60 years of heliskiing with CMH

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[Translate to en:] Canadian Mountain Holidays

Powder snow, untracked slopes, not a soul for miles around and at the end of the descent, the helicopter is already waiting to fly you to the next summit. Heliskiing is the ultimate dream for skiers and snowboarders - including me! This dream was made possible by Hans Gmoser. In the winter of 1964/65, the Austrian, who had emigrated to Canada, laid the foundations for the heliskiing business.

60 years ago, the founder of Canadian Mountain Holidays (CMH) offered a heliski week in the gigantic mountains of British Columbia for the first time. "To this day, Canada's west is a heliski hotspot for the most exclusive type of skiing and the world's first heliski lodge, the CMH Bugaboos, is still a dream destination," says Kenny Prevost. They call the ski specialist in Switzerland "Mr. Heliski" because Prevost has tested more heliskiing areas around the world than almost anyone else. If even such an experienced heliski specialist as Prevost raves about the CMH Bugaboos, then this heliski lodge must be something very special, I thought to myself.

In the anniversary winter of 2024/2025, I finally had the chance to visit the CMH Bugaboos Lodge, which has been expanded and modernized several times. The historic heliski lodge had long been on my bucket list - partly because of the small museum that CMH has set up there in honor of its founder. Not far from the lodge, which has since been expanded and improved many times, Gmoser organized the first heliski week in 1965. An abandoned sawmill camp between Banff and Golden served as the base.

After a few unsuccessful first attempts, Gmoser was lucky this time: the conditions were perfect and the first heliskiing customers were delighted. And this despite the fact that their accommodation was nothing more than a wooden shack with a toilet block and they had to wait forever at the summit. The helicopter only had two seats. It took ages for the slow Bel 47 helicopter to transport all the guests up. More than two descents per day were not possible, and they only managed 15,000 vertical meters in the whole week.

"These days, top skiers sometimes manage that much in a single day of heliskiing," says Kenny Prevost, whose specialist heliski tour operator TRAVELZONE offers heliskiing around the globe. But the pioneers were overjoyed. Heliskiing was born and made it possible for normal skiers to enjoy experiences in the untouched wilderness that had previously only been available to experienced and fit backcountry skiers. Word of heliskiing spread like wildfire in the ski scene and demand was huge. After three years, CMH left the sawmill camp and built the world's first heliski lodge, the CMH Bugaboos. The lodge, which opened in 1968, was soon too small for the booming business. Instead of expanding the Bugaboos, Gmoser built more lodges in other regions. Today, CMH operates eleven lodges in south-eastern British Columbia. They can only be reached via small roads, some even only by helicopter.

The lodges cover an average area of up to 2000 square kilometers. By comparison, the entire Arlberg region measures just 50 square kilometers. While around 100 lifts transport thousands of winter sports enthusiasts to the summits every day in the high season, Canada's huge heliski areas are home to just a few dozen skiers and snowboarders.

CMH operates in most lodges with large helicopters that transport three or four groups of ten guests each. Each group is accompanied by a highly trained ski mountain guide with many years of experience. For the guests, it looks as if some dream slopes are being flown to, but the guides and pilots leave nothing to chance. All landing points and descents are tested and mapped. "With us, safety always comes first," emphasizes heliski guide Mark, who, like CMH founder, comes from Austria.

The Leogang native is one of the guides who is always the first to enter a slope before one guest after another plunges into the often knee-deep powder snow. The wide special skis provided free of charge make deep snow skiing much easier. "Heliskiing is therefore not just for super skiers. Anyone who can master black pistes and has a bit of stamina can try heliskiing in the Bugaboos," says CMH guide James. As Area Manager of the Bugaboos Lodge, which pampers its guests after skiing with first-class cuisine and a whirlpool with a fantastic mountain view on the roof, James is not only the top guide, but also the guardian of CMH history.

"Working in this historic lodge is something very special for me," James enthuses. Heliski expert Kenny Prevost from TRAVELZONE agrees wholeheartedly: "Especially in the anniversary season, which marks the 60th anniversary of the invention of heliskiing, a trip to the Bugaboos or one of the other lodges of heliskiing pioneer CMH is really something very special".

CMH Bugaboos Heliskiing Lodge

More about heliskiing at CMH and all other providers at SKI KANADA .