adventure

Tuxedo Touring - Antarctica Style

Tuxedo Touring - Antarctica Style

It’s hard to put into words the sights, sounds, thoughts, thrills, and feelings, that have overcome me on my recent ski touring adventure to Antarctica- the world’s last uninhabited true wilderness, but here it goes.

When I was 19, I embarked on my first ski trip to a continent outside of my home country of Australia. I ventured north to ski at Whistler in British Columbia, Canada for a few weeks during my university summer holidays. The trip was a huge adventure in every way, opening my eyes to big resort skiing, sharing the mountain with other soul skiers, experiencing Canadian culture, and discovering my one true love- powder skiing.

Initiation Ceremony

Initiation Ceremony

The next morning, as I stirred awake for another day in paradise, my first sensation was pain in every muscle in my body. My face and eyes were still puffy, just how I’d imagine a castaway from a ship wreck might be.

In my mind, whilst lying in bed, I recapped on the previous two days both in and out of the water in La Ventana. This place attracts kite boarders some of who come for months, some come from far, far away. It’s definitely a bit like a cult, a smug little in-club I thought!

Futaleufu Rafting Trip

Futaleufu Rafting Trip

Early on last summer, I experienced a very difficult time in my life, after I suffered a serious road biking accident. I was first hospitalized, underwent surgery, then was out of all action, recovering for six months with strong pain from four badly broken ribs and a punctured, then collapsed lung. However, I was grateful that my injuries were not permanent, many others are not so lucky.  With this in mind, I was determined to experience that missed summer in a special and powerful way at the next available opportunity. I thought why not head down to South America for an epic adventure, the best they can offer?

Mai Tai-Style

Mai Tai-Style

'To the truly engaged, work and play are one and the same', Bill Tai (Silicon Valley Entrepreneur, Pro Kite Surfer, and Co-Founder of Mai Tai)

What happens when you combine some of the world's most promising entrepreneurs, a buzzing kite surfing community, and the hottest kite boarding pros from all four corners of the world? It's called 'Mai Tai', and I am not sure when you last took up a new sport, but here’s my story of losing my snow kiting virginity. Skiing with a windy twist!

Journey to Mysterious Mt Baker

Journey to Mysterious Mt Baker

It didn’t need to be a full-on powder day for me to recognise Mt Baker as a hidden gem in a world of powder options. I arrived on one of the busiest days of the season, with foggy, overcast skies, and several days since fresh powder had fallen. However, these conditions didn’t detract from the fact that Mt Baker had (and often has) the deepest snow base in the world.It didn’t need to be a full-on powder day for me to recognise Mt Baker as a hidden gem in a world of powder options. I arrived on one of the busiest days of the season, with foggy, overcast skies, and several days since fresh powder had fallen. However, these conditions didn’t detract from the fact that Mt Baker had (and often has) the deepest snow base in the world.

What Do You Need

What Do You Need

Heli skiing and boarding may be portrayed in extreme films as for experts only, but for us mere mortals the reality is thankfully very different. I am personally not an ex racer, nor an ex freestyler, nor a pro. I am just a very experienced, keen skier, with a hunger for powder and an attitude that seeks thrills and adventure. While heli skiing is certainly not for beginners or under-confident skiers, the wonderful experiences it affords are accessible to anyone capable of tackling with aplomb red and black runs in all conditions.

Speak to the experts at Total Heliski and we’ll soon reassure you that the level of ability needed to heliski or board depends on the type of terrain you’ll be skiing, the level of the other skiers in the group, and the time of year you go. And with the breadth of destinations we offer, there is a location out there that suits your ability perfectly.

The Top Heli Skiing Locations in the World

The Top Heli Skiing Locations in the World

In case you haven’t noticed, I love heli skiing. So much so that I started my own company based on one simple premise: Guide my clients to discover and visit locations and experiences that I love to ski. Period.

I get asked all the time, ‘Where is the best location to heliski’, and my answer is ‘Well, every where’. That’s why I created the ‘Total Heliski World of Adventure’. It’s all there for the taking. Here is the quick lowdown on some of our top locations:

Heli Ski High in the Himalaya

Heli Ski High in the Himalaya

I’ve written previously about the amazing experience of heliskiing endless powder, remote wilderness, incredible views, awesome lodge experiences. I used to think heli skiing in Canada or Alaska is pretty exotic, cool, epic- all those words. But then, I went heli skiing in The Himalayas and that changed my view on everything.

When i started heli skiing (read – pre internet proliferation), I had no idea about the extent to where you could go heli skiing, thinking options were limited to a couple of locations in Canada and Alaska. So, it was my mission when I started Total Heliski ,my heliski media and travel company, that I would open up the global possibilities of heli skiing and boarding to my members and clients. As such, The Total Heliski World of Adventure was formed, and this is my story about heli skiing further afield than Canada or Alaska. About heli skiing in the remote, majestic Himalayan peaks of the Himachal Pradesh region of India.

Live-aboard Scuba Adventure - Part I

Live-aboard Scuba Adventure - Part I

If you are a keen powder skier or heliskier like me, you are probably equally as adventurous in the summer time. For me, one of the summer sports I love is scuba diving. But like my skiing passion, I decided a long time ago that life is too short to waste, so I wanted to indulge in scuba diving only in the best spots around the world – the heli-skiing Canada equivalent of no less than the deepest, fluffiest powder under bluebird skies. In diving terms, it’s the clearest, bluest, warmest water, with the most abundant fish and corals, plus the chance to see big, audacious creatures like sharks, manta rays, or large turtles.

Our Northern Heliski Escape

Our Northern Heliski Escape

The Central British Columbia region is well known for a plethora of heliski operations, after all this is where heli skiing was born.

But there is an area in mid-northern BC where moose and the ethereal white Kermode bear begin to replace the population. It’s also no coincidence that it is home to some of the best heli skiing the world has to offer.

Chasing The White Gold Rush - Part II

Chasing The White Gold Rush - Part II

PART 2: REVELSTOKE

Mrs Simpson, wife of Don Simpson, the original visionary and former resort developer of Revelstoke, once described Revelstoke to me as ‘It’s like Aspen was in the 60’s’. Of course, I wasn’t around in the 60’s in Aspen to be able to verify, but it’s a pretty complimentary comparison, and I think I can see why. 2011 marked 125 years of the community of Revelstoke, originally founded as a railway town, when the Canadian Pacific Railway was built through the Selkirk and Monashee mountains, the town soon saw the tourism potential and named Mt Revelstoke a national park in 1914.

Die Hard Heli-Skier - Guest Blog

Die Hard Heli-Skier - Guest Blog

I enjoyed my visit to the Total Heliski London Show 2011 even more than I was expecting. Why? Because I came away having won a 3 day heliski holiday with Snowwater in Canada!

Even though I’d heliskied before I was very apprehensive as I’d heard that Total Heliski was for “hard core” skiers whose aim was to cover the maximum number of vertical meters during their stay. Being fifty-seven (and three quarters), a little older than the average Total Heliski customer, I realised I had to get into serious training. I took my 22 year old daughter Katie – at least that brought our average age down a bit!

Want to Shoot Like a Pro?

Want to Shoot Like a Pro?

I often have requests from my friends and Total Heliski Members to post footage of the great experiences I have heli skiing. These are also the personal memories that I cherish now and forever, since you can’t take anything but memories with you from this Earth.  Taking still photos with the small point and shoot cameras is a breeze, but getting great video footage, whilst not holding up the heli program and wanting to enjoy the experience always illuded me until the appearance of the GoPro Camera.

Knee Braces

Knee Braces

Getting fit for the Northern Hemisphere ski season?if you’re a serious snowsports enthusiast, then the answer must be yes. But spare a thought for what it would be like if you had to get ski fit after a serious injury last season? I for one, have had to do this, after a tough few months of rehab from a pretty big knee injury and two knee surgeries. So, getting back to ski fitness is not just a good thing to do, for me, it’s been essential to ensuring an injury-free future.

Heli Ski 101

Heli Ski 101

With the ski season fast approaching, I have been inundated with questions from friends and clients on everything heli skiing. Their main questions, I call Heliski 101, and can be summarized in three words:

When? What? How?

When is the best time to go skiing?
What can I expect once I get there in terms of facilities?
How do I prepare for heli skiing?

So here’s my Heliski 101…