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Heli Skiing: What a Week Really Costs in Canada, Alaska and Utah

Heli skiing runs from about $1,160 CAD for a cat-and-heli intro day to $13,000 for a week in Alaska. Compare outfitters, packages, skill levels and safety kit.

By Wijet Editors

heli skiing: a small group of skiers beside a landed helicopter on a powder ridge at sunrise

At a glance

Heli skiing at a glance

Week in British Columbia
$13,160 to $19,992 CAD
Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing, 7-day packages with lodging, 2026/27 rate page, read Nov 2026
Week in Alaska
$12,999 to $13,000
Alaska Backcountry Guides semi-private week and Black Ops Valdez 7-day individual, each outfitter's site, Nov 2026
Single day in Utah
$1,499 to $1,955
Powderbird individual seat, early bird rate, Snowbird site, Nov 2026
Cheapest way in
$199 per run
Silverton Mountain single heli run, after buying a lift ticket, Silverton site, Nov 2026

Heli skiing costs roughly $1,000 to $2,000 for a day and $13,000 or more for a week once lodging is included: Mike Wiegele Helicopter Skiing in British Columbia lists 7-day packages at $13,160 to $19,992 CAD for 2026/27, and Alaska Backcountry Guides in Valdez sells a semi-private week at $12,999 per person, per each outfitter’s own site in November 2026. A helicopter replaces the lift, flying a small guided group to untracked terrain that no resort grooms, and you pay for the aircraft time as much as for the snow.

The sticker price depends on what the package counts. Some outfitters sell unlimited vertical, some meter helicopter hours, and some charge by the run. This guide sets out what each style costs, where the main outfitters operate, who each product suits and what the safety kit looks like, so you can compare like with like.

What Heli Skiing Is

Heli skiing is guided skiing or snowboarding where a helicopter does the uplift. Silverton Mountain describes its single day product as a way to “skip the hikes and maximize your day on the mountain” (silvertonmountain.com, 2026). Instead of a chairlift, a pilot sets the group down on a ridge, the guides pick a line, and the helicopter collects you at the bottom for the next run.

It is not one product. Three formats cover most of what you will see priced:

  • Lodge weeks. A fly-in or road-access lodge, meals, guides and a helicopter, usually Saturday to Saturday. This is the classic British Columbia model.
  • Day and run-based heli skiing. You buy a day, or a single run, from a resort base. Silverton in Colorado and Powderbird in Utah work this way.
  • Hourly helicopter packages. Alaska outfitters often sell a set number of flight hours per week, billed on the helicopter’s meter.

Heli Skiing Cost

The headline numbers below are published prices read on each outfitter’s own site in November 2026. Canadian prices are in Canadian dollars and exclude tax. Rates move by season: shoulder weeks in December and April cost less than peak weeks in January to March.

OutfitterPlacePackagePublished priceSource
Mike WiegeleBritish Columbia3-day Deluxe, lodging and meals$6,933 to $9,249 CADwiegele.com, 2026/27 rates, Nov 2026
Mike WiegeleBritish Columbia5-day Deluxe$10,355 to $15,240 CADwiegele.com, 2026/27 rates, Nov 2026
Mike WiegeleBritish Columbia7-day Deluxe$13,160 to $19,992 CADwiegele.com, 2026/27 rates, Nov 2026
Mike WiegeleBritish Columbia7-day Elite A-Star, Blue River$17,199 to $24,444 CADwiegele.com, 2026/27 rates, Nov 2026
Mike WiegeleBritish Columbia1-day Intro to Off-Piste (cat, heli transfer)$1,160 to $1,450 CADwiegele.com, 2026/27 rates, Nov 2026
Alaska Backcountry GuidesValdez, AlaskaSemi-private week, 4 heli hours$12,999 per personalaskabackcountryguides.com, Nov 2026
Alaska Backcountry GuidesValdez, AlaskaPrivate helicopter week, up to 7 guests$89,999 per weekalaskabackcountryguides.com, Nov 2026
Black Ops ValdezValdez, Alaska7-day individual, 5 flight hours$13,000blackopsvaldez.com, Nov 2026
Black Ops ValdezValdez, AlaskaSingle day, 1 flight hour$1,600blackopsvaldez.com, Nov 2026
PowderbirdWasatch, UtahSingle day, individual seat$1,499 to $1,955snowbird.com, early bird rate, Nov 2026
PowderbirdWasatch, UtahSilver, 2 days and 3 nights, individual seat$6,023 to $6,815snowbird.com, Nov 2026
Silverton MountainColorado6-run heli dayFrom $999silvertonmountain.com, Nov 2026
Silverton MountainColoradoSingle heli run, after buying a lift ticket$199silvertonmountain.com, Nov 2026

What the Price Usually Includes

Read the inclusions before you compare totals. Mike Wiegele’s 2026/27 packages include “unlimited vertical,” three meals a day, powder skis or snowboards and safety gear, in a log chalet on double occupancy, with taxes extra (wiegele.com, 2026). Alaska Backcountry Guides says its packages include heli skiing, ground transportation, lodging and food, and that extra helicopter time costs $1,400 per hour per guest on the semi-private week (alaskabackcountryguides.com, 2026).

Black Ops Valdez meters flight time on Hobbs hours and says its lodge packages carry unlimited skiing with no flight-time overage charges, while its cheaper hotel packages include breakfast only (blackopsvaldez.com, 2026). Powderbird’s multi-day packages include lodging at The Cliff Lodge (snowbird.com, 2026).

What Is Not Included

Budget separately for flights to the base town, tips for guides, insurance and rescue coverage. Alaska Backcountry Guides lists a private charter between Anchorage and Valdez and Global Rescue coverage as add-ons, and says credit cards carry a 3.5% fee against the bank wire price (alaskabackcountryguides.com, 2026).

The Best Heli Skiing

“Best” depends on what you value: guaranteed vertical, small groups, steep terrain, or a short trip from an airport. These are the places and outfitters whose own pages publish the details below.

British Columbia

British Columbia is the traditional home of lodge-based heli skiing. Mike Wiegele runs tours from December 5 to April 10 in 2026/27, split into shoulder, mid and peak pricing, and lists the Deluxe package as “10 guests, 3 groups, 2 guides per group” (wiegele.com, 2026). The Elite A-Star package is smaller, with four guests per group and one guide per group.

Bella Coola Heli Sports lists packages of 4, 5 or 7 nights, with lodging at Eagle Lodge, Tweedsmuir Park Lodge and aboard the MV Cascadia, and uses the A-Star helicopter on most trips (bellacoolaheliskiing.com, 2026).

CMH lists a wide menu, from day heli skiing and a Powder Intro to Powder Masters and private trips, at remote fly-in lodges or in-town locations, and says 2027/28 rates can be previewed on its booking site (cmhheli.com, 2026). Neither CMH nor Bella Coola shows prices on its public pages, so both need a quote.

Alaska

Alaska sells the biggest terrain and the highest bills. Black Ops Valdez lists a 2027 season from February 21 to May 2 and flies Airbus A-Star B-series and H125 helicopters (blackopsvaldez.com, 2026). Alaska Backcountry Guides, also in Valdez, lists ten 2027 weeks from February 21 to May 1, with groups capped at four guests and no more than two groups per helicopter (alaskabackcountryguides.com, 2026).

Both sell private options too: $89,999 for a week for up to seven guests at Alaska Backcountry Guides, and $115,000 for a 7-day private week at Robe Lake Lodge at Black Ops Valdez (each outfitter’s site, Nov 2026).

Lower 48

In Utah, Powderbird flies from its heliport in Little Cottonwood Canyon, with individual seats, a semi-private helicopter for up to three guests and two guides ($6,875 to $9,589 per day at early bird rates), and a private helicopter for up to eight ($14,745 to $19,399) (snowbird.com, 2026). Silverton Mountain in Colorado is the budget route: its guided ticket starts at $249 a day, a single heli run costs $199 after you buy a lift ticket, and a 6-run heli day starts at $999, with guided skiing Thursdays to Sundays from December 31, 2026 to April 11, 2027 (silvertonmountain.com, Nov 2026).

For a wider look at resort skiing, see our guide to the luxury ski resorts.

New Zealand

In New Zealand, Alpine Heliski NZ flies from Queenstown and Wanaka. Experience Queenstown grades its days from first-timers to experts and says rates are set each season, so there is no published price to quote (experiencequeenstown.com, 2026).

How Good Do You Need to Be

Less good than the marketing suggests for entry products, and more good than you think for the serious ones. Mike Wiegele’s Intro to Off-Piste is aimed at a “Beginner Heli-skier/boarder” who skis confidently on groomed terrain and has no powder experience (wiegele.com, 2026). Its Elite A-Star package expects an Advanced skier at minimum, with powder or heli skiing experience, and Wiegele says guides may move less experienced guests to a Deluxe tour.

Powderbird asks guests to be comfortable skiing black to double black diamonds with powder experience, and it matches guests with groups of similar skill (snowbird.com, 2026). If you are an intermediate, start with an intro day, not a week.

Is Heli Skiing Dangerous

It carries real avalanche risk, and the sensible response is to look at how an outfitter manages it. Heli skiing happens in backcountry terrain where avalanches are a hazard, and Avalanche Canada, a non-government not-for-profit, issues daily forecasts through the winter for much of western Canada’s mountains (avalanche.ca, 2026). HeliCat Canada describes itself as the trade association of the Canadian helicopter and snowcat skiing industry and oversees a trade accreditation program (helicat.org, 2026).

Group size is a safety variable you can compare. Alaska Backcountry Guides caps groups at four guests, and Mike Wiegele’s Elite A-Star package runs four guests per group with one guide (each outfitter’s site, 2026).

When to Go

Outfitters set the calendar, so read it from them. Mike Wiegele runs British Columbia tours from December 5 to April 10, with the lowest rates in early December and early April and the highest from mid-January to mid-March (wiegele.com, 2026). Black Ops Valdez opens its Alaska season on February 21, 2027 and closes it on May 2 (blackopsvaldez.com, 2026).

In Alaska, that means March and April are the core weeks, and several 2027 weeks were already sold out in November 2026 at Alaska Backcountry Guides. Book early, especially for private helicopters.

Flying In Privately

Most heli skiing bases sit hours from a major airport, and for a group the saving is in time rather than money. Alaska Backcountry Guides sells a private charter between Anchorage and Valdez as an add-on (alaskabackcountryguides.com, 2026). For a Colorado or Wyoming ski week, see our routes from New York to Jackson Hole, the Aspen airport guide, and the cost of a helicopter charter if you want your own aircraft on the ground.

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For more winter and adventure trips, browse the travel hub.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can you go heli-skiing?
The main markets are British Columbia, Alaska, Utah, Colorado and New Zealand. Mike Wiegele and Bella Coola Heli Sports run British Columbia programs, Alaska Backcountry Guides and Black Ops Valdez fly from Valdez, and Powderbird flies in Utah (each outfitter's site, 2026).
How much is heli-skiing?
A day runs about $1,499 to $1,955 at Powderbird in Utah and $1,600 at Black Ops Valdez, while a lodge week runs $12,999 to $13,000 in Alaska and $13,160 to $19,992 CAD at Mike Wiegele, per each outfitter's site in November 2026. Single runs at Silverton cost $199.
What is heli-skiing?
Heli skiing is guided skiing or snowboarding in which a helicopter flies the group to untracked terrain instead of a lift. Silverton Mountain describes its heli day as a way to skip the hikes and maximize time on the mountain (silvertonmountain.com, 2026).
How difficult is heli-skiing?
It depends on the product. Mike Wiegele's Intro to Off-Piste suits a beginner heli skier who skis groomed terrain confidently, while its Elite A-Star package expects advanced skiers with powder experience. Powderbird asks guests to be comfortable on black to double black terrain (each outfitter's site, 2026).
Which month is the best for heli-skiing in Alaska?
There is no single best month, but outfitters schedule the season from late February to early May. Black Ops Valdez lists February 21 to May 2, 2027, and Alaska Backcountry Guides lists weeks from February 21 to May 1, 2027, with several weeks already sold out in November 2026.

Sources

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