In this guide
A lift takes you where every other skier that morning is already headed. A helicopter takes you somewhere none of them can reach before lunch. That is the entire pitch of heli skiing, and almost everything else about it follows from that one difference.
What heli skiing actually is
Heli skiing is skiing or snowboarding away from the marked runs, where a helicopter replaces the chairlift, as Wikipedia's own entry defines it. There is no patrol, no groomed line back down and usually no other tracks on the slope you are about to ski. The idea started in the 1960s and has since spread to a short list of mountain ranges with the right combination of terrain, snowpack and airspace rules to support it.
Standard resort skis are built for packed, groomed snow, so most heli operators put guests on wider skis made for deep snow, matched to conditions rather than to whatever a rental shop hands out. That single equipment swap is often the first sign a heli day is a different kind of skiing, not a faster way to reach the same terrain.
What is heli touring, and how is it different from heli skiing?
Heli touring uses a helicopter to get you into the mountains, then asks you to climb and ski under your own power. In heli skiing the helicopter flies you to the top of every descent. In touring it drops a guided group, or takes you to a lodge, and the day is spent on skins, climbing and skiing, until it flies you back out. The format is described by Kulkea at a lodge near Golden, British Columbia, and by Ski Magazine at an operator in Washington, describing it in 2012 as a growing part of traditional heli operations. Both describe North America, so treat the format as a general idea, not a description of every range.
A heli bump sits between the two. Within a touring day, the group adds one helicopter ride to the top of a nearby peak, which opens up more remote basins. One shortcut inside a day on skins.
If you are choosing between them for a family or a group of friends, ask three things:
- How much do you want to climb? Touring is a day of steady effort. One Canadian lodge guest averaged four to five thousand feet of vertical a day over a week.
- How many descents do you want? Heli skiing is about the number of runs the helicopter can give you. Touring is about the time you spend moving through the mountains.
- Who is in the group? A format that suits the strongest skier may not suit everyone, so choose the one the whole group will enjoy.
Touring is often presented as the lighter, more accessible way into this terrain. A listing of heli operators describes a touring package that way, and at that Canadian lodge in 2019 a day of heli skiing cost more than a day of touring. Prices differ by operator and year, so ask for a quote on the actual trip. For a family with teenagers or a group of friends, a heli skiing day usually fits best as one chosen day inside a week of resort skiing, not the whole trip.
What we arrange around Bariloche is heli skiing and cat skiing. If touring is what you have in mind, tell us and we will talk it through with you.
The skill and fitness bar
Operators are not looking for racing technique. Mabey Ski describes the actual bar in plain terms: strong parallel turns with a pole plant down a steeper blue or a mellower black run, and skiing ungroomed, bumpy, variable snow without falling every other turn. Some operators also run a simple fitness check, thirty to forty jumps from side to side on both feet without stopping to recover, because a full day of untracked powder asks more of your legs than a normal resort day does.
None of that is a safety credential. It is an athletic bar, and a notable gap: that same guide, like every other source we reviewed, never mentions an avalanche safety training requirement or certification, even though most operators treat one as a real gating criterion. Ask directly before you book rather than assuming it is covered. Touring adds the climbing, so ask the operator what they expect of you on skis and on the ascent. On gear, North Cascade Heli, for one, supplies a transceiver, probe and shovel at no charge if you need them. Confirm with your operator what is included before you pack.
How risky heli skiing actually is
The two hazards that matter are avalanche danger and tree wells, both consequences of skiing terrain nobody has patrolled or packed down. A guide reads the slope and picks the line. You carry a transceiver, a probe and a shovel, and increasingly an airbag pack as standard kit rather than an extra.
One persistent misconception is worth correcting directly: nobody jumps out of a hovering helicopter. The aircraft lands, or comes close enough to it, and you step out. We have not found a published accident rate for heli skiing from any source we would trust enough to repeat here, which is itself worth knowing: ask the operator what their own safety record and protocol look like, rather than relying on an industry wide number nobody actually publishes.
Where we plan it
Heli skiing happens in a short list of mountain ranges, and the rules vary sharply by country. Some ban it outright. Most overviews stop at the northern hemisphere and leave out the south.
We arrange heli skiing around Bariloche, in the Argentine Andes, alongside cat skiing. It is one of a small set of ways we fill a ski day when the short Patagonian season calls for it, next to an afternoon sailing on Lake Nahuel Huapi or a quieter day on the groomed runs at Cerro Catedral.
How a heli day fits into the week
Most heli ski pages sell the day as a standalone purchase: pick a date, pay, show up. That works fine if a heli day is the whole trip.
It works differently when the rest of the week is already planned on the ground. In Bariloche, a heli day is one of a short list of alternatives agreed in advance, chosen the morning of based on what the mountain and the weather actually allow, not booked months ahead as a fixed line item. That is not a compromise. It is the only honest way to plan around a short Patagonian winter.
If a heli day is part of a Bariloche ski week you are planning, tell us the group and the dates and we will build the trip around it and tell you what is realistic. For what drives the cost of a heli day, read our guide to heli skiing cost.
Common questions
The questions we hear most often about heli skiing, answered directly below.
Related reading
Common questions
What is heli touring?
It is ski touring where a helicopter handles the access and you do the rest on skins. At one Canadian lodge, Kulkea describes relying on the helicopter only to bring you to and from the lodge, while heli skiing flies you up to the peaks each day.
What is a heli bump?
A heli bump is one extra helicopter ride to the top of a nearby peak, added to a day of touring. Ski Magazine's report on a Washington operator says it opens access to more remote basins.
What does heli skiing mean?
It is skiing or snowboarding away from the marked runs, where a helicopter drops you at the top instead of a lift. Wikipedia's definition traces the idea back to the 1960s, and it runs on ungroomed, unpatrolled terrain almost everywhere it happens.
How risky is heli skiing?
The two real hazards are avalanche danger and tree wells, not the helicopter itself. Guests carry a transceiver, probe and shovel, often with an airbag pack, and Wikipedia's own misconceptions note that nobody jumps from an airborne aircraft. No source we reviewed, including that one, publishes an accident rate, so treat any specific risk number with caution.
Is heli skiing available in Patagonia?
Yes. Heli skiing and cat skiing are experiences we arrange around a Bariloche ski week, always subject to conditions and to the operator's call on the day, exactly as we describe in our guide to skiing in July and August.
- Heli skiing
- Bariloche
- Mountain experiences
