Operations
U.S., Canadian and some other operations typically treat the helicopter like a ski lift, picking up and dropping skiers repeatedly on the best snow sections for 5-12 runs a day (the "Canada-model"). European and some other operations typically treat the helicopter like a taxi, dropping skiers near a high peak, then leaving them to work their way back to a road (the "European-model"). This generally involves some ski mountaineering, even though the trend is downward.
There are as few as 4 or as many as 12 skiers, depending on the aircraft type and numbers. Most operations offer private heli-skiing charters and daily, three, four and seven day packages are common in the Canada-model.
On most tours, a group of heliskiers are led by an experienced guide and possibly an assistant, or co-guide. Helicopter skiing access is also regulated in many mountain ranges, eliminating the possibility of simply contracting a helicopter for random drops.
The helicopter typically meets the ski group in an open area in a valley. European pilots are very aggressive and accustomed to operation in narrow mountain valleys, so landing in a wide spot of a narrow mountain road is not uncommon in the Alps.
The guide or a helicopter crew member load the skis and poles into an exterior basket. The skiers board the helicopter and are lifted off and carried to a landing zone on the mountain. These LZ's may be officially designated, but regardless, they are generally familiar to the pilot.
While it is possible to toe-in, meaning to take on or drop off passengers while hovering with the skids near but not touching the ground, it is safer and more common for the helicopter to actually settle onto the snow and reduce power to the rotors while the passengers disembark. This tends to reduce blowing snow, increasing visibility and reducing confusion and flying ski equipment. The guide unloads the skis, setting them flat on the ground. The skiers move away from the helicopter, hold onto their gear and clothing, face away and remain crouched until the helicopter has moved far enough away that the gusty propwash and stinging driven snow is no longer a problem.
After unloading, the clients do not ski off at random; the guides decide exactly where the clients will ski. Often a guide will go first to assess the snow, avalanche or glacier conditions, then signal the clients to proceed. Depending on the conditions, the clients may ski en masse, or in less stable conditions, one at a time. The guide may instruct the group to stay to one side or the other of the guide's ski tracks in order to avoid glacial serac falls & crevasses, avalanche starting zones, cliffs, crusty snow or other potential difficulties that are not obvious to untrained eyes. In very treacherous glacier sections, the clients may be instructed to stay in the guide's track. On a broad, stable slope, the guide may allow the clients to spread out and pick their own line of descent.
Read more about this topic: Heliskiing
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