Photo by Dirk Groeger

Expert advise from Helitrax’s own guide, Angela Hawse.

Follow these 10 tips to get the most out of your high-flying adventure.

YOUR ADVISORS

Jess McMillan: Freeskiing World Tour Champion and Warren Miller star
Angela Hawse: Telluride Helitrax guide and the sixth U.S. woman to achieve IFMGA Mountain Guide Certification, the highest level of international training and certification available to guides

10. VET YOUR OUTFITTER
“Most heliski guides are the best in the industry because it’s such a sought after job,” Hawse says. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t double check their credentials. Certification from organizations including the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) and Heli Ski US means your guide has the skills to get you home safely.

09. DON’T STOP
A full day of heliskiing may cover 10 to 12,000 vertical feet or more in just six runs. The best way to prepare yourself mentally and physically for such a quad thrashing? “Get in some resort skiing and do some long runs without stopping,” Hawse says. Also, follow our one-month training plan for killer quad and core strength that’ll leave you begging for more—not mercy—at the end of the day.

08. PICK YOUR SEASON
“In January, the days are shorter, the temperatures are a little bit colder,” Hawse says. “But those factors can make the skiing incredible. The cold can help preserve the snow for really good powder skiing.” Alternatively, spring skiing tends to be warmer and longer days may allow you to squeeze in more runs. “Ask the heliski operators when they get the best snow, when the best weather is, and about the price,” McMillan says. “Are they doing it by the day, by the run, or by the vertical feet?” Pick your season, then pick the trip that fits your budget.

Check out the whole story here.

It’s contimuing to snow as of this writing with another storm forecast for the weekend. We’re in the flow and conditions are great!

For special offers and other Helitrax news, read the full update. January Update

Angela is one of few Americans, and only the sixth American woman, to have passed the AMGA rock, alpine and ski mountaineering guide exams to become IFMGA/UIAGM licensed internationally as a Mountain Guide. She is one of the most experienced women guides and instructors in the U.S. with over twenty years of experience.

Over the past two decades Angela has climbed, skied and guided throughout the U.S., Alaska, Canada, the Andes, Himalaya, and Karakorum. She has climbed big walls in Yosemite, Zion and Pakistan, ski traversed Lapland, reached the South Summit of Mt. Everest (28,875ft) and guided five Denali expeditions. She has guided four of the Seven Summits: Mt. Everest, Denali, Carstensz Pyramid and Aconcagua, and led an all women’s ascent of Ama Dablam. In 2001, she earned an MA in International Mountain Conservation.

Angela is a Senior Guide at the prestigious Exum Guides in Grand Teton National Park. She also guides for Women that Rock, Chicks with Picks, Chicks on Cracks, Splitter Camps, Aerial Boundaries and Moab Desert Adventures. She is an instructor for the AMGA and served on the AMGA’s board of directors for six years. Angela is a Denali Pro Pin recipient for a rescue she carried out while guiding on Denali.

We are proud of Angela’s many accomplishments and honored that she is an Telluride Helitrax Guide.

Helitrax from brett schreckengost on Vimeo.

2012 SEASON STARTS JANUARY 1
The Bell 407 Helicopter will arrive in the next few weeks. Annual Guide and staff training is underway. The new fleet of 2012 Atomic Powder Skis are ready to go.

Get the full details here December 2011 Newsletter