Heli Skiing
Heli skiing in Chile sounds like a powderhound dream, something that is only possible in a Warren Miller movie. All that virgin snow amidst the spectacular terrain and spectacular vistas up high in the Andes Mountains - it’s a unique experience, but not an opportunity that is exclusively for the rich and famous (or Warren Miller stunt skiers). With flexible packages that include single runs, even mere mortals can enjoy a heli ski experience in Chile.
Chile Heli Skiing
There are only a handful of heli ski operators in Chile. A couple of operators are located in the Maipo Valley, a two hour drive southeast of
Santiago. Other heliskiing is centred around the high profile ski resorts near Santiago including
Portillo,
Valle Nevado and
La Parva. These resort based operations provide the advantage of being able to mix and match heli skiing with resort skiing. Lift accessed skiing also provides a back up activity if the helicopter is grounded due to bad weather.
Types of Heliskiing and Heli-Boarding
Powder South and Chilean Heli-Ski offer luxury multi-day packages that are similar to the typical
Canada heli skiing style with companies such as CMH. The 7 day (or 3 day) packages include accommodation, meals, and transfers. A couple of tour companies also offer week-long heli-skiing trips to Chile, but they just use Powder South as the ground operator.
The resort based Andes Heliski (La Parva) and Chile Powder Guides (Valle Nevado) also offer week long packages as well as single day trips (Valle Nevado used to offer single day and single run packages). Portillo Heli-Skiing offers single or multiple run packages. They have a booking system that is a bit strange but considering accommodation packages at Portillo are week-long, it sort of works.
There are also various tour companies that organise ski trips to South America that include these single day heli-ski options in the itinerary.
Chile is a novel ski holiday destination, so some of the North American heli-ski companies have also started offering special trips to Chile.
Wasatch Powderbird Guides (based at
Snowbird Utah) is one example.
Heli Ski and Heli Board Terrain in Chile
The Andes Mountains are huge and some of the helicopter drop-offs are as high as 4,300 metres or even 5,000 metres. The views way up there are breathtaking, or maybe that’s just the lack of oxygen at this altitude. High elevation ensures that the snow quality is consistently excellent, and the continental snowpack is reasonably stable so skiers and boarders can make the most of some of the steep pitches.
The height of the mountains also provides plenty of vertical. Slopes average an altitude drop of 1,300 metres, and some of the slopes are super long with up to 2,400 metres of vertical skiing or boarding. The quads are likely to be fried after a run that long!
Comparable to
heli skiing New Zealand and
heli skiing Alaska, the Chile heli-ski terrain is largely treeless with alpine bowls, couloirs and big mountain faces.
All of the heli skiing in Chile is in a small group format with a guide to guest ratio of 1:4. Unlike Canada there aren’t any big Hueys left-over from Vietnam days where they can pack 12 people in a helicopter.
Typical Heli Ski Costs
Costs of heli-skiing in Chile are similar to
heli skiing USA, which is not surprising considering that much of it is charged in US dollars. The cost is really dependent upon the currency exchange, but generally heli-skiing in Chile is much more expensive than
New Zealand heli skiing and somewhat pricier than
heli skiing Canada.
Week long packages that include accommodation, meals and transfers range from $8,850 to $10,600 (2009 prices in USD). At Portillo, a single run costs $295 with subsequent runs at $165. At La Parva single day packages range from $975 to $1,733 for 3-4 runs.
It may sound expensive, but consider heli skiing in Chile as a fabulous investment in the joys of powder skiing. The flight alone through the Andes is worth the money, and then you also get to ride down in virgin snow.
Go Heli Skiing
Heliskiing in the Andes of Chile is an unforgettable experience, and one that is guaranteed to use up all the memory on your digital camera. Live it up. You only live once!
Photos thanks to Ashley Muller - Aussie Snowboarding Legend
Chile Heli Skiing Listings
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Santiago Adventures - Heli + Cat Skiing Tour
7 day / 6 nights heli & cat skiing tour combining 2 days of cat skiing + 3 days of heli skiing in some of the most exciting terrain in the Andes. Package includes acommodation, meals, transfers +++.
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