which is close to all of us - an area Elbrus, Dombay, Krasnaya Polyana. And if in the west it is a sport of units - mainly because of small models of helicopters that take 4-5 people on board, then in our country it is a massive phenomenon, with the use of Mi-8 and MTV helicopters, which can simultaneously accommodate a “crowd” of up to 20 -this person.
Don't let yourself die!
However, in the “Danish Kingdom” heli-skiing is not so simple and cloudless.
There is one obvious real threat to your life, like the sword of Damocles hanging over you all the time when you carelessly (almost like in the fairy tale "Three Little Pigs") drive along the white virgin soil of snow slopes and wallow in its soft lace. The name of this danger is Avalanches. The theory of avalanches and their descriptions occupy many volumes of clever books. However, no matter how absurd it sounds, many authors of these books themselves were mercilessly buried by avalanches. However, there are several rules that in practice make it much easier, and sometimes just save the life of careless “Dummies” and cool “Pros”.
Rule one: there are avalanches! They cannot but be!
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Yusengi. Driving past the nameless giants |
Rule two: Avalanches can kill you!
Rule three: It is better to return five times than not to return once.
Rule four: Learn to listen! There are people who know about avalanches much more than you do.
And the last Golden Rule: Don't let yourself die!
To perform the latter, it is better to buy yourself an avalanche sensor (a special device for $ 150-250 for a signal and search in an avalanche, which must be mastered (!), That is, learn how to use it for its intended purpose). No need to go off-piste alone and without an avalanche shovel and probe - again, to search for and dig in an avalanche. You should know that yelling from under the snow is useless - the sound perfectly gets from the air into the snow (that is, the one caught in an avalanche hears you), but does not pass back - from under the snow into the air. It’s not bad at least once to hear a theory about "voltage loops" - places where an avalanche is most likely to come off. And, of course, you should see with your own eyes the so-called “deep frost”, having dug a hole in the snow with your own hands, one and a half meter deep. “Deep rime” is a kind of “Second Self” - the Alter Ego of any avalanche board. In a nutshell, it is frozen recrystallized loose snow (and sometimes just emptiness) in the depth of the snow cover, which from above seems monolithic, homogeneous and so attractive for skiing, but in fact forms an avalanche snowboard. The upper layer breaks down in the "stress circuit" and a huge white mass weighing tens, hundreds, and even thousands of tons, along this frost, as if with good lubrication, begins its deadly run.
Other hazards.
In addition to avalanches, there is a whole bunch of factors, the presence (or absence) of which is very often incompatible with life.
First, it is, of course, the serviceability of the helicopter and the skill of the pilot. The pilot map of flights in the mountains in its richness and information content, perhaps, significantly exceeds the map of military operations of major battles, for example, at Waterloo on Napoleon's table. You can find everything here! Landing sites and their heights, approach directions, expected and maximum wind force and the height of the snow column lifted by the propeller during landing, flight routes through gorges, places of guaranteed landings with engine shutdown, snow depth and the presence of stones in these places. And the main thing is the remarks. “Here, in May of such and such a year, we almost didn’t e ..” (did not fall), “there in April of another year - we were almost ...” (did not overturn). There are very few pilots flying in the mountains; most of them were numbered “to the Face of the Saints” during their lifetime.
In addition, in the mountains on heli-skiing there are individual ice cracks tens of meters deep. Open cracks or whole icefalls are simple and understandable - they are bypassed by the side in advance. Closed cracks become open only if someone falls through them - and this is their main deceit. In addition to cracks, there are also stones, crust, ice, falling on which is fraught with fractures - it is not for nothing that a set of ski and snowboard protection covers almost the entire body with shock-resistant plastic, from the head and back to the limbs.
Race with death.
Shots of skiing and boarding with a helicopter drop on steep avalanche snow slopes have been filmed and continue to be filmed for several decades now, exciting the brains of even those who have been initiated into the skill of the “Guru”.
Sometimes each unique slope has its own name and the date of the first (and possibly the only) descent. This is especially popular in Alaska, where, due to climatic features, avalanche snowboards are less typical, and snow fluff, the so-called powder, prevails.
A huge, avalanche-prone snow wall of extreme steepness begins to come to life with avalanches at the very first arc at the very beginning of the descent of a brave ("frostbitten") rider, who apparently did not have time to amass sufficient reasons for himself to remain in this world and wants to look into the Other World at least from the corner of his eye ...
As the descent continues, each new arc creates a new avalanche and rolling from simple fun turns into tango with death. Having broken avalanches, the main task of the rider is to get away from them at speed, overtake, skip, maneuver, and sometimes deliberately disrupt the avalanche in front of him, making a sharp turn on a potential avalanche "stress contour" to clear the slope of its presence. It all looks in one breath. The layout is simple! Those who are destined to reach the end of the descent in the frame become living Legends ... Those who fail to do so also become legends, but not always alive (sometimes even bodies are not found), but this already remains behind the scenes.
Do you know that…
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Yusengi. The reverse side of Donguz ... Landing site ... |
The ceiling of the Russian MTV helicopter, which is actively used for heli-skiing in the Caucasus and Tien Shan, is more than 6,500 meters. It easily sits on the highest point of Russia and all of Europe - Elbrus (5642 m), from where in the summer months you can descend to an altitude of 3700 - 3500 meters.
The biggest difference in heli-skiing in Kamchatka. In one descent, it reaches 2000 - 2500 meters, since many landings occur on the tops of volcanoes that exceed this height, and the descent itself goes almost to sea level, that is, the Pacific Ocean.
Before the descent, the avalanche board emits a characteristic low-frequency “intrauterine sound” - a warning signal for those “who did not hide” ... For many, this sound was the last thing they heard in this life ...
The avalanche sensor, the so-called Beeper, uses high-frequency ultrasound to transmit the SOS signal and search in avalanches. It is he who has enough energy to pass the border of snow and air. Modern devices show the direction to the victim and the distance to him (with an accuracy of half a meter). If you have this device, you have an almost 100% guarantee that the body (naturally yours) will sooner or later be found ...
And in conclusion - a few monetary figures.
The cost of a new Mi-8 or MTV helicopter (Made in Russia) is several million dollars. That is why the flight fleet in Russia is not often updated, but helicopters continue to fight from time to time, including in the mountains.
The cost of a Premium Pilot's monthly salary does not exceed much (if at all exceeds) one day of his work on heli-skiing.
The cost of a weekly helicopter skiing program, say, in the Elbrus region with 25 guaranteed descents (1000 m in height each) exceeds 2000 USD. In America, in Alaska, or, say, in New Zealand - and even more, plus a round-trip air ticket.
The cost of skis or a good snowboard for heli-skiing, complete with bindings and boots, is over a thousand dollars. If you add a helmet, clothes, protection - one more piece of the same bucks will come up.
The cost of broken equipment (photo or video), as a result of an unsuccessful fall of the operator (with whom it does not happen) is thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. But people shot and continue to shoot.
The cost of insurance with an extreme bias is hundreds or even thousands of dollars. The cost of a complex surgical operation with the restoration of one whole from many small fragments is thousands or even tens of thousands of the same c.u.
And in conclusion I will add that Impressions have no value, just as Life has no value - for both are Priceless! Take care of them so that later you will not be “excruciatingly hurt” ...
16.02.2015
After a long break in Krasnaya Polyana, heli-skiing is reviving again, it is also skiing from helicopters. We also took part in one of the sorties in order to see, tell you and, of course, skate freshly. So, here's a review with prices, photos and videos.
Heliskiing in Krasnaya Polyana
On February 7, we flew for heliskiing with a group of Vladimir Silinsky and Alexander Mavrin. Read and watch the report on the topic "What? Where? How much?" by RiderHelp
We flew as part of a group of 7 riders, two guides, a photographer and me. Helicopter Mi-8, which can fit a large enough group or even two. It was one of the first commercial flights after a break of 4 years, when heli-skiing in Polyana was temporarily stopped due to olipias and all sorts of restrictions.
Route
Skiing took place at the beginning of the Turi, or Turin, mountains. It is located further along the Aibga ridge, in the circuses following Rosa Khutor. The difficulty of the route was very simple, the freeride turned out to be parquet, i.e. we rolled snow fields in light mode without steep slopes, rocks and couloirs.
Prices
The flight was the first, trial, so the real time and the number of descents was initially not very clear. We were guided by 4-5 descents per 1 flight hour at a cost of 35,000 rubles. Those. it is not just an hour, but the time while the helicopter is in the air. As a result, there were only three rolls. By agreement with the group, it was decided to pay an additional 5K per person for a transfer to the Yuryev Khutor area with a roll-out onto the Roses tracks. As a result, there were 4 lifts.
The commercial price list, which is in effect now, offers 4 runs for 40,000 rubles. per person and 10,000 rubles. for each next roll.
How was your day
At 8 am we gathered at the Baza test center on Rosa Khutor, where we received another safety briefing. Everyone was given ABS avalanche backpacks, beepers, probes and shovels (they are included in the price). Whoever has his own, you can take your own.
Then we got tickets for a helicopter and took us by car to the helipad at Rosa Khutor at 1100 m. There we sunbathed for about an hour - we waited for permission to take off from all authorities.
Then departure, inspection of skiing areas and places for disembarkation
At the helm of the helicopter, by the way, was an experienced heli-skiing pilot who had flown a lot in Krasnaya Polyana in pre-Olympic times.
Well, pictures from the ride. The first was Alexander Mavrin, one of the most experienced heli-ski guides in Krasnaya Polyana. He determined the line of the route, then the riders and the closing guide rolled down one by one.
The slopes were approximately similar, especially because there was not a single trace there before us =)
I finally took off the wall for two years, not rolled Volkl Selecta, to go surfing. But she was over the top, to be honest. With such a snow depth of about 40-50 cm, it was necessary to take the usual Jones Flagship. But I checked the new express wax Wend kazu kokubo- Select for a long time not rolled, but then smeared it, waited two minutes, wiped it with a rag and voila! She gave it so much that on the first descent I even got a little speed up :)
It was quite warm, so we didn't get the drop we expected. Below 1500 m the snow was already not very pleasant. But it was very good upstairs. Well you see ...
Vladimir Silinsky completing the descent
We made the final descent from Yuriev Khutor with a ride onto the Roza cable car. Therefore, we fully felt the difference. Someone wanted to do a few more descents from the lift, but most decided not to spoil the aftertaste and went to the bar to celebrate the next best day.
Order heli-skiing in Krasnaya Polyana
Departures are made on request every weekend. It is clear that departures depend on the weather and the approvals of border guards, so there is never a 100% guarantee.
Heli-skiing cost: 40,000 rubles. per person for 1 flight hour (4 rolls) and 10,000 rubles. for each next roll.
(English Heliskiing) - a kind of skiing, freeride, the essence of which is to descend on untouched snow slopes, far from prepared trails, with an ascent to the beginning of the descent by helicopter. Using a helicopter for ascent allows you to find various options for descending from the mountains in a pristine, untouched by human invasion, where there is no other way to quickly climb.
Definition: . Photo:
Heli-skiing history:
In the 50s series high in the mountains, Canadian Mountain Holidays opened as a business with a couple of hangars and 2 helicopters in Tsaina Lodge. Chet Simmons, a surfer from California, who came to Alaska on his return from Vietnam, where he served in helicopter units, invited Michael Kozad as a companion.
The founders began transporting local riders by helicopter to the Chagatch Range slopes near Thompson Pass. It was uncomfortable for the locals to ride: there are no lifts, the slope angle is up to 60 degrees and hard snow. However, it is these properties that have become the basis of the popularity of "heli-skiing".
In May 1990 Chet and Michael joined forces with local skier Shannon Loveland and she became the director of a new project - the first extreme competition World Extreme Ski Contest... The main rule of the competition is the absence of any rules. The helicopter lifted the participants to the tops of wild, undeveloped mountains, and each of them was given the opportunity to plot their own course through cliffs, cliffs, avalanche sections and crevassed glaciers. Many stayed after the competition, enjoying heliski, until they ran out of money: when helicopters and airplanes threw volunteers on remote unexplored slopes, in complexity, often surpassing the WESC routes. Entertainment was available to everyone - not just elite skiers and boarders.
Canadian Mountain Holidays is still considered the largest heliski company in the world.
Video:
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Arctic Heli Skiing - Iceland |
SOCHI HELISKI from Action Brothers. |
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Snow Territory - Mine from Action Brothers. |
Heli-ski in Arkhyz - Heliski in Arkhyz from Action Brothers. |
Standard tour conditions:
Almost always, tours are group tours: you fly, 3-10 riders and always one or more instructors. A professional videographer is often invited to the descent.
The time is divided into "flight" and "extra". "Flight" time is indicated when buying a tour and always from 70% to 100% of it is guaranteed (the cost is refunded in case of bad weather or a failed flight due to the fault of technology). "Extra" time is bought after the "flight" time - this decision is made by the whole group.
Risks and safety:
The highest risk is injury from an unsuccessful maneuver. For such a situation, the instructors are well prepared and will be able to provide assistance in a timely manner. A more dangerous and unpredictable risk is an avalanche. Special knowledge of avalanche behavior and the availability of equipment are mandatory requirements for Heli-skiing.
In addition to the operator of your tour, you yourself must take care of safety: order insurance and enter the ICE numbers on your phone. Finding an insurance company will not be easy - the majority of Russians do not have heli-skiing in the service list. ICE numbers are numbers for contacting your loved ones in an emergency.
Helicopters for "heli-skiing":| MI-8 | Alouette iii | Ecureuil B4 |
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Nearest to Russians and incredibly beautiful areas with "heli-ski" bases: Karachai-Circassian Dombai and Arkhyz, Kamchatka Peninsula in the Far East, Olympic Krasnaya Polyana in Sochi, Kabardino-Balkarian Elbrus region, Uzbek and Kyrgyz Tien Shan, Georgian Caucasus. In some Western countries "heli-skiing" is prohibited.
The standard heli-skiing season runs from December to May.
Operator companies "Heli-ski" in the Russian Federation and neighboring countries:
| Heli-skiing in Krasnaya Polyana. One day of skiing, 4 descents. Additional descent is possible. Group up to 12 people. Helicopter MI-8 MTV. | |
First permanent and so far the only one heli-ski operator in Gulmarg was created with the participation of one of the New Zealand heli-skiing companies started working 2011 year under the name Gulmarg Heliski... Several years ago, the operator was renamed and continues to fly under the name Kashmir Heliski... Company office and Helipad located directly in Gulmarg, at an altitude of 2700 m above sea level, in five minutes walk / ride from hotels on skis or snowboards, making it easy combine heli-skiing with off-piste skiing, accessible from the lifts. The heights and exposure of the heli-ski slopes are also identical to the slopes of the ski area of the resort, this makes it possible to use the information of the Gulmarg avalanche rescue service to assess avalanche threats and reduce risks when riding heli-skiing.
Ski area
Zone heli-skiing located just in 5 minutes summer from Gulmarg, southeast of the mountain ridge Afarvat, through the gorge Drang... Its area is about 20 000 sq. km, which gives an endless choice expositions and reliefs.
For riding, mainly used leeward slopes of north-western and northern expositions, at heights from 4200 before 2500 m above sea level, receiving less solar radiation and preserving good snow quality until next snowfall... Mostly ride on alpine landscape. Such descents have a drop of about 1000 vertical meters. In conditions low clouds skating can be moved below, in forest zone... Forest slopes are shorter, but characterized by a very good angles tilt. Spruce forest practically has no undergrowth, tree stumps and felled tree trunks form natural springboards... Heli-skiing in Gulmarg is suitable for riders from average to professional level.
Helicopters and equipment
For heli-skiing used in Gulmarg helicopters Ecureuil AS350B3e from Airbus Helicopters (formerly Eurocopter) specially prepared for flights at altitudes up to 5000 m above sea level and in cold temperatures. This model is especially popular for heli-skiing in Europe, America, Australia and New Zealand. It is noteworthy that the helicopter this model, standard, beaten in 2005 world record landing at the top of Mount Everest, at a height 8848 m above sea level
Equipment and backpacks are placed in a special basket overboard. Accommodates on board: a pilot, a guide and four riders. One helicopter is capable of service simultaneously up to 4 groups... Thanks to the huge experience team, as well as an additional fuel storage, good logistics group service and time expectations selection minimally... Now in use one helicopter that is rented for the whole season from well-known airlines operating in India. Helicopter distilled to Gulmarg, where he is served team of technicians, also residing all season in Gulmarg.
If necessary, in Gulmarg, you can rent any equipment from freeride skis and snowboards to beeper and an avalanche backpack. The presence of a beeper, probe and shovel is compulsory to participate in heli-skiing!
Command
Pilots project - foreign professionals of the highest level, possess vast experience work and bloom in the big mountains. First pilot, Australian Jason Lyng, who worked for several years in Gulmarg, then worked in Nepal near Everest... He was named Best Pilot of 2016 and co-starred on the BBC / Discovery series “ Everest rescuers"Released in 2017. After his departure, for several seasons, he has been working as a pilot Swiss, Reto Muller, who also works out of season in the mountains of Nepal and has more than 10,000 hours.
For several years the most experienced Australian and New Zealand heli-skiing guides prepared command from local experienced professionals... To each group of 4 riders one guide attached. All heli-ski guides have extensive experience in Gulmarg, are accredited ski guides, members Avalanche Association of Kashmir and have a certificate of at least the first stage The Canadian Avalanche Association or American Institute of Avalanche Research and Teaching. Heli-skiing team regularly trains and periodically participates in saved works and evacuations affected in the backcountry area of the resort. Security is the basis of work Kashmir Heli-skiing... For all the years of work, there was no one serious incident in flight or while riding.
Programs and prices
We offer you a program combining heli-skiing and off-piste skiing with guides. This allows acclimatize before flying, use the best the weather for heliskiing, and fill the rest of the days with interesting off-piste slopes in the ski areas of the resort. The program is based on moderate a load of five heli-ski runs per day. Wherein remaining the time of the skating day can also be finished off off-piste descents from the cable car. However, for additional payment, the number of heli-skiing can be increased to nine descents per day.
V first skating day there will be off-piste skiing with guide for acclimatization, with easy load, and acquaintance with ski areas of the resort. Next are the best, according to the weather, skating days will be spent on heli-skiing, and the rest - for off-piste skiing with a guide. All involved guides have accreditation at the resort and certificate at least the first stage of the Canadian Avalanche Association or the American Institute of Avalanche Research and Teaching. On a non-rolling day of rest it is possible excursion on the cultural and historical attractions of the summer capital of the state, the city of Srinagar. Russian speaking representative of our tourist company, being directly in Gulmarg, will reconcile skiing plan with heli-ski operator and guides, as well as track for its execution.