| The Gods are not happy. At least, I think the | | | | CMH have virtually cornered the market on |
| Gods are not happy a judgement I make not | | | | what many term "industrial heliskiing," where |
| without just cause. Skiing down a glacier at | | | | groups of up to 40 skiers share a single 12 |
| the end of an arduous daylong ski tour, our | | | | passenger helicopter, skiing mainly on |
| group of five is confronted by winds that | | | | preset, well established runs, there are a |
| howl so hard they blow us back uphill. Gusts | | | | host of new start-up operations, like |
| rage with such ferocity dirt from glacial | | | | Pantheon, designed to appeal to a growing |
| moraines scours us like a super sized | | | | demographic of adventurous skiers and |
| sandblaster. Not to mention, warm | | | | snowboarders looking for new, more intimate |
| temperatures have melted anything remotely | | | | experiences. Most of these new operations |
| resembling powder, turning great skiing | | | | incorporate the use of smaller helicopters |
| conditions to marginal at best. So without | | | | for more flexibility, in locations that are |
| making too big a deal of it, I surmise the | | | | often far off the beaten path. Far away from |
| Gods are choked. Why is another matter. | | | | civilization, in mountains that have rarely, |
| | | | if ever been skied before, clients of |
| | | | Pantheon Helisports are assured adventures |
| | | | that will change their life-the shear |
| Pantheon Heli Skiing tenure is in the | | | | inspiration of the landscape itself ensures |
| literal heart of British Columbia's coveted | | | | that. Under the shadow of the highest peak |
| Coast Range- 1800 square kilometers (695 | | | | entirely in B.C.-4,019-metre Mt. Waddington, |
| square miles) of glaciers and snowfields and | | | | runs in the area average a staggering 1,500 |
| remote valleys that will soon be home to one | | | | metres (5,000 feet). The snowpack is deep and |
| of Canada's newest heli-ski operations, | | | | light, glaciers cling to massive |
| Pantheon Helisports. Named after the Pantheon | | | | mountainsides at every turn and the views are |
| Range-a spectacular collection of peaks that | | | | as inspirational and dramatic as any in this |
| sits at the heart of this tenure-Pantheon's | | | | galaxy. |
| vision will take place in a landscape as wild | | | | |
| as it gets in Canada, filled with skiing | | | | |
| opportunities that would rival any location | | | | |
| on the planet. | | | | It seems our circumnavigation below Mount |
| | | | Pagoda on day one, with all the wind and |
| | | | struggle it presented, seemed a test. Out of |
| | | | nowhere a storm blows in from the Pacific, |
| The tenure grants Pantheon Helisports | | | | depositing twenty centimeters while |
| exclusive rights to run commercial heli | | | | temperatures cool to a perfect -15C. We awake |
| skiing and helicopter assisted ski touring in | | | | to a landscape returned to winter. Snow |
| three sub ranges of the Coast Mountains: the | | | | glistens on the bows of sub-alpine fir trees |
| Waddington, the Pantheon and the Niut. To | | | | and the surrounding terrain lures us from our |
| begin the first steps towards starting an | | | | snowbound tents. The cooling shores up the |
| operation Pantheon Heli has invited myself, a | | | | stability of the snowpack, while the fresh |
| professional skier, a photographer, a cook | | | | snow turns marginal skiing conditions to |
| and a guide for a week of exploration and | | | | perfect. With high-pressure weather in the |
| adventure, to create a genesis story of | | | | forecast, our guide, John Buffrey, pulls out |
| sorts, before he opens for business in the | | | | his trusty satellite phone and makes the |
| 2006/2007 season. So far, things are off to a | | | | call. The helicopters are on their way. |
| banging start. Staring up at the 1,550-metre | | | | |
| north face of Mount Pagoda-one of the largest | | | | |
| north face's in the entire Coast Range, with | | | | |
| all it's crevasses and sheer rock faces, with | | | | The next three days are spent in a virtual |
| plumes of snow ripping off its ridgeline from | | | | dreamland. While Mike and Scott Flavelle fly |
| a fierce southwesterly wind, amidst all the | | | | the tenure to map potential runs, giving each |
| foreboding and threat that comes with being | | | | a rating which considers snow stability and |
| in the mountains when it's storming, I can't | | | | weather, photographer Matt Scholl, |
| help think that Pantheon of mountain Gods | | | | Whistler-based professional skier Leif |
| that obviously liveshere-presided over by the | | | | Zapfe-Gilje, Blackcomb Helicopters owner and |
| likes of Mt. Zeus-are up to something. | | | | pilot Steve Flynn, Buffrey and I roam where |
| | | | our hearts desire. Perfect flying conditions |
| | | | and unfathomable skiing opportunities have us |
| | | | swinging back and forth like kids in a candy |
| Just yesterday we loaded our provisions and | | | | store. For each of us it is the pinnacle |
| gear into Mike King's Long Ranger helicopter | | | | mountain experience of our lives. |
| for the 20-minute flight from Bluff Lake, a | | | | |
| three-family settlement three hours by car | | | | |
| west of William's Lake, out to what we've | | | | |
| termed "the remote camp." Bluff Lake will | | | | Each night we fly back to the hospitality of |
| serve as Pantheon's base of operations, where | | | | Bluff Lake where Dave and his wife Lori share |
| guests will stay in cabins and eat and | | | | their backcountry paradise with us. It is as |
| socialize in a beautiful log home built by | | | | true a lifestyle as the wilderness their |
| Mike's brother, Dave. Together the two own | | | | sprawling homestead abuts. The food and the |
| Whitesaddle Air, for over two decades the | | | | conversation flows as easily as our skis did |
| only link to climbers, skiers and film crews | | | | on slopes too spectacular and big to |
| who regularly frequent the area (K2, Seven | | | | describe. We are the first skiers on many of |
| Years in Tibet and Kundun were all filmed | | | | these mountains and the novelty of us being |
| here). As a second generation helicopter | | | | here is something everyone is excited about. |
| pilot to fly in the area, Mike King has a | | | | The conditions we've been blessed with, and |
| deep knowledge of the area and is considered | | | | how they've gone from terrible to perfect |
| by many to be one of the most competent | | | | overnight. We joke about how we now think the |
| helicopter pilots in the province. | | | | mountain Gods must like us; they just needed |
| | | | to get something off their chests. As the |
| | | | trip draws to a close and each member of the |
| | | | genesis team heads back to their regular |
| From the remote camp we will tour an area | | | | lives, there is this undeniable sentiment |
| known as Five Finger Creek by skins and skis, | | | | that something special happened here. As |
| familiarizing ourselves with the region's | | | | Pantheon's vision begins to turn into reality |
| snowpack and weather patterns before calling | | | | it's quite evident that there will be many |
| in another helicopter from Whistler and famed | | | | groups like ours in the years to come-those |
| Whistler based mountain guide Scott Flavelle, | | | | who will leave this place knowing that they |
| who will help Pantheon catalogue his endless | | | | must return, having seen the Coast Mountains |
| bank of heli-ski runs. Pantheon's vision | | | | at their biggest and finest. Having cajoled |
| marks a new trend in the world-leading | | | | with the mountain Gods in a landscape as |
| British columbian heli-ski industry. While | | | | heavenly as any on earth. |
| well-known operations like Mike Wiegele's and | | | | |