The mountains surrounding Sun Valley have received 1-2 feet of snow over the past week with another significant storm inbound for tonight/tomorrow. Conditions are first rate. Now is the time to get out.
Video of some great powder boarding this weekend.
Sun Valley Heli Skiing – Feb 20, 2011 from EpicQuest on Vimeo.
Some footage of the great powder conditions currently available in the mountains surrounding Sun Valley.
Not bad for Day 1.
This week our Alaskan operation, Chugach Powder Guides started their 15th year of operation. We started with a full load of guests from Switzerland, Austria, Germany and the US. This week we flew 5 out of 7 days with cold temps, sunny skies and unbelievable powder. This is just the we like to see things start.
Being Valentines week, it seems that love was in the air as we had two heli ski marriage proposals and an actual wedding for two of our German guests in the CPG cat area. CONGRATULATIONS to Alex And Gabi. The ceremony was performed by CPG General Manager Chris Owens under a full moon and a perfect blanket of stars with the CPG crew there to witness and celebrate the event. With a bonfire and crystal clear views of the Girdwood valley, it was really a night to remember.
We are currently getting a fresh coat of paint and have fresh refills every run in the snowcat area. The birds are here, the crew is primed and week 1 is a thing of history. Check out the photos from this week below. There are still a few seats left scattered here and there through the season, so come up to Alaska and get your fix!
Have you been heli skiing with us and captured your memories on video? If so, show us what you’ve got! The best video wins a free day of heli skiing in 2012. The submissions are coming in, so make sure to submit your video by the end of the season to our Facebook page.
I was thinking about Warren Miller today. Ever since I was a kid, each year at his shows he would say, “…you’ll just be one year older when you do.” Today, about 40 years later, I finally did take his advice and went skiing with the great folks at Sun Valley Heli-Guides. Why did I wait so long? What a great day!
The day began early with a great breakfast at the Sun Valley Lobby Lounge that could hardly be called ‘Continental. Eggs, fresh pasties, a selection of meats and fresh fruit were laid out in culinary splendor.
The guides for the day were Bozo Cardoza and Pat Deal – each long-time locals. The groups were pretty small with only four people per guide. I definitely felt like I was getting the personal attention that I was hoping for. Even after sucking some big air after a couple of head-over-heel tumbles, Pat was vary patient and encouraging for an old guy who had put off his dream for way too long. We skied the high peaks of the Boulder Range, topping out at 10,600 feet and dropping in for over 3,000 blissful and uninterrupted vertical. Knife-ridged summits fell away on both sides of the landing zones. Big lines and steeps. I had to ask myself the question, “Am I really going to ski that?” Oh yeah, and it was great! Skiing knee-deep, untracked snow one week after the last big dump was a real treat.
Afterwards, I told my wife, Jana, that it was one of the top five days of my life. She asked, “What were the other four?” Quickly, I explained that the birth of our two children, the day we got married and the day I met her. Luckily, that satisfied her curiosity or I might’ve spent the night on the couch.
I went back to re-living the day’s adventures both above and within the mountains surrounding Sun Valley. In short, Sun Valley Heli-Guides – a division of Epic Quest – know how to take care of people and put on a good show. After 35 years skiing here and relishing Warren Miller’s commentary, I finally put everything aside to take advantage of the experience of a lifetime. And so should all of us or, simply put, we’ll just be one year older when we do.
Here’s an inside look at the making of the Cody Townsend and Henrick Windstedt Girdwood, Alaska segment filmed with Chugach Powder Guides / EpicQuest in Girdwood, Alaska. If You haven’t seen it yet, be sure to grab a copy of “The Way I See It”, by Matchstick Productions.
Go to skimovie.bnqt.com for more videos.
2011 Sun Valley Team photo. Thank you to our sponsor, Salomon, for our great uniforms this year….
Check out Cody Townsend and Henrik Windstedt battling it out in Girdwood, AK. It’s always great to work with the Salomon crew.
It’s been our pleasure to work with Kim Reichhelm for nearly 15 years. Kim has been leading her guests on amazing ski adventures all over the world with incredible attention to detail, ski quality, superior guiding and overall guest experience. Check out her new website at http://www.skiwithkim.com and join her with us here in Alaska for winter or Kings and Corn experiences.
Shoot Alaska like a pro with Scott Markewitz.
If you’ve picked up a ski or snowboard magazine in the last 20 years, the chances are, you have one of Scott Markewitzs’ images burned into your memory. For a professional photographer like Scott , the ability to capture world class images requires a combination of vision, skill and being in the right place at the right time.
Scott Markewitz and EpicQuest have joined forces to bring those elements together and teach you how to shoot skiing and snowboarding in the big mountains of Alaska just like you’ve always seen in your favorite magazines. In addition, we’ve brought some other key players to the table to stack the deck and give you an experience that not only teaches you how to get the images, but also how to approach the scene safely and what photo editors seek when they review photos for publication.
The Team:
Scott Markewitz:
Scott Markewitz is recognized as one of the most influential outdoor photographers in the industry. His images have appeared on more than 400 US and International magazine covers, including Powder, Ski, Skiing, Outside, Men’s Journal, Bike, Mountain Bike, Bicycling, and Runner’s World, and in advertising campaigns for most major ski and outdoor brands. He first came to Alaska in 1992 and has returned almost every season since then to capture images of the best skiers and snowboarders in the world pushing their limits on the most incredible terrain on the planet.
Scott was featured in Men’s Journal as one of the World’s Greatest Adventure Photographers. He is the only photographer in Ski Magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential Skiers of All Time and the 2000 recipient of Ski Utah’s Excellence in Journalism Award. His images have also received awards from APA, PDN, and The Spider Awards.
Scott will teach you how to get the most out of your camera in the mountains of Alaska. You will work on skills for shooting on slope, from the air and from remote (Barbie) peaks. You’ll learn how to shoot when the weather and light are perfect and how to capture imagery when it’s snowing or when Mother Nature dishes out less than ideal conditions.
David Reddick:
David Reddick is the Photo Editor and Staff Photographer at Powder Magazine and Bike Magazine and has been with these titles since 1992. His job involves collaborations with many of the world’s best action and adventure photographers, weaving their work through the pages of two of the finer titles in action sports.
A world renowned photographer himself, David’s images have left readers awed and inspired for more than 2 decades. In his role as Photo Editor for Powder Magazine, David sifts through thousands of photographs every year selecting only the most riveting and engaging for publication.
David will work with the group to help you understand what a top end photo editor looks for in images that ultimately provide impact and feed the enthusiasm for the readers of Powder Magazine. He’ll also teach you the common mistakes that are bound to send promising images to the circular file.
Jim Conway (The Sarge):
Jim Conway is Lead Guide at EpicQuest’s, Chugach Powder Guides operation in Girdwood , Alaska. Jim is one of the most experienced Heli-Ski guides in Alaska dating all the way back to the 1991 where he competed in the first World Extreme Skiing Championships. Jim continued coming back to Alaska pioneering many of Valdez’s notable first descents while working with the likes of TGR, Warren Miller, and Rap films. In 1994, Jim turned his passion for the mountains and technical engineering background into career in guiding film crews and clients into Alaska’s wealth of ski and snowboard terrain. In 1999 Jim became the Lead Guide for Teton Gravity Research, accompanying the world’s best ski and snowboard athletes into the world’s most challenging terrain.
Jim quite possibly has more experience than any other guide in the world with putting photographers and cinematographers in the right spot to capture perfect images while assuring their safety. Jim will work with the group on balancing the desire to shoot impactful photos with real world safety concerns in the mountains and around helicopters.
The program:
This one of a kind experience will focus on teaching you about ski and snowboard photography through access to the worlds best professionals while experiencing the best skiing or snowboarding you’ve ever done in your life. The Chugach Range has been the subject of photographic passion for good reason. Not only does the Chugach provide some of the greatest photographic opportunities in the world, it provides fantastic skiing for the shooter.
This experience will have only 8 participants and a private A-Star B-3 helicopter. This will allow the group ultimate flexibility to travel the range in search of the best photographic setups and opportunities. Participants will not only shoot in this amazing playground, but will also serve as subjects, so you will be sure to finish the week with some great photos of yourself in this amazing terrain.
Cost:
Single Occupancy: $12,200
Double Occupancy: $11,350
This package includes:
Ride the best descents, rest in comfort, and let the heli do the hard work.
Every serious backcountry skier worth their salt knows about the Haute Route; first skied in 1911, it has become a classic pursuit of thousands of ski-touring fanatics each spring. And the actual route, from Chamonix to Zermatt, crossing the Alps’ biggest terrain, under famous peaks like Mont Blanc, the Grand Combin, pigne d’Arolla, the Matterhorn, and Monte Rosa, is undoubtedly the most spectacular traverse in the ski world. But the possibility of crowded huts, marginal weather and snow conditions, and long slogs in a whiteout can make the experience less of a ski-tour and more of an endurance badge of honor. But by basing out of some of the Alps’ best resorts, throwing in a heli lift to reach the best descents, and relaxing in historic hotels and cozy chalets by night, we have created the ultimate Haute Route adventure, highlighting the best parts and doing away with the hardship. And thereby making it accessible to everybody, not just hardcore ski mountaineers.
You begin your trip based in a classic chalet in Verbier, Switzerland – a mega-resort with some of the Alps’ best lift-accessed freeriding potential. With nearby heli drops on the Trient glacier, first up, the famous Arpette Couloirs deliver 3000′ descents, and the ability to lap adjacent chutes. A stop for coffee or even lunch at the historic Cabane du Trient to refuel before the final run down to Champex-Lac, a mom-and-pop resort with the Europe’s best tree skiing. The next heli day, you’ll go to the Petit Combin, landing on top at 3800m, with a view clear across the Alps. An adventurous glacial descent follows, and in ideal conditions, with a short skin-up, we can also access Mont Rogneux, one of Verbier’s most aesthetic lines, a truly magnificent run that you’ll be able to admire your tracks on from your chalet across the valley.
One fundamental difference between European heli-skiing and that found in North America, is that you’ll be based in historic resort villages, with all the amenities and services you’d need; yet when you’re delivered to the top of a peak like the pigne d’Arolla, you’re about as far from civilization as you can get in Europe. Then, the ability to ski into yet another isolated valley, where the locals speak a different language than where you began your day, and experience a different culture, that’s what totally makes the skiing in the Alps. You’ll rarely make more than 2 or 3 runs in a day, but each descent will take an hour or more, as you move through the alpine, negotiating glaciers and seracs, powder fields, and winding up in these remote villages. it makes for a true all-day adventure. And when weather shuts down the heli-access, we can use the literally hundreds of lifts in our backyard to find the best powder, or visit a secret resort with incredible backside runs. So you’ll never have a “down-day” unless your legs need one!
After 4 days in Verbier, it’s time to make the move, and when you set off in the heli, we’ll transport your gear over to Zermatt, where you’ll next see it in a historic hotel like the Mont Cervin Palace or the Hotel Monte Rosa. In optimal weather, your second drop will leave you with an incredible 2000m descent under the Matterhorn’s imposing North Face, right into the postcard-perfect village of Zermatt. You’ll spend the next four days picking off classic descents on both the Swiss and Italian side of the border, culminating with the highest heli-drop in the Alps, from 4200m on Monte Rosa. Returning home each night to the comfort of Zermatt’s best hotels, complete with spa and fine dining, you’ll never look at a heliski trip the same way again.
EpicQuest was created by a handful of athletes and elite outdoorsmen to provide unparalleled adventures around the globe. We are a team that is dedicated to opening the door to a unique world of knowledge, access and experience ...
