heliskiing

thumb Heli-skiing is off-trail, downhill skiing or snowboarding where the skier reaches the top of the mountain by helicopter, instead of a ski lift.

== History == The earliest record of heli-skiing is that of Canadian Philippe Bieler, who in the summer of 1953, while working near the Nechako reservoir in British Columbia, was dropped from the newly licensed Bell helicopter 47D-1 for a ski run. In the late 1950s, helicopters were used in Alaska and Europe to transport skiers to remote places. But the idea of commercialising heliskiing first came from a Canadian geologist Art Patterson. Patterson also used helicopters for his works during summer, however, he noticed that during winter time there was no use for the helicopters. Since he was an enthusiastic skier, he thought about using the helicopters to transport skiers to the top of the mountains. He teamed up with Hans Gmoser who was an experienced mountain guide and created a business together. They charged $20 for their first day of heliskiing, however, due to unfavorable weather conditions and a small Bell 47G-2 helicopter, Patterson decided the business is too risky and withdrew from the venture. However, Gmoser continued in the business idea and in 1965 commercialized the activity in Canada by founding CMH, Canadian Mountain Holidays, a heliskiing company which combined lodging, transport and guiding. The biggest growth in heliskiing was in the 1970s and 1980s, when this type of skiing became widely commercialized.