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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.

Chasing the White Gold Rush - Part I

Chasing the White Gold Rush - Part I

PART 1: CES TOUR TRIP REPORT

The primary reason for my visit to British Columbia was to host a Total Heliski Member Tour at our operator, whose renowned tenure at Eagle Pass sits opposite the ski resort of Revelstoke. Arriving from the distinctly barren and over-the-top environment of Las Vegas where the party had been undertaking a large electronics industry conference known as CES, it couldn’t have been more of a contrast to land in the hazy, overcast, snow-covered airport of Kelowna early in the afternoon of Jan 14. Our drive up to the lodge made us excitable as our driver broke the news of the current epic snow conditions to us, all the while as the snowfall got heavier and heavier on the windscreen. I was just hoping that we were going to have enough decent weather to be able to fly the next day.

 

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…

The Ski’s the Limit

The Ski’s the Limit

As I was walking around the London Ski Show last week, looking at the various skis on display I couldn’t help but marvel at the choice these days. SThere are now so many different types of  skis to choose from and some of them like the new Salomon BBR look more like a surfboard than a ski!  With my experience skiing for so many years in different conditions and all around the world, I knew what I wanted, but I saw a number of faces around me looking from ski to ski wondering where to begin!
 

So, I decided to write about  what you should keep in mind when buying skis.

Precision Operations

Precision Operations

Being the founder and CEO of Total Heliski brings it perks, I can’t deny.

They usually occur in the winter, however, a few weeks ago, I was fortunate to be invited by a Total Heliski client to sail with him and his Australian pro-crew, on his yacht in the Rolex Maxi Yacht Regatta held in Porto Cuervo, Sardinia, Italy.

At 67 feet, we were the ‘mini-maxi’ class, i.e. I was surprised that there was an even bigger class of 100 foot and over. The Regatta, which is the official World Championship consists of the best of 5 races held over the course of a week.

Myth Busters - 1

Myth Busters - 1

In my last blog post I interviewed Mike about his first heli skiing experience. Apart from the questions I asked him for the blog we also got talking about heli skiing in general and why it took him so long to hear about it. One of the things that stood out during my conversation with him was the fact that, there are a lot of myths and pre conceived notions, most of them wrong, about heli skiing. These myths are what put a lot of people off the idea of trying heli skiing!

So, as I sat to write my latest blog post, I am positive that busting a few myths would be a good idea….Here is the first in my series of Myth Busters blogs….

Holy Heli Skiing!!!

Holy Heli Skiing!!!

I have written a number of blog posts about my passion for heli skiing and my experiences during my trips. And whenever I speak to people, especially the ones new to heli skiing, I speak to them about what it is like for me to experience the fresh powder when I ski. During one such conversation I said to myself “Hang on a minute. What they really need, is to hear from someone who they don’t consider an expert. They need to hear from someone, who until recently was just as new to heli skiing as they are!”

This got me thinking and I decided to get the thoughts of my client, and friend, Mike who had recently gone on a Total Heliski trip.

A Mid-Summers Ski Dream

A Mid-Summers Ski Dream

Midsummer in the northern hemisphere means lots of outdoor theatre, parties, BBQs, and picnics. But whilst we may be ‘ski-dreaming’ in summer, our operators are investing in improvements for your skiing pleasure.

In BC some heli ski operators conduct a run enhancement program referred to as ‘glading’. Open spaces that occur naturally in the forest are called glades. The operator’s crew goes in and mimics these opens with a specific cutting plan and thus opens the inter tree spacing. The wood, that is cut, is referred to as coarse wood debris and is cut to lie flat on the ground and return to the earth adding to the soil.

The Science of Running

The Science of Running

Summer has sprung in the Northern Hemisphere, and in Britain it’s a very social affair. Henley, Wimbledon, Ascot, for starters, and they are just the organized events. How does one manage the waistline to keep it trim for impending seaside holidays, and maintain the fitness for the upcoming winter?

I have always been a fan of running outdoors, ideally in a woodland or park, preferring to run on grass in order to cushion and preserve my knees for the sport I love. This was further made necessary after an injury this winter requiring knee surgery. On return to full activity, I needed a new pair of running shoes, and after meeting the Profeet guys recently at the City Ski Championships, they told me about the custom running shoe fitting they do. I decided it might be the right way to go.

What Do They Have in Common?

What Do They Have in Common?

Not a lot really, but I thought this was a neat title to use for this blog entry about my recent experience at the 2010 (London) City Ski Championships.


Whilst Total Heliski members were flying through the pow-pow in Canada, Alaska, and Europe this season, Total Heliski set our sights on our mission to convert a whole bunch of neat, disciplined ski racers into free- willed, hedonistic heliskiers.