Helicopter Tours & Sports in the Canadian Rockies
• A WorldWeb.com Travel Guide for Canadian Rockies, Canada.
Interested in experiencing one of the most breathtaking natural sights in the world? The Canadian Rockies are just the place to go. Towering peaks pierce heavy blankets of snow, glacier ice and pristine wilderness to rise up beside lush river valleys and colourful meadows. Visitors flock by the thousands to experience this amazing mountain scenery through activities like skiing, snowshoeing and dog sledding.
Exploring the mountains from the ground up, however, gives a very limited view of the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains. It is only by going to the top of the highest peaks—or better yet, above them—that gives adventurers a real taste of the true depth and stunning beauty of this huge mountain range. Helicopter tours offer perfect views of the Rockies in all their splendour and give visitors bird’s eye views of the sheer magnitude of the magnificent area while delivering them to some of the most remote backcountry areas.
HELICOPTER TOUR BASICS
Before signing up for a helicopter tour of the Canadian Rockies, visitors should consider the two distinct types of helicopter trips available—sightseeing tours and adventure activities. Sightseeing tours offer a whirlwind glimpse into the scenery of the surrounding area, dipping in between peaks, careening over ancient glaciers and traversing mountain ranges in a matter of minutes. Sightseeing trips are usually short in duration—typically around 20 minutes to an hour—making them an enjoyable and leisurely afternoon activity.
Adventure tours, on the other hand, involve some sort of mountain activity in a location that is accessible only by helicopter. Adventure tours can involve sports like heli-skiing and snowboarding, heli-hiking, remote horseback rides, fishing, glacier walks, champagne dinners and even mountain yoga. Tours can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days—some week-long trips are even available for adventurous spirits. Accommodation is provided on multi-day tours and can range from camping in tents to luxury mountain cabins.
As for when to go, it depends on what the activity of interest is. During summer months, the remote mountain peaks and passes are ideal for hiking, horseback riding and generally enjoying the lush, pristine wilderness that the mountain scenery provides. On the other hand, snow enthusiasts will want to head to the mountaintops during winter when the chance to barrel down open slopes while cutting through fresh, untouched powder is too good to pass up.
WHERE TO GO
Alberta Rockies
Adventurers in search of a place to start their journey can head to any mountain town in the Canadian Rockies, including those in Alberta. The towns of Banff and Canmore, just an hour's drive from Calgary, are two of the most popular places to stay and play in mountains, and several helicopter tours based in the area offer panoramic views of the world-famous Banff National Park and nearby Kananaskis Country. The wilderness surrounding Banff and Canmore gives rise to many prominent peaks and mountain ranges, including the Goat Range, the famous Three Sisters peaks and the spectacular Mount Assiniboine, also known as the "Matterhorn" of the Canadian Rockies. If a helicopter tour is a must-do on the itinerary, visitors should check ahead with local tour operators—many offer packages that include tours, activities and accommodations all rolled into one.
North of Banff lies another picturesque and popular destination in the Rockies—Jasper. Jasper and the nearby Icefields Parkway Region are especially well-known for being located right in the middle of a sprawling landscape of ancient glaciers. In fact, the glaciers of the Columbia Icefields afford visitors the opportunity to walk on a glacier but exploring a glacier edge with hoards of other people isn't everyone's idea of an authentic experience. Taking a helicopter tour, on the other hand, delivers lucky visitors to areas of the glaciers that haven't been trampled on by thousands of muddy shoes.
BC Rockies
On the British Columbia side of the Rockies, the town of Golden offers several tour operators who will gladly take travellers up to the pristine Purcell Mountains. Nearby Revelstoke, serves as a gateway to relatively unknown and untouched mountain areas like the Selkirk and Monashee Mountains. Revelstoke has only recently become a tourist destination and travellers who opt for a heli-skiing tour can still feel as though as they're charting undiscovered terrain while carving through fresh snow at the peaks of these impressive mountains. There can be a high risk of avalanches in this area, however, so it's important to head out with a fully qualified tour guide who has avalanche safety certifications and equipment.
Heading south, the ski resort town of Panorama offers its own helicopter adventures, with heli-skiing being the most popular. Nearby, Invermere has its own airport and helicopter base where aircraft are waiting to give tourists bird's eye views of the sprawling Lake Windermere and surrounding mountains.
Even farther south is the ski town of Fernie and helicopter tours are available of the wilderness and lakes of the area, including hunting and fishing trips into remote regions of the surrounding mountains and nearby Crowsnest Pass. A number of quick sightseeing tours in both summer and winter are also available.
WHY TAKE A HELICOPTER TOUR?
Exploring the Rockies from a comfortable base in a town or resort is an excellent experience and activities like hiking, driving and skiing will expose tourists to generous helpings of mountain terrain and wildlife.
However, the Canadian Rockies take up a huge portion of the Canadian wilderness and there is only so much you can see from a highway or established trail. In fact, Banff National Park alone covers over 20,000 sq km (8,500 sq mi). Helicopters can take visitors to places where there are no roads, no traffic, no pollution and—best of all—no hoards of camera-clad, sourvenir-seeking tourists. It is in these enormous pockets of untouched landscape where the real heart of the Rockies lie—in its forests, its wildlife and its expanses of undisturbed, high-altitude terrain.
Exploring the mountains from the ground up, however, gives a very limited view of the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains. It is only by going to the top of the highest peaks—or better yet, above them—that gives adventurers a real taste of the true depth and stunning beauty of this huge mountain range. Helicopter tours offer perfect views of the Rockies in all their splendour and give visitors bird’s eye views of the sheer magnitude of the magnificent area while delivering them to some of the most remote backcountry areas.
HELICOPTER TOUR BASICS
Before signing up for a helicopter tour of the Canadian Rockies, visitors should consider the two distinct types of helicopter trips available—sightseeing tours and adventure activities. Sightseeing tours offer a whirlwind glimpse into the scenery of the surrounding area, dipping in between peaks, careening over ancient glaciers and traversing mountain ranges in a matter of minutes. Sightseeing trips are usually short in duration—typically around 20 minutes to an hour—making them an enjoyable and leisurely afternoon activity.
Adventure tours, on the other hand, involve some sort of mountain activity in a location that is accessible only by helicopter. Adventure tours can involve sports like heli-skiing and snowboarding, heli-hiking, remote horseback rides, fishing, glacier walks, champagne dinners and even mountain yoga. Tours can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days—some week-long trips are even available for adventurous spirits. Accommodation is provided on multi-day tours and can range from camping in tents to luxury mountain cabins.
As for when to go, it depends on what the activity of interest is. During summer months, the remote mountain peaks and passes are ideal for hiking, horseback riding and generally enjoying the lush, pristine wilderness that the mountain scenery provides. On the other hand, snow enthusiasts will want to head to the mountaintops during winter when the chance to barrel down open slopes while cutting through fresh, untouched powder is too good to pass up.
WHERE TO GO
Alberta Rockies
Adventurers in search of a place to start their journey can head to any mountain town in the Canadian Rockies, including those in Alberta. The towns of Banff and Canmore, just an hour's drive from Calgary, are two of the most popular places to stay and play in mountains, and several helicopter tours based in the area offer panoramic views of the world-famous Banff National Park and nearby Kananaskis Country. The wilderness surrounding Banff and Canmore gives rise to many prominent peaks and mountain ranges, including the Goat Range, the famous Three Sisters peaks and the spectacular Mount Assiniboine, also known as the "Matterhorn" of the Canadian Rockies. If a helicopter tour is a must-do on the itinerary, visitors should check ahead with local tour operators—many offer packages that include tours, activities and accommodations all rolled into one.
North of Banff lies another picturesque and popular destination in the Rockies—Jasper. Jasper and the nearby Icefields Parkway Region are especially well-known for being located right in the middle of a sprawling landscape of ancient glaciers. In fact, the glaciers of the Columbia Icefields afford visitors the opportunity to walk on a glacier but exploring a glacier edge with hoards of other people isn't everyone's idea of an authentic experience. Taking a helicopter tour, on the other hand, delivers lucky visitors to areas of the glaciers that haven't been trampled on by thousands of muddy shoes.
BC Rockies
On the British Columbia side of the Rockies, the town of Golden offers several tour operators who will gladly take travellers up to the pristine Purcell Mountains. Nearby Revelstoke, serves as a gateway to relatively unknown and untouched mountain areas like the Selkirk and Monashee Mountains. Revelstoke has only recently become a tourist destination and travellers who opt for a heli-skiing tour can still feel as though as they're charting undiscovered terrain while carving through fresh snow at the peaks of these impressive mountains. There can be a high risk of avalanches in this area, however, so it's important to head out with a fully qualified tour guide who has avalanche safety certifications and equipment.
Heading south, the ski resort town of Panorama offers its own helicopter adventures, with heli-skiing being the most popular. Nearby, Invermere has its own airport and helicopter base where aircraft are waiting to give tourists bird's eye views of the sprawling Lake Windermere and surrounding mountains.
Even farther south is the ski town of Fernie and helicopter tours are available of the wilderness and lakes of the area, including hunting and fishing trips into remote regions of the surrounding mountains and nearby Crowsnest Pass. A number of quick sightseeing tours in both summer and winter are also available.
WHY TAKE A HELICOPTER TOUR?
Exploring the Rockies from a comfortable base in a town or resort is an excellent experience and activities like hiking, driving and skiing will expose tourists to generous helpings of mountain terrain and wildlife.
However, the Canadian Rockies take up a huge portion of the Canadian wilderness and there is only so much you can see from a highway or established trail. In fact, Banff National Park alone covers over 20,000 sq km (8,500 sq mi). Helicopters can take visitors to places where there are no roads, no traffic, no pollution and—best of all—no hoards of camera-clad, sourvenir-seeking tourists. It is in these enormous pockets of untouched landscape where the real heart of the Rockies lie—in its forests, its wildlife and its expanses of undisturbed, high-altitude terrain.
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