[sponsored by Black Ops Valdez Heli]

Thompson Pass near Valdez, Alaska has some of the best heli ski terrain on Earth and they just got absolutely buried in snow with up to 10″ of snowfall per hour resulting in 10-feet of snow in only 5-days last week.

All this big early season snow has got the crew over at Black Ops Valdez Heli is fired up about the upcoming heli ski season.

“This snowfall came in wet and heavy plastering the Chugach. This creates a great base for this season ensuring much better coverage and conditions than we have seen in a few years.” – Josh Swierk, Owner/Operator of Black Ops Valdez Heli

Thompson Pass, AK just saw one of the most intense snowfalls ever recorded anywhere last week on December 6th, 2017:

• 15″ of snow in 90 minutes. 
• That’s 1.7″ of snow every 10 minutes for an hour and a half…  

This Thompson pass storm ranks amongst the most intense snowfalls ever recorded.  The other two being Lake Effect snowfall events off Lake Ontario:

• 12″ of snowfall in 60 minutes at Copenhagen, NY on December 2nd, 1966
• 17.5″ of snowfall in 120 minutes in Oswego, NY on January 26th, 1972

According to the National Weather Service, Thompson Pass ended up seeing 40″ of snow in the first 12-hours, 52″ of snowfall in the first 24-hours, and 120″ of snow in 5-days last week.

All this big early season snow bodes well for the upcoming heli ski season in Valdez.

Black Ops Valdez Heli operates off Thompson Pass, AK and they are more than just a little fired up about the upcoming heli season. 

“This storm dumped so hard and fast it was hard not to feel apocalyptic. DOT and local

Snow removal crews, some of the best in the world, just couldn’t keep up!  This storm has set up a terrific base for us and there will only be more and more coming our way soon.” – Josh Swierk, Owner/Operator of Black Ops Valdez Heli

Black Ops Valdez Heli is the way to go for heli skiing in the Valdez/Thompson Pass area because of the enormous amount of varied terrain they can access and their huge range of ways to get you on the hill.  With most operations, if the heli’s don’t fly, you don’t ski.

That’s NOT the case at Black Ops Valdez Heli since they’re primed and set up to take you cat skiing, sled skiing, ice climbing, and more.

“We don’t often see storms like this one later in the season which is generally why we operate when we do, March and April.  But occasionally larger storms do hit us during our season but we have diversified our operation and our activities to keep people skiing and riding as much as they want while with us with our 3 snow cats, and fleet of ski-doo mountain sleds.” – Josh Swierk, Owner/Operator of Black Ops Valdez Heli

Black Ops Valdez Heli truly has something for everyone delivering terrain varying from 20º to 65º according to what their clients want.  Don’t think Alaska heli skiing isn’t for you just because you don’t ski like the guys and gals in the movies.

All this big, early season snowfall is looking damn good for Black Ops Valdez Heli’s operational season (March & April) off Thompson Pass. 

Big, early season snow equates to a solid snowpack and a solid snowpack leads to a killer heli ski season off Thompson Pass, AK with Black Ops Valdez Heli.

Valdez Area Snow Stats:

• Thompson Pass = 552″ of snow annually. 
• Valdez = 300″ of snow annually.
• The higher elevations of Thompson Pass = about 1,000″ of snowfall per year.