Canadian Mountain Holidays

Why Choose CMH

As the world's first Heli-Skiing operator, we've been practicing snow safety and risk management for a long time. We have extensive experience in these areas as well as strong connections within the overall industry of avalanche safety and snow science.

Our 30+ year relationship with Alpine Helicopters is also noteworthy. No other Heli-Skiing operator in the world has access to the helicopter fleet and specialized pilots that we have supporting our operations.

We are a member in very good standing of HeliCat Canada , which sets strict safety standards for operating a Helicopter ski operation. This membership assures that our guests are skiing with certified guides who are members of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides and/or the International Federation of Mountain Guides Association and follow a strict set of operating procedures.

Our Mountain Safety Manager, Colani Bezzola, focuses solely on all aspects of snow stability evaluation, hazard assessment, and risk management procedures. Colani has been involved in instructing avalanche courses, Canadian Avalanche Association (CAA) Education Committee work, developing the Industry Information Exchange (InfoEx) – a cooperative service managed by the CAA providing a daily exchange of technical snow, weather and avalanche information, as well as our in-house, award-winning SnowBase program and WebEx information exchange.

Our comprehensive snow and avalanche management system includes procedures for:

•  collecting weather and snow information;

•  evaluating snowpack stability;

•  assessing hazards in the terrain; and

•  determining an appropriate skiing program tailored to on-the-ground conditions.

Each of our areas has a dedicated snow safety guide who makes additional observations as required to facilitate informed decisions by the guiding team. Observations are shared between all CMH areas on a daily conference call, and relayed to the Canadian Avalanche Centre, where they are compiled in a daily, industry-wide information exchange. As well, we actively participate in ongoing avalanche research projects with the University of Calgary and the University of British Columbia .

Your role in risk management
Despite all we do to optimize the risk of Heli-Skiing, it is not risk-free and there are some risks you must share with us. You need to carefully read, complete and sign our waiver to indicate that you understand this. The safety briefings and training you will receive upon arrival will further explain these risks and allow you to participate with us in managing them to the fullest extent possible.

Questions? Contact our Mountain Safety Manager at safety@cmhinc.com.