But the area generally acknowledged as being blessed with some of the best terrain for heliskiing in the world is British Columbia. The potential heliskiing terrain of the area that will host the 2010 Winter Olympics is huge, with rugged mountain ranges up and down British Columbia. Whistler/Blackcomb, often rated as the top ski resort in North America in media surveys, sits near the base of the Canadian province and serves as a jumping off point for several tour companies. One of those is Coast Range Heliskiing (CRH).

As its name suggests, the company offers a variety of tours to the Coast Range Mountains, which cover most of coastal British Columbia, Canada’s huge Western-most province. The Coast Range’s closeness to the Pacific Ocean means it receives considerable high-quality snowfall that whitens hard-to-access mountain terrain, from high-alpine bowls to tree-covered slopes. The snowfall and variable terrain makes for incredible heliski conditions that annually attract film and media companies, as well as skiers and boarders.

“Being in the Coast Range gives us access to the most spectacular ski terrain in the world,” says CRH’s Freed.

CRH uses that to fashion a busy winter schedule of daily or multi-day heliski packages that can be combined with a skiing vacation at Whistler or be a standalone heliski excursion. The company specializes in working with small groups on customized tours.

“We’re proud to offer the Ultimate Backcountry Experience with small, intimate groups of only four to five guests to each guide,” says Freed. “The growing trend in the heliski industry is to have smaller intimate groups serviced with a smaller high-performance helicopter. We have chosen to exclusively service this market.”CRH’s day trips begin with a four-run package that costs $845 (Canadian dollars) and guarantees 6,000-12,000 vertical feet of skiing. A six-run package with 9,000-18,000 vertical feet runs $1,025 (Canadian).

Of course, no two days are ever alike on any heliskiing tour with any company simply because weather, terrain and skiing/boarding abilities introduce so many variables, but CRH says its “typical day” begins with a meeting each morning in Whistler. After a 25-minute shuttle ride to CRH’s base facility in Pemberton, guests get a light breakfast and are outfitted with powder skis. After safety briefings, guests are divided into groups of four or five based on skill level or specific request. Each guest learns how to use a personal transceiver and gets more safety briefings. Lift off is at approximately 10 a.m.

Typically, says Freed, CRH completes two or three runs before lunch, which is served outdoors against the backdrop of snow-capped mountains. After lunch, guests get to shred more powder in the pristine alpine, before returning to base for après, a photo slideshow and the shuttle return to Whistler.

But, says Freed, guests often don’t want to stop. So additional runs are available at $90 per person, based on a group of four.

Meanwhile, TLH Heliskiing offers a different approach.

“We’re an all-inclusive, destination heliskiing resort,” says Lloyd.

In this case, all-inclusive means transportation, lodging, gourmet meals, skis — basically anything needed to get away for two-day to seven-day tours. The base for TLH Heliskiing is Tyax Mountain Lake Resort, on the shores of Tyaughton Lake, approximately 125 miles north of Vancouver. Everything from ice skating to snow mobiling is offered, in addition to heliskiing and boarding.

TLH operates in the South Chilcotin Mountains, the transition zone between the Coastal Mountains and the dry rolling Fraser Plateau. The location provides TLH with magnificent mountains, an abundance of dry powder snow and plenty of sunshine. To date, the company has named and mapped more than 300 runs in an area more than 27 times larger than the amount of skiable acres at all the resorts in Colorado combined.

“What sets us apart is that we are a destination resort,” says Lloyd. “People chose us because of the value.”

At the heart of that value is a policy of TLH to have only two groups per helicopter. It makes a huge difference, says Lloyd.

“We ski in groups of 11 and our helicopters drop off one group at the top of the mountain, then travel down to pick up the other group, which means there is virtually no waiting or down time,” he says.

Which also means that if you want to ski and board some of the best snow and most scenic mountains anywhere — and get a lot of skiing and boarding done — TLH will deliver that.

Even the two-day tours advertise an Mt. Everest-worth of vertical skiing/boarding, with 29,000 feet “guaranteed.”

“Historically, our clients have the chance to ski up to 30 percent more than what we guarantee,” says Lloyd, which means the average vertical on the two-day tour is actually 37,000 feet.

“One of the surprises many of our guests get along the way is the camaraderie they develop as a group,” says Lloyd.

But then, maybe that isn’t so surprising. Guests share an exclusive, out-of-the-way resort and then are dropped at mountain tops where the only people around are those in your group.

“Getting dropped off in the middle of nowhere, amid the solitude and scenery of the Chilcotin Mountains, well, it is pretty neat,” he says.