# Alaska heli trip 2016



## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Stoked...not stroke...got to do it while ya can...

subscribed


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## cookiedog (Mar 3, 2014)

Huh.. Noreaster I thought you are a male. +
But beside that. Valzdez is the place to go I think.


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

Can't help with Valdez. I've just heard the stories of the guides in we met in the Chugachs and seen pics of it and yay! that terrain looks awesome! Steeper and more dramatic than in the Cordova / Alyeska region.
I can only give you the important aspect I checked for choosing a certain heli operatore: own their own helis and pilots, located at the lodge you stay. Many operators just rent heli/pilots. So when weather sucks, they cancel that day. But weather can change quickly. We more than once had a day which started as a down day but then suddenly it cleared up. Then, it's a big advantage if the pilots n birds AND you are on site, ready to rock n roll. 

You will never fly 10d in a row. There _will_ be many down days. The continuous bluebird window we had in '14 was a huge exception! "Normal" are ~ 3 flight days in a week. So I would not book specific days, it would be a lottery, but rather get a package of a certain number of included ft or hours. Your best bet is to book a week. The days which are left I'd use for the travel and maybe some snowmobile fun, mushing, hiking, ice climbing... or on a waiting list for a 1 day heli flight.


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## Noreaster (Oct 7, 2012)

neni said:


> Can't help with Valdez. I've just heard the stories of the guides in we met in the Chugachs and seen pics of it and yay! that terrain looks awesome! Steeper and more dramatic than in the Cordova / Alyeska region.
> I can only give you the important aspect I checked for choosing a certain heli operatore: own their own helis and pilots, located at the lodge you stay. Many operators just rent heli/pilots. So when weather sucks, they cancel that day. But weather can change quickly. We more than once had a day which started as a down day but then suddenly it cleared up. Then, it's a big advantage if the pilots n birds AND you are on site, ready to rock n roll.
> 
> You will never fly 10d in a row. There _will_ be many down days. The continuous bluebird window we had in '14 was a huge exception! "Normal" are ~ 3 flight days in a week. So I would not book specific days, it would be a lottery, but rather get a package of a certain number of included ft or hours. Your best bet is to book a week. The days which are left I'd use for the travel and maybe some snowmobile fun, mushing, hiking, ice climbing... or on a waiting list for a 1 day heli flight.


Thanks for the tip on heli operators owning their birds vs. renting, it's a huge help. No, I know we're not going to fly every day, we just want to be there for at least that long because doing a trip like that and going all that distance for a short stay seems like a waste. Believe it or not a couple of friends I talked to are even surprised we don't just do a whole month there because that's what they would do, but then they are Russians and those bastards are crazy. Speaking of - I think I might know the Russian guy who was at PNH at the same time you were, heheh. 

I found two Valdez operations who I kinda like, one charges per vertical distance and another per flight time but they say it's basically the same thing and they get more runs in which immediately made me think it's NOT the same thing. 

I think we're gonna go with Valdez in any case but I'm almost tempted to break the time between Alyeska and Valdez just to make sure we get some resort riding if worst comes to worst. I've heard horror stories of people paying for the heli week and then spending it sitting around the lodge because of weather. Decisions, decisions...


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

Evgeny? The super serious guy who turned out to be a funny bone? Haha, the world is a town! 



Noreaster said:


> I've heard horror stories of people paying for the heli week and then spending it sitting around the lodge because of weather. Decisions, decisions...


Yeah... the guys the week before us had continuous bad weather. That's a gruesome situation.
Some guys stayed 2 weeks in PNH and could use the included hrs of the combined 2 packages whenever there was a good window, didn't matter if more or less in the first or second week. Maybe there are operators offering equal fkexibility in Valdez. I'd expect so since there are more competitors over there.

If bad weather is your concern, stay at the same place. Chances that you get a 2 week bad period are lower that going from a short bad period in one region to another short bad period in another region, I would assume. 

If ft or hrs is to be preferred depends on how far away the riding terrain is from the take off. I.e. if their terrain is 20min away, you'll use up many hrs for the approach but hardly feet. For those, the ft account wouls sum up better. I'd guess that that's somehow the inherent reason some calculate this and some the other way. I'm sure this is a tightly calculated business and there's a reason for the different methods.


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## Noreaster (Oct 7, 2012)

neni said:


> Evgeny? The super serious guy who turned out to be a funny bone? Haha, the world is a town!


Yeah, that's the dude. Super serious, lol. Nah, he's just normal Russian. I swear our bitch/asshole faces are so legendary they should be trademarked by now. 

Nenz, a question for you: why did you pick Cordova over Valdez? Because of the operator? Also, why did you bring your own airbags? Does PNH offer rentals? We want very much to avoid flying with our own and most heli operators rent them out anyway, so it's seems like a good option.


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## Oldman (Mar 7, 2012)

Noreaster, as you are still in the planning stages, have you considered the following:

Your dollar vs. the Canuck buck is on a huge high. A 30% high right now.

On a $5,000.00 heli trip, you can save over $1000.00 on the exchange rate alone.

There are a number of outstanding heli operations in Western Canada with traditionally fewer down days than what you have in Alaska.

Just my :2cents: and a friendly little Canuck FYI. :whatdoyouthink:


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## SkullAndXbones (Feb 24, 2014)

cookiedog said:


> Huh.. Noreaster I thought you are a male.


i thought the same thing


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## Noreaster (Oct 7, 2012)

cookiedog said:


> Huh.. Noreaster I thought you are a male. +





SkullAndXbones said:


> i thought the same thing


Heh. Well I never fit the mold of a typical female anyway, not that my gender matters much for discussing snowboarding on a forum.



Oldman said:


> Noreaster, as you are still in the planning stages, have you considered the following:
> 
> Your dollar vs. the Canuck buck is on a huge high. A 30% high right now.
> 
> ...


Bah, we're independently rich so money's not an issue. :hairy:

Kidding.

My friend, the one coming with, is actually Canadian so going to Blue River or Panorama instead of the great Alaskan pilgrimage has come up. We've done 4 days of heli with Wiegele in 2009 too which was a great experience and a number of day trips with Whistler Heli over the years which were not mind blowing yet still cool because... heli boarding. But even with currency rates being what they are we're mostly thinking in terms of what kind of experience our money can buy us and from that point of view it's no contest.


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## SkullAndXbones (Feb 24, 2014)

Noreaster said:


> Heh. Well I never fit the mold of a typical female anyway, not that my gender matters much for discussing snowboarding on a forum.


sure it does. now a bunch of guys are gonna be hitting on you. timmytard will probably be the first.


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## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

How could you not know it is a she? 

Anyhow. I would probably go northwestern British Columbia with one of the heli/cat combo guides. Cats cat get out on the down flight days. I'd rather ride milder cat terrain in low visibility than sit in a lodge for days. Canada just because of the savings. The terrain up there is similar to Alaska too.

Bella coola is one I'd love to do. It's straight heli though and more central bc


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## neachdainn (Dec 8, 2012)

I'd recommend looking into Last Frontier heli. They've got a couple amazing lodges and fly in some really special terrain in NW BC. More snow than you'll know what to do with, and I'm sure it will be an experience you'll never forget. Especially the flight in... Haha

Bring extra baggies


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

Noreaster said:


> Yeah, that's the dude. Super serious, lol. Nah, he's just normal Russian. I swear our bitch/asshole faces are so legendary they should be trademarked by now.
> 
> Nenz, a question for you: why did you pick Cordova over Valdez? Because of the operator? Also, why did you bring your own airbags? Does PNH offer rentals? We want very much to avoid flying with our own and most heli operators rent them out anyway, so it's seems like a good option.


Yeah, it were all the positive points of the PNH operator and the high recommendation of another member when I evaluated where to go some years ago who was there which let me chose Cordova over Valdez. Maybe equally good operators are active in Valdez, IDK, but as we've been so very satisfied with PNH, we'll go there again. Hey have so many years of experience, they attract high quality guides which go there year after year and therefore know the terrain very well. It's a big plus if your guide can lead the pilot to runs "off the beaten tracks". Another plus is that they have their own terrain. No other operator within hundreds of miles. I haven't been to Valdez, I just second talk what I've heard from ppl. (Some guests in Cordova have been in Valdez as well but praise PNH over their experience there, but hey, you see the bias )... there, many operators have to share the same terrain. Way more busy, ppl say. What I also like is the groove there. It's not focusing on luxury but on "the important things". You don't "waste money" on fancy accomosation and candlelight dinners with linen white tablecloths. The money goes into the quality of guides, pilots n birds. I like this. But as I've never been with any other operator, I cannot compare if a better one would be around. You never know until you know .

We put up with the nuisance of traveling with our own backpacks since we needed them for the other parts of the trips as we were visiting other parts and went hiking. If we'd only had gone for the heli trip, we would have rented them locally! And yes, PNH rents them. Some ppl arrive there with only their ski boots and rent all the other gear. We brought our full gear cos we went snow/splitboarding also in Alyeska, Turnagain Pass or CO.


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## Noreaster (Oct 7, 2012)

Trip booked. In Anchorage on March 1, staying at Alyeska for 4 days just riding. Then on to Valdez through 19th with Valdez Guides.


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

:samba::samba:

Now have fun staring at the calendar every day crossing of the days


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## Noreaster (Oct 7, 2012)

neni said:


> Now have fun staring at the calendar every day crossing of the days


I just realized that my legs are practically a jelly. Should just be enough time to do a round of P90X!


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## chomps1211 (Mar 30, 2011)

Noreaster said:


> Trip booked. In Anchorage on March 1, staying at Alyeska for 4 days just riding. Then on to Valdez through 19th with Valdez Guides.


Good onya mate!!! 



Hope it's AWESOME!!! :cheer:


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## SkullAndXbones (Feb 24, 2014)

awesome. i hope you have a blast, noreaster.


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## mojo maestro (Jan 6, 2009)

I'm a little jelly.......post pics or it didn't happen.:woohoo:


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## Noreaster (Oct 7, 2012)

Finally, the wait is over. Leaving for the airport. This winter was tough for me with some personal stuff taking priority over everything else, but for the first time in a long while I'm actually excited.

Was agonizing last night whether to take the new Twin Sister with, but with conditions being surprisingly decent decided not to. Whether my knees approve that decision remains to be seen... :grin:

Well, wish me luck.


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

Yay!!!! Have a blast! Happy shredding!

Don't forget to share pictures!


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## nutmegchoi (Feb 10, 2016)

I wanna see lots of pictures and pages of report. 

Have fun and be safe!!


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## chomps1211 (Mar 30, 2011)

neni said:


> Yay!!!! Have a blast! Happy shredding!
> 
> Don't forget to share pictures!


:cheer: Ditto!!!!:cheer:

-edit-
...got interupted by work, (...of all things)  before I could finish!

Hope you have an awesome trip! And that all ghat other stuff is well behind you! Take lotsa pics & share da Stoke!


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## Noreaster (Oct 7, 2012)

Thanks everyone. 

At Alyeska now, just leisurely sliding down slushy slopes. All the steep terrain is closed, it's been way too warm and rainy just before our arrival. A little better in the last few days, at least some of the resort is open and the weather's been fair for the most part. Gearing up for the next leg of the trip.

This was 2 days ago after some unexpected snow.


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

The pics I see at FB from the Chugachs show lot of sweet deep. Alyeska is pretty low elevation IIRC, hope, as soon as you're higher up you'll meet great conditions.


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## Noreaster (Oct 7, 2012)

neni said:


> The pics I see at FB from the Chugachs show lot of sweet deep. Alyeska is pretty low elevation IIRC, hope, as soon as you're higher up you'll meet great conditions.


Yup, higher elevations look great if somewhat unstable but the pack has been settling and looks like it's gonna be stable through the week. After that who knows. Thompson's held well thru the higher temps, got almost 2' just last week. 

I was hoping we could get our legs a chance to adjust here but eh.... Well, whatever. I'm still happy.


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## Noreaster (Oct 7, 2012)

Good start of heli week 1. Two gorgeous bluebird days with good snow. Today the weather changed and winds picked up. Looks like we're grounded through at least tomorrow.

This is what flying into Valdez looked like.


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## nutmegchoi (Feb 10, 2016)

Sharing is caring!
Where's the picture sharing??!! :frown:


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## Noreaster (Oct 7, 2012)

OK. So this one is from today's cat snorkeling. The storm had dumped 2 solid feet in 48 hours. This is my friend Lau. Making her way through the white room.


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## Kenai (Dec 15, 2013)

More. MORE. *MORE*!!!

Please. :grin:


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## Noreaster (Oct 7, 2012)

And now some snow porn...


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## Noreaster (Oct 7, 2012)

The lines.


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## Noreaster (Oct 7, 2012)

This was no fly day last week. Went cat riding instead and by the end the weather cleared up nicely. I'm the smaller one on the right.


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## Noreaster (Oct 7, 2012)

The 3 of us hiking around Tsaina river. A couple of days before some locals went skinning there and fell through the snowbank right into the water, hence we were outfitted with poles and climbing ropes. My cuz, being the bitch that she is, asked for a scuba gear with a perfectly straight face and confused the hell out of our guide. Ha.




















Glacier ice caves.


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## nutmegchoi (Feb 10, 2016)

Ohhhhh.... thank you...


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## Noreaster (Oct 7, 2012)

A friendly local.










And a sucker for salami, it turned out.


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## Noreaster (Oct 7, 2012)

Alaska - the land of Jones. Really, between the 3 of us we brought 5 Jones boards and there were a couple of other people who had them too. I noticed one of the guides (not ours) giving us side glances and then he came up and asked us if we work for the company. 

Nenz, this one is for you.


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## Noreaster (Oct 7, 2012)

Showing off. Actually not so much since doing fancy stuff with a 20lbs bag on your back is damn near impossible. Travis Rice I am not...


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## Rogue (Nov 29, 2014)

the pics of you riding with the untouched glistening snow around you....ah now that is a sweet sweet sight! Stoked for you!


Whoa is that you going over the rocks ! How did that turn out ?? So sick!


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

Yay! Gorgeous! So the conditions got very good in Valdez compared to the slow start in Alyeska I reckon? Beautiful riding pics! Did you make them with an action cam while riding? 

Lol, I forgot to tighten the straps of the touring pack for descent yesterday, did a jump and got a feel of how my horse must feel when I'm off-balanced over a jump :laugh: Inertia of 1/5th of ones body weight on ones back makes for quite a swing.

Haha, sweet Jones marketing pic . How did the MT perform? Did you choose that one cos you rode switch as well?


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## Noreaster (Oct 7, 2012)

Rogue said:


> the pics of you riding with the untouched glistening snow around you....ah now that is a sweet sweet sight! Stoked for you!
> 
> 
> Whoa is that you going over the rocks ! How did that turn out ?? So sick!


Thanks! Rocky drops like that are no problem. Look worse than they are. We've hit a couple of really steep spines that were technically difficult. *Those* got my heart going. 



neni said:


> Yay! Gorgeous! So the conditions got very good in Valdez compared to the slow start in Alyeska I reckon? Beautiful riding pics! Did you make them with an action cam while riding?
> 
> Lol, I forgot to tighten the straps of the touring pack for descent yesterday, did a jump and got a feel of how my horse must feel when I'm off-balanced over a jump :laugh: Inertia of 1/5th of ones body weight on ones back makes for quite a swing.
> 
> Haha, sweet Jones marketing pic . How did the MT perform? Did you choose that one cos you rode switch as well?


Yeah, the further away from the coast you go the better it gets. While it was raining in Valdez, it never got above freezing in the hills. The first week was the sunniest and the pack was stable, then there were a couple of days with maybe 5" of snow. But nothing like this past week. The snow has been unbelievable. The storm dropping feet of fresh right now is the absolute bomb. Whoever comes for the week starting tomorrow - they're in for the time of their life, lucky bastards (not that I have any right to complain, heheh). That is if they could find a stable slope. The avy hazard is very high right now and we've been seeing increasing slide activity flying around. 

I actually left MT at home, and took both men's and women's Flags instead. Yeah, the idea behind MT was the convenience of riding switch but then I was seeing the turn in the weather pattern and made a last moment decision in favor of the longer nose. I've been rotating bindings based on how my knee feels but riding primarily switch because of the pain. 

Taking pics have been a pain in the ass. They are all taken by our phone cameras. None of us own any action cams and we are just not that much into photographing our experiences to begin with. I have iPhone 6+ and the thing is huge, great for using as a business tool but a bitch to hold in your hand while flying down a steep Chugach slope. Some pics are actually video grabs, they aren't that bad or wouldn't be if I could hold the phone steadily. That's what it looks like at the top.



















And this is what it looks like when I pay too much attention to the phone and not where I'm going.


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

Noreaster said:


> Whoever comes for the week starting tomorrow - they're in for the time of their life, lucky bastards (not that I have any right to complain, heheh).


Urgh... I feel a lill kick in the stomach... _that_ would be the week we'd go if I wouldn't had changed plans last summer to go to Japan this year instead (no real remorse, Japan was great but still... it's itching readin your comment )



> I actually left MT at home, and took both men's and women's Flags instead.


Fangirl :laugh:


> Taking pics have been a pain in the ass. They are all taken by our phone cameras. None of us own any action cams and we are just not that much into photographing our experiences to begin with. I have iPhone 6+ and the thing is huge, great for using as a business tool but a bitch to hold in your hand while flying down a steep Chugach slope. Some pics are actually video grabs, they aren't that bad or wouldn't be if I could hold the phone steadily.


Wow, this makes your pics even more astonishing! Props on the quality! I had only once tried to use the smartphone while riding to capture pics... from the cold wind while riding the battery was sucked out within 2mins. 
Yeah, to capture those riding moments is pretty hard. We have no pics at all from riding any steep pitch cos nobody will stop in those parts and risk his life just for a pic. Or you're a tiny little dot on a pic taken from far away... And... during the time there, one's so in the moment, one forgets to to take pics or thinks it's unnecessary... but... once your back? The memory fades, time flies... 

Glad you got such good conditions! Enjoy! Jelly as hell


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## snowangel99 (Mar 11, 2016)

Amazing amazing amazing. I am in awe of all the pics. You are one bad ass mom noreaster. I want to be you when I grow up  ...or when I learn not to stop chairlifts lol


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## deagol (Mar 26, 2014)

Obviously that medical issue isn't holding you back ....
Looks like you had a great trip and were riding very very well....


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