Last week, we spent 4 days with Last Frontier Heliskiing at their Ripley Creek Lodge in Stweart, BC, Canada – one block from Hyder, AK.

There are few places on Earth that hold this much raw, natural beauty.

We flew through sunny skies, revealing spectacular vistas at every turn.

The terrain here is rugged, snow-plastered, and glacier-hewn.

We skied 7 different zones that held vistas of Alaska, British Columbia, the Pacific Ocean, jagged peaks, rolling glaciers, wild wind lips, hanging cornices, and 360º horizons full of nothing but snowy summits. 

The real magic of Last Frontier Heliskiing is that they have phenomenal tree skiing – which allows them to ski on bad weather days which means a very low chance of down days.

“We’ve averaged less than half a down day per week so far [2019 season], this has been the case for the last three seasons. On average, we usually get less than one down day a week.” – Last Frontier Heliskiing on 3/25/19

Contrast this against Alaska where if you have bad weather you could be not skiing for days or weeks.  All the while the crew from Last Frontier will be getting blasted with faceshots in killer tree zones.  We once spent a month in Haines, AK and flew 1 day…

Advantage: Last Frontier.

Last Frontier Heliskiing

Quick Facts:

• Single largest heliski tenure on earth at over 3,500-square-miles
• Unlimited high alpine (glaciated) and tree skiing
• 960 inches of average annual snowfall
• 4 guests per helicopter
• 2 remote lodges at Bell 2 and Stewart, BC
• Located in Northwestern British Columbia on the edge of the Alaskan Panhandle
• Sauna, hot tub and massage service

This place is big, it’s remote, they get a ton of snow, and the terrain is world class.

960″ inches of snow per year and the largest heliski tenure on Earth?  We can work with that…

THE TERRAIN:

• Largest heli tenure on Earth at 3,500-square-miles
• Some of the most rugged, snow-laden terrain we’ve seen anywhere on Earth
• Stellar tree skiing makes sure bad weather days are still great

THE TREE SKIING:

• High-quality tree skiing is available on bad weather days which avoids down days and keeps you skiing
• In Alaska heli skiing, there are no trees and if you have bad weather, you don’t ski
• “We’ve averaged less than half a down day per week so far [2019 season], this has been the case for the last three seasons. On average, we usually get less than one down day a week.” – Last Frontier Heliskiing on 3/25/19

THE TOWN:

• Stewart, BC is clean, simple, ancient-feeling, antique-strewn, and just downright cool
• You feel like you’re in Alaska here and you basically are, as the town of Hyder, Alaska is just down the street
• You really feel like you’re back in the year 1898 when walking around on the boardwalks and gawking at the 1960’s tractor engines and antique sewing machines strategically placed about the town
• Stewart, BC has restaurants, bars, grocery stores, and is about 1 block long

THE LODGE:

• The Ripley Creek lodge is straight out of the 1800’s but with all the comforts of 2019 
• Beds are comfy, rooms are spacious, bathrooms are large, and there is plenty of room to hang out your gear to dry after a big day in the mountains

THE FOOD:

• We ate breakfast and dinner each day with all the guides and clients in the lodge and lunch on the mountain
• Breakfast was a high-quality buffet with yogurt, berries, nuts, oatmeal, eggs, bacon, pancakes, hashbrowns, tea, coffee, toast, English muffins, muffins, croissants, and more.
• Dinner was a 4-course affair consisting of appetizer, salad, main course, dessert
• Lunch was served on the mountain and consisted of sandwiches, wraps, cookies, brownies, candy bars, soup, chili, and more
• You are not going to go hungry on this trip and the food is damn good

THE BOTTOM LINE:

• If you want to ski Alaska style terrain and avoid down days, Last Frontier Heli is for you

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