My best days of cat and heli were the first trips in 1997-99. Since then the weather has often not cooperated, culminating in last year's debacle after the Tropical Punch rain.
The previous week's weather was not ideal up here. It had not snowed in over a week, which is not a big deal since Mike Wiegele has 1.2 million acres of terrain. But last Wednesday and Thursday high winds scoured the alpine, leaving a breakable crust and confining subsequent skiing to the trees. Also it was -25C last Thursday and Friday, which even Patrick might consider cold.
Weather has moderated, though it's still nippy by SoCal standards, below 0F at night and topping out at 10-15F during the day. It's very pleasant when the sun is out, but I have had a few problems late in the day if I cool off after lunch or if I've been sweating earlier.
Mike Wiegele sorts the standard Deluxe tours either in 3 groups of 10 with 2 guides in a 212 helicopter, or 4 groups of 4 with one guide in an A-Star. As a first-timer with Wiegele I was in an A-Star group of just 3 guests on Sunday, which included a first-time ever heli and powder skier. The terrain we were skiing also had a substantial amount of wind and sun crust, so it was often slow going. With morning transceiver drills you don't get out the first day until about 10:30 anyway, so we had skied just 10K when we came in at 3PM.
After Sunday dinner my guide came over and offered me a spot in one of the 212 groups. I had not really been chomping at the bit as new snow is expected later this week; thus I didn't really want to get trashed the first day. Nonetheless I accepted the offer. In this new group I was below average but not holding up the group so I hung in there for 3 days before my legs demanded a break.
Monday we took a van shuttle north from Blue River before taking the 212 into the Cariboos. There was just a dusting of new snow overnight, but conditions were way better than Sunday. It was all tree skiing, with a lot of varying pitches. Fairly demanding terrain and similar to my single days at Selkirk-Tangiers in 1999 and CMH Kootenay in 2002. About 18K Monday, also similar to the aforementioned trips. My former group in the A-Star also had much better snow Monday, so Sunday was just bad luck in terrain location for the A-Star groups.
Tuesday we had some new snow, average about 6 inches, and it snowed fairly hard in the late morning. The snow is of blower water content, so quality of skiing is still dependent upon the prior surface. We were on the Monashee side Tuesday, still in the trees, and in some areas powder skiing is outstanding now.
In early morning and after lunch Tuesday we were skiing some areas Mike Wiegele has leased out for timber cutting, with the proviso that some logging be done on a spaced/gladed basis :). Lower down there's some clear cuts that are wind-exposed and crusty, and it can be tough going for the last 500 vertical or so to reach a flat heli pickup spot. This is a phenomenon I've observed at most heli operations.
Wednesday and Thursday skiing have improved to a level that makes these trips memorable. Wednesday Mike Wiegele himself was guiding one of the other group using our 212. This area, Finn Creek, had consistent 1-2 foot deep snow in the trees. This is rolling terrain that really keeps you going hitting the spaces: the type of tree skiing lots of you FTO woods aficionados would love. Heli pickups were sometimes tough, needing to find creek crossings and sometimes the heli could only lift out half the group at a time. But quality was so outstanding that these minor hassles were worth it.
Wednesday afternoon I could tell that my legs were really worked. With 3 more days to go I reluctantly requested to take a break and ski with an easier group. So Thursday I was back in the A-Star, though with stronger skiers than Sunday. Thursday turned out to be as good a day as Wednesday. Snow was of similar quality, but in more open subalpine terrain, rather similar to the lower mountain terrain (Hobacks, etc.) I skied at Jackson in powder in January. It's a real plus here that with so many groups and attentive guides nearly everyone can get a good ability fit.
Friday I'm with the same group as Thursday and were on the Cariboo side with the first peek into the alpine. This whole group is from SoCal and we all noticed the dip in temperatures today. It never got above -15C at ~6,000 feet and it was -20C at the 2 alpine drops at 7,600 feet. Scenery is of course spectacular up there, but snow is fairly packed in by wind. Thus we still did most of our skiing in the trees where the snow was lighter and deeper. Supposedly 70% of Wiegele's terrain is alpine, but they've had 100 customers in the trees all week and there sure seems to be plenty of powder to go around. One of our group had to go in early due to numb feet. I've learned to anticipate temperature issues and try to bundle up/ventilate before I actually get too cold or hot. But I find it tricky to avoid chilling at lunch if it's cold and/or snowy.
The past 3 days have been outstanding, and in terms of terrain, amount of skiing and snow quality that's similar to my batting average (50%) on prior heli day trips. I would place 2 of my 19 snowcat days in that category for those who may be weighing the relative merits. The main shortfall with the cat is that you get 1/2 to 2/3 as much skiing per day, although 4 of the 19 cat days had no powder at all. 2 of my attempted 17 heli days were no-fly for weather, but if you do get up they will find some powder, even if you have to thrash through some difficult snow at the bottom to reach a pickup point.
With a full week of heliskiing I showed uncharacteristic restraint and switched groups after Wednesday to keep from burning out. I felt I had reached an equilibrium Thursday and Friday that I could keep skiing at the same level, enough to keep going though obviously not as hard as with fresh legs. Unfortunately I failed to show similar discretion at the final dinner last night. After 2 plates of Maine lobster, soup, salad, wine, prime rib and 4 desserts, my digestive system staged a revolt at midnight. Wiegele does offer a half day skiing Saturday before shipping us back to Kamloops after lunch. Needless to say I'm in no condition for either skiing or lunch today. Reported skiing temps are a brisk 0F this morning, and in my current state I get seriously chilled just walking from my room to the office buildings. These ailments tend to be short-lived, so I am optimistic I will still be able to ski the next 2 days at Sun Peaks.
The amenities at Mike Wiegele are 5-star. No matter how hard you ski, you could probably gain weight in a week here with the food spreads they put out. My room has a jacuzzi tub and steam shower to help the recovery process. And they have a staff of masseuses, whose schedules for the whole week mostly fill up the day we arrive. As the founder of the operation Mike is still active here, guides a group, and mingles with the guests at dinner.
If you go on the wiegele.com website you will see that a week here is not cheap. But there's no extra charge if snow is good and you overrun the 100K vertical standard. And I hear that in good weeks 130-150K is not uncommon. That is more likely up on the glaciers, which is easier skiing than the trees with less regrouping. On our last tree run Monday I followed the wrong traverse track
and about thus half our group plus
the tail guide skied to a different pickup point than the lead guide and the other half.During this prime week Wiegele World is about 90% full: about 70 Deluxe customers (3 groups per heli for ~9K CDN) and another 25 in private groups for ~20K CDN. Our group Monday had room for several employees. Tuesday 3 new people came in on 5-day packages. And there are only 3 A-Star groups instead of the full allotment of 4. Therefore, even though it is not stated in the brochures, you can come in here for less than a week on short notice (one of the new Tuesday arrivals booked 3 weeks ago) if it's not full.
It is easier to get into Mike Wiegele heliskiing now than historically due to the recent strength of the Canadian dollar. Americans were previously 70% of clientele but now only 40%. A Calgary skier in our Monday-Wednesday group said that many avid Calgary skiers have not heard of Wiegele, which surprised me after the decades of Warren Miller movies. Thus the attempted poll.
Standby prices for a day of skiing are just 500CDN. That's less than you pay for a 3-run package at Whistler or RK, and here you'll get 10 runs or so and like the week packages no surcharge for extra vertical. I think chances of getting in on standby aren't bad considering a few of the 100 people will get injured or just too tired and take a day off.
My overall review of this week is very positive and if you're considering splurging for a one week heli trip, Wiegele should absolutely be on the short list.
