No not the kind you are thinking about. I am talking about the much more expensive and dangerous one! I am referring to the magical powder you encounter heli-skiing.

I was recently heli-skiing near Revelstoke in British Columbia. It snowed every day of the week with over a foot of extraordinarily light dry powder falling every day!

Heli-skiing gets a bad rap because it’s perceived to be dangerous and is admittedly not environmentally friendly. Yet somehow finding ourselves in the middle of nowhere creates a communion with nature that is hard to replicate. The risks – avalanches, crevasses, cornices, tree wells, helicopter crashes – can be mitigated. We train in avalanche rescue and helicopter safety. We ski with beacons, radios, shovels, probes, avalanche air bags and first aid gear. We are guided by experienced mountaineers who are expert in assessing the safety of terrain conditions and alpine rescue.

Arguably heli-skiing involves a similar risk reward calculus as entrepreneurship. The risk of an endeavor ending badly is real and serious, but it is more than compensated by the spiritual joy we feel gliding through champagne powder. It also creates an amazing sense of camaraderie with our fellow skiers.

Check out the video!