“In Conrad Kain, there was a splendid fire!”

“He brought glamour and imagination into the sport of mountaineering as few guides have done before him. Recalling his personality and amusing stories one should not forget that his approach to mountains was first and foremost an esthetic one; he saw a peak first as something beautiful—the technical problem was always secondary—and nothing counted beside that vision”

— J. Monroe Thorington

Honouring Conrad Kain, by Pat Morrow

My interest in the expat Austrian mountain guide Conrad Kain began to develop in the late ‘60s during my youth in Kimberley. Lilah and Bob O'Brien introduced me to mountaineering, and further ignited my passion by loaning me their tattered copy of the 1935 edition of the Kain biography, "Where the Clouds Can Go". Forty years later it was an absolute privilege, as you can imagine, for me to write the foreword to the 4th edition of the book. That printing sold out a few years ago, and this summer Rocky Mountain Books kindly agreed to a reprint.

Conrad Kain's remarkable achievements encompass three iconic first ascents in western Canada—Mount Robson (1913), Mount Louis (1916), and Bugaboo Spire (1916). These feats are especially extraordinary considering the limited climbing equipment of his time and the fact that they were accomplished while guiding amateur mountaineers. Kain's legacy extends to over 60 first ascents and new routes in the Canadian Rockies and B.C.’s Purcell Range. Furthermore, he embarked on three journeys to New Zealand between 1913 and 1916, guiding over 25 first ascents and summiting the country's highest peak, Mount Cook, twice.

Dr. Cora Best, Audrey Shippam and Conrad Kain at mouth of ice cave in Starbird (Horsethief) Glacier, 1922. 

Conrad Kain and two unidentified climbers on gendarme of Resplendent Mountain, Robson-ACC Camp, 1913. 

Conrad Kain on the third ascent of Mount Darby (N.E. Arête), 1914. H.O. Frind photo. Hocken Collections, University of Otago Library. 

While Conrad Kain is well-known among the pre-Goretex generation here, and in New Zealand, by the turn of the 21st century his name had faded among younger climbers. In a bid to rekindle interest in the lore surrounding the Golden Age of Mountaineering in our country, Hermann Mauthner, an Austrian expat based in Wilmer initiated the Conrad Kain Centennial Society in 2008.  Wilmer is near Invermere, where Kain was based until his death in 1934 - he launched weeks-long horse packing expeditions from there into the Purcells and Rockies with his principal clients, Thorington and the MacCarthys.

In 2009, we held a festive bratwurst blowout in Wilmer. Drawing more than 400 from the climbing and skiing communities in the Columbia Valley, Banff, and Calgary, the event kindled a “pay it forward” momentum. Through the CKCS, in the past 13 years we've been able to offer Columbia Valley teens an annual all-expense paid basic mountaineering program in the Bugaboos, supported by CMH, ACMG, ACC, BC Parks, and other organizations.

Janine Harach rappels on lower wall of Snowpatch Spire, Hounds Tooth and Marmolata peaks behind. ACC/ACMG/CKCS/BC Parks climbing camp celebration of 100th Anniversary of Conrad Kain’s first ascent of Bugaboo Spire, at Conrad Kain hut in Bugaboo Provincial Park, hosted by the Alpine Club of Canada and attended by CKCS Bugaboos Teens alumni, Sept 8-13, 2016.

The "Bugaboos Teens Climbing Program" has introduced 120+ youth to Conrad's now famous Bugaboo granite, with a dozen or more of them gaining the confidence to pursue mountain and nature related careers. Hermann's son Kirk Mauthner, an ACMG guide and rope rescue instructor and inventor, has acted as the lead guide throughout. Kirk has made other valuable contributions to the mountaineering community, including modernising the B.C. Emergency Management handbook in collaboration with HeliCat ED Ross Cloutier.

Outdoor Education teacher Leigh Cormier, Joy Johnson, and Guide Tim McAllister on ascent of the Houndstooth, 2014 Conrad Kain Centennial Society Bugaboos Teens outing to the Bugaboos, Purcell Mountain Range, British Columbia.

Teens, guides and BC Park rangers enjoy a bluebird day atop Eastpost Spire, Snowpatch Spire and Bugaboo Spire in background. Annual Bugaboos Teens climbing program offered by Conrad Kain Centennial Society, BC Parks, BC Hydro, The Alpine Club of Canada, Canadian Mountain Holidays and private sponsors.

At HeliCat Canada’s 2023 Spring Meeting in Penticton, I had the honour of delivering an AV presentation based on Kain's legacy, and suggested that the DNA of his "guiding spirit" has worked its way into the fabric of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides. And through osmosis, into the outdoor guiding/hospitality industry at large.

Hans Gmoser, a committee member during the ACMG’s establishment in 1963, drew inspiration from reading about Kain's personal philosophy and climbing prowess in "Where The Clouds Can Go", having appeared on the Canadian mountaineering scene 20 years after Kain's passing. (Hans and Margaret were moved to name one of their sons Conrad, the other Robson). The book serves as a gateway to understanding Conrad's holistic approach to guiding and nature. It also depicts the colourful pioneering life in the Purcells and Rockies in the early 1900s and gives us a candid and light-hearted glimpse at the nascent guiding scene in the European and New Zealand Alps.

I am deeply grateful to HeliCat Canada for having given me the opportunity to share the Conrad Kain story with their members.

Words and photos By Pat Morrow

Photo Credit: for all historic photos, with the exception of the photo taken in New Zealand, credit goes to Byron Harmon, courtesy of the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies.

Snowpatch the "crevasse poodle" susses out the route, Mt Farnham in background, ascent of Redline Peak glacier, headwaters of McDonald Creek, Purcell Range near Invermere, BC during annual Conrad Kain Teen climbing camp.

ACC/ACMG/CKCS/BC Parks climbing camp celebration of 100th Anniversary of Conrad Kain’s first ascent of Bugaboo Spire, and ACC-AGM at Conrad Kain hut in Bugaboo Provincial Park, hosted by the Alpine Club of Canada and attended by CKCS Bugaboos Teens alumni, Sept 8-13, 2016.

We believe our community’s mental health is incredibly important.

In 1990, at barely twenty years old, then-pro snowboarder Don Schwartz was in the helicopter that crashed at the Blue River Powder 8 Championships. He escaped with severe burns to his face that left him hospitalized for a month; three of his good friends died. Numerous people came and went, asked how he was doing, and what happened; in answering, he re-lived the event over and over and over. At the time, few people even knew what PTSD was. Also at the time, “the saying in mountain culture was ‘You need to get over it, you need to man up.’” Schwartz said. “And I thought, I’m twenty, I’m indestructible. Thirty years ago, it was not okay to ask for help. It was considered weak.” 

When he did speak to a couple mental health professionals, they didn’t understand Schwartz’s world of extreme sports or mountain culture, and he gained little from the sessions. Over the years—as he became a guide, learned to fly helicopters, and ultimately became co-owner of Powder Mountain Cat Skiing—he experienced classic PTSD symptoms like denial and certain visceral reactions of the body in particular situations.

Contrast that with the experience, around the same time, of Greg Miller, then a member of the North Shore Rescue team. On a training exercise in the Tantalus Range, a team member fell through a snow bridge into a crevasse. The team got him out, but he was severely injured and passed away en route to the hospital. Immediately after, the team’s leadership brought in an expert to perform a critical incident stress debriefing, which is designed to prevent or mitigate development of post-traumatic stress in responders immediately after highly stressful or traumatic events. 

Today, Miller remembers that incident clearly. “I was down at the bottom of the crevasse for ten minutes, just me and him wrapped up in a stretcher. He was unconscious. And I had a conversation with him. I didn’t know if he could hear me. I remember that acutely, but I’m separated from the emotionality of that time.” Which is the goal with critical incident stress management (CISM), he says.

“You can think of it like this: you’ll never forget this traumatic event. But you won’t be traumatized by it.”

Miller is one of the trainers of the new Mountain Community CISM Team, part of a CISM program launched by HeliCat Canada and several other Canadian mountain associations to fill an increasingly acknowledged mental health need in the community. The team is made up of veterans, including Schwartz, from across the mountain community—guides, lodge owners, operation managers, ski patrollers, etc. To a one, the all-volunteer CISM team members, who underwent comprehensive training in September 2022, have experienced their own traumatic events in backcountry mountain situations. 

That’s what makes a peer debriefing so effective in talking through a stressful event and defusing resulting stress symptoms, which can range from emotional and mental to physical and behavioral: all the people in the room understand what the others may be feeling and why, creating a deep level of trust that works toward healing. 

The CISM team is available to any participating mountain association or operation. When a critical incident occurs—injury or death of a client or colleague in the field, a multi-casualty incident, body recovery, suicide of a colleague, or any significant event that can cause a stress response—the affected group calls the Mountain Community CISM dispatch number at 604-670-2772.

The dispatcher puts out a call to CISM team volunteers, and two available volunteers will travel in person to facilitate a debriefing session (or online, if necessary), where the group comes together in a supportive, entirely confidential environment to talk about their experiences, roles, and reactions, without blame. The CISM team offers ways to recognize the impact of a critical incident and reduce the stress associated with it. When appropriate, they’ll also direct individuals to mental health professionals for deeper interventions. 

Anyone who’s worked in mountain professions for a period of time has seen the effects that unaddressed stress and trauma can have on individuals or a team. Laura Waterer, now avalanche forecaster at Whitewater Ski Resort and also on the new CISM team, recalls when one of her patrollers called her a few years ago to say they could no longer work; after a traumatic incident the season before, they were suffering from severe depression and moving home to seek treatment. As assistant patrol manager at the time, Waterer felt terrible that she hadn’t seen the trauma and reached out before it turned into PTSD. And last December, after a dramatic start to winter with several big injuries, an avalanche, and tree well fatalities, she saw her team wearing down mentally. 

“Similar to a physical injury, we can get mental injuries that limit our ability to function. But it’s an injury we can’t see and people don’t really understand, so it gets shoved away,” she said. Bringing in the CISM team after critical incidents can help people deal with such mental injuries and reduce the high staff turnover the mountain world often sees. 

In recommending the training to others as the CISM team grows, Waterer says, “You have to have a huge capacity for empathy, and patience, and also be okay addressing your own trauma.” Volunteers learn how to defuse and debrief groups that have experienced a critical incident, how to word certain things and interact with people, to recognize when someone needs additional help, and to lead the conversation from a personal place. For all that delving into past trauma during the training can be difficult, Waterer, Schwartz, and other peer volunteers know it will ultimately be rewarding. 

“I want to help people so that a year down the road, they don’t come to me and say they can’t work anymore, they’re having suicidal thoughts, it’s gotten to that critical point because they weren’t supported the way they should have been.”

“If I can help just one person to have a healthier recovery, it’s worth it.”

Learn more about the Mountain Community CISM Program and how to contact the peer CISM team >>

Words By Cassidy Randall

The prediction: this winter could be like no other...

The prediction: this winter could be like no other, especially as far as ski injuries go in the guiding community. This is the opinion of Fraser Sprigings, a Physiotherapist in Revelstoke BC, who rehabs a lot of ski-related injuries, and who is very familiar with the helicat sector. After talking with Fraser, it became clear that we should increase awareness of potential injuries in the guiding community for this unprecedented winter. 

It’s important to highlight the 84% loss in skier days the helicat industry faced last year during the 2020/21 winter. This dramatic decrease in skier days last season shows us that many guides may not have been working, or working at a much reduced capacity. We are now facing an epic winter of fully booked operations, pent up demand from our international guests, and a forecast of endless snow! Both the excitement and need to get back to work this season, coupled with the new COVID challenges, is predicted to lead to an increase in injuries due to increased fatigue, self-imposed pressures to work, and lack of fitness. Dealing with COVID-19 and the new challenges it has brought to our workplace practices is also both physically and mentally tiring.

So, how can we mitigate the risk? By bringing awareness early to the potential for increased injuries within the guiding community this season - attention brought to the issue can help in making safe decisions may be necessary. 

From hindsight we know that what gets measured, gets managed. HeliCat’s Incident Reporting and Exchange software (HIRE) is the perfect place to track injuries and near-misses. If we track these occurrences, then we can be even more prepared for future management.

Fraser has recently written articles for the CAA and ACMG addressing this same issue. Although I’m sure that ski guide’s injuries keep Fraser busy with work, I thank him for helping us to bring early awareness to the challenges facing guides this season. Thank you for your support Fraser, and advocacy for the HIRE system. Let’s have an excellent winter of skiing!

Welcome to the world-renowned snow that is B.C.’s backyard.

This is the season to come and experience the world-renowned snow that is British Columbia’s backyard.

After something of a worldwide pause on winter; possibilities are re-opening. We’re thrilled to invite you to explore the high-mountain terrain and famously deep snowfalls that have earned B.C. a hallowed spot on the map since the inception of mechanized skiing.

This is it: your winter.

Perhaps you’ve always wanted to cat ski. Run after run of snow so deep that you finally, truly understand the definition of the term “white room”, punctuated with comfortable rides in the warmth of the snowcat to catch your breath and laugh over those last turns with your family.

Or maybe heliskiing is on your bucket list, thousands upon thousands of vertical feet skied courtesy of a mechanical bird. Lunch served in an alpine dream scene to you and your best friends, and vista after aerial vista of the jagged ranges that make B.C.’s skylines so captivatingly beautiful.

Or maybe you already have a favorite lodge or operation that you’ve been visiting year after year. You can be sure: they missed you just as much you missed them, and they’re looking forward to welcoming you with open arms and untracked lines.

Yes, some things might still look a little different than in seasons past, and it’s a good idea to check each operation’s guidelines and stay updated on local travel recommendations. But here’s the thing about this year: we took last winter as an opportunity to fine-tune the beauty and execution of the small-group experience for this winter. In fact, that’s what makes heli and cat skiing so attractive. You have the option to keep it small, and share it with your most important people.

Dream it, just for a moment. You wake up in a cozy timber-frame lodge deep in the quiet wild. Your only task for the next hour is to enjoy coffee and breakfast together, watching last night’s snowfall glitter in the sunrise. Then you gear up for a day in the mountains, the gear room buzzing in anticipation, the clicking of ski boots, and the swish of jackets. You step into your chosen chariot—snowcat, helicopter—and head off for one of the most scenic rides of your life.

And then. Then, the skiing begins. You might weave through behemoth old-growth trees, or a series of magical glades. You might ski a glacier, sublime in its age and slow movement, and mistake your turns for flight. You might get to really open it up in a wide-open alpine bowl, the horizon of mountains laid out before you in endless potential. Maybe you’ll even ski all three, and every combination in between, over your multiple runs.

Back at the lodge, you sink your blissfully tired body, still high on endorphins, into the hot tub. Maybe you sip a happy hour drink in the bar with your après appetizers. Then, showered and snug, you relive the best moments of the day over a five-star dinner with your ski buddies, the fire-lit room warm with laughter. Or perhaps you’re staying in one of B.C.’s mountain towns after a day out cat or heli-skiing, many of them storied meccas in their own right with plenty of character-rich hospitality to explore.

If a heli or cat ski trip has been on your bucket list. If you’ve always wanted to bring your family to B.C. for a special experience beyond the ski resort slopes into the vast wonder of the backcountry. If you’ve been aiming to get your closest shredder friends together to ski some dream lines. If you’ve wanted to put together a women’s-only weekend. From day trips to multi-day stays at lodges, B.C.’s heli and cat ski operations are ready for you.

This is your winter to do it.

Welcome. We can’t wait to take some turns with you out here.

Words by Cassidy Randall

A Mystifying Duality: Sustainability in Helicopter and Snowcat Skiing in British Columbia

By Dave Butler, RPF, RPBio.

For the mountain community writ large, using the terms ‘helicopter/snowcat skiing’ and ‘sustainability’ in the same sentence may be considered hypocrisy, an incongruity of the worst kind. However, from the birth of heli-skiing in the early 1960s, Hans Gmoser – father of this globally unique adventure tourism experience and the founder of CMH – installed a respect for nature in everyone with whom he skied and climbed. And from early days, he practiced what he preached. However, he frequently noted that few people go to the mountains without burning any fossil fuels.

In 1968, Gmoser predicted the need for regulations in wild areas during a speech to a Calgary service club. He was the first in our sector to utilize wildlife operating procedures for ski guides and pilots, and in 1971, he first lobbied the British Columbia government to establish industry operating standards so the resource on which his business was based would remain intact for generations to come.

“A single footprint is a big impact … if you happen to be the flower that gets stepped on.”

— Hans Gmoser

When I joined CMH in 1997, Hans described to me our moral and ethical responsibility to take care of the special places we share with our guests. That’s as true today as it was when he began 60 years ago. In thinking about our sector’s evolution, I always reflect on Hans’ leadership and appreciate that his principles are a critical foundation for all we do today.

A decisive moment occurred in 2003, when our association developed and approved its first best practice document for stewardship in mountain ecosystems. It moved us from an unwritten but longstanding commitment to stewardship, where guides and pilots acted as silent monitors and caretakers of the backcountry, to something more formal, more sophisticated, more overt. That document covers wildlife and vegetation, water quality and waste management, fuel handling and storage, forest management and energy innovation. By offering best practices for social and economic sustainability, however, it goes further, reflecting the growing global focus on all three sustainability pillars.

By 2007, three years after Canada’s Species at Risk Act came into effect, our sector had already negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding with the Province of BC that laid out clear expectations for how we should operate in mountain caribou habitat. That work continues to this day and has expanded to include operating procedures in BC’s innovative “Tourism Wildlife Guidelines” for mountain goats, grizzly bears, wolverines, and other key species found in our tenured operating areas. Many helicopter and snowcat operations use sophisticated protocols for addressing the needs of wildlife, all designed to prevent their displacement from the habitats in which they choose to spend time. Guides and pilots and snowcat drivers use habitat maps, previous sightings, current sightings, and even real-time location data from collared animals to make decisions hourly and daily. The thousands of observations we generate each year are not only used to improve our practices, but they feed into a range of illuminating analyses and research projects.

Speaking of research projects, our recent creation of the Wildlife and Environmental Research Fund is another major step forward. The WERF is a guest-funded initiative that invests in research projects designed to drive constant improvement and innovation. Guests donate $5 for every day of skiing; those funds are used to generate ethical, valid, independent and evidence-based knowledge through the work of Indigenous governments and organizations; federal, provincial and municipal governments; or universities and colleges.

Clearly, energy consumption, fossil fuels and climate change are critical issues that challenge every aspect of society today, including tourism businesses and destinations. Numerous HCC companies now tackle this head on with carbon foot-printing, a focus on energy efficiency, and in some cases, carbon offsetting – either offsetting the direct impacts of company operations, or at the very least, allowing guests to voluntarily offset their trips. In fact, one project funded by the WERF is a sector guide to carbon offsetting and offset programs. However, there is much more to be done as our climate challenges worsen.

In the context of sustainability, it’s fair to say that our sector exhibits a mystifying duality. Some might say it’s an enigma wrapped in apparently conflicted obsessions.

On the one hand, we’re passionate about taking people into the mountains, building in our guests a profound respect and appreciation for very special places. We love to ski and hike and climb with them, and to watch as they begin to understand what the mountains have to offer. We care deeply about the places where we live, work and play, and want them to remain intact and healthy for future generations.

On the other hand, we share these places by taking people there in helicopters and snowcats. We burn fossil fuels, and we build lodges, remote fuel caches and radio repeaters. We have an impact, whether we like it or not.

However, I don’t see sharing and protecting as competing obsessions. Like many things in life, it’s not an either/or choice. In fact, I believe we -- as a sector and as individual businesses -- can (and do) show society how a business sector can successfully do both things – share the mountains with people, and at the same time, maintain them for the future. This is not green-washing or corporate enviro- speak; ours is a sincere commitment that began with Hans Gmoser’s original sense of moral and ethical responsibility. Increasingly, that commitment is heavily influenced by our growing relationships with our indigenous friends and neighbours, in whose traditional territories we are privileged to operate.

Ultimately, it’s all about stewardship.

We’re not perfect, and we operate in a world that’s changing rapidly. By recognizing we’re part of the problem, we commit to being part of the solution. And by working with our friends and our critics, and by remaining humble, respectful and awe-struck, we continue to evolve from what was – and still is – a simple passion for the mountains, to a sophisticated and constantly improving commitment to sharing them and sustaining them for the future.

I am extremely proud of how far we’ve come.

I hope Hans would be too.

Most importantly, I’m confident in our future … and in the stewardship role we will play for many generations.

“We gently intrude, with respect and awe, into the sanctity of these marvelous places, partaking with deep appreciation of what they offer to those who come to enjoy them in humble moderation and understanding.”

— Hans Gmoser

Dave Butler is the Director of Sustainability at CMH Heliskiing and Summer Adventures. He’s a professional forester, professional biologist, published novelist, and a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

This is your winter, Canadians!

Imagine it. 

Turn after turn of snow so deep it flows over your head in cold smoke clouds. Weaving through old-growth forests. A wide-open glory line down a glacier. The quiet awe of an entire mountain range rising across the horizon from where you stand atop your next run, taking it in before you drop. Imagine, your body blissfully tired from skiing thousands of vertical feet, relaxing in front of a crackling fire to watch the sun set into alpine glow on the peaks outside the warm lodge window, reveling in the fact that you have nothing to do tomorrow except experience it all again.

What if this winter, you didn’t have to imagine it? 

With the unprecedented circumstance of Canada’s closed borders this season comes an extraordinary opportunity: a once-in-a-lifetime chance for British Columbians to ski these famed ranges with legendary operations, close to home in your own backyard. And all of our operators, who’ve put in place the highest of health and safety standards, are offering exceptional discounts to welcome Canadians with open arms. 

Since a pioneering group of mountain guides trail blazed the idea of accessing the far reaches of untouched mountain ranges using flight and snowcats over half a century ago, British Columbia has been known as the storied mecca of heli- and cat-skiing. In normal winters, travelers come from all over the world to experience these pinnacles of ski adventure, booking the lodges and operations solid—sometimes for years at a time. In fact, it’s often impossible to secure mid-winter dates at many of these operations. 

But this is not a normal winter. This winter is for Canadians. And it comes at a much-needed time. After weathering months of social isolation and starving for shared experiences, a heli- or cat-ski trip represents the opportunity to re-connect with your inner circle over the important things: finding the joy in the present moment, with each other, that skiing unfailingly provides. 

In fact, that’s exactly what a heli-ski or cat-ski experience will look like this winter. It will be just you and your own group, with your guide, in the helicopter or snowcat. Only your group skiing together. Your group together in your own bubble at après and dinner, if you’re staying in a lodge. 

So yes, the experience might look a little different this winter. (Including more affordable—many operations are offering unprecedented discounts to Canadians this winter.) But skiing, at its core, remains unchanged: the exhilaration of powder turns, the calming feel of snow quietly falling and adventure enjoyed with your chosen bubble of important people under a crisp winter sky. 

If a heli- or cat-ski trip has been on your bucket list, this is your year to do it. If you’ve always wanted to bring your family for a special experience beyond the ski resort slopes into the sublime wonder of the backcountry. If you’ve been aiming to get your closest shredder friends together to ski some dream lines. If you’ve wanted to put together a women’s-only trip, or book out an entire lodge just for your bubble. From day trips to multi-day stays at lodges, you can find these all on offer from B.C. heli- and cat-ski operators close to home—at remarkable deals. 

This is your winter. Come ski the world-renowned snow in your own backyard.

Explore Heli and Cat Skiing >>

Words by Cassidy Randall

An Interview with Jana Poborilova - What it takes to become a full ACMG (Association of Canadian Mountain Guides) Ski Guide

Words - Corrina Stafford, HeliCat’s Executive Administrator 

Many of you reading this will be familiar with the process involved in becoming an ACMG Ski Guide. Some of you won’t. And before this interview, that included myself. So I wanted to sit down with someone currently in the process of achieving their ACMG Full Ski Guide certification to see just what it takes to become a ski guide.

I met virtually with Jana Poborilova to discuss this topic and learn about how this path has been for her. Jana is an ACMG Apprentice Ski Guide who will be taking her final Ski Guide exam with the ACMG this December (2020). While training and studying to become a Full Ski Guide Jana has been working with CMH Heli-skiing, Stellar Heliskiing, Icefall Lodge, and volunteering with her local Search and Rescue Group.

Tell us a bit about yourself, your background, and how you got into guiding. 

I grew up in a small mountain town in the Czech Republic and was a member of the Czech Nordic-skiing Junior Team, however deep snow was way more appealing to me. While I was a student I spent as much time as possible skiing, climbing and biking in the Czech and French Alps. After graduating from a masters program of Sport and Leisure Management at Palacky University in Czech Republic, I came to BC. I got hooked on the Canadian powder and have never looked back!

It wasn’t until I came to Canada that the world of guiding opened up to me and it became apparent that this could be a career option. In Czech Republic I would have loved to have joined Mountain Rescue, but it was prohibited for women to join. The revelation came when I began working for CMH as a bartender that the possibility that I too could become a ski guide was there. The guiding team at CMH Galena are my inspiration and mentors. They supported and encouraged me to apply for the ACMG Ski Guide program.

What does it take to become an ACMG Ski Guide? 

Ultimately it takes passion, experience, and dedication. It is very competitive to be accepted onto the ACMG Ski Guide program and you need to have solid experience in the mountains, strong skiing ability, and other prerequisite courses and skills to even be considered. I think that to be successful you should go into the program with more experience than what is expected or required. When I was building up my experience in order to submit my application to the ACMG I shifted my focus to train and build some more background with big mountain objectives. It is essential to keep up your ski touring and mechanised skiing involvement as you are progressing through the program.

I did not begin the process of applying until I was aged 31 and overall life experience certainly plays a factor. The time commitment can be around three to five years. If you come from a family background of mountaineering and adventuring then you have an edge as a younger candidate. A good way to gain the experience if you didn’t grow up in such an outdoors environment would be to join an Adventure Studies program such as the one at Thompson Rivers University or College of the Rockies.

You mentioned that it was impossible for females to join Mountain Rescue when you were living in the Czech Republic. How do you feel that Canada accepts women into the ski industry?

I have never felt in Canada that there has been any discrimination or reduced opportunity for females. None that I have seen. I have never seen gender as a limiting factor within the ski industry. Finding your way in a typically male dominated industry is just another challenge to overcome. In the past ten years there has been a definite shift, and you see many more females participating in sports that are perceived as male dominated such as dirt biking and sledding. The support is there for female guides and I can only see more and more females applying to the ACMG’s programs.

What’s next for you?

I’m going to knuckle down and study hard for my final ACMG Ski Guide exams. “Once you pass the exam, that’s when your learning truly begins.” 

Even in a normal year it can be tough for ACMG Apprentice level Ski Guides to gain secure employment, and in the current climate the prospects are even more limited. So this winter I will be focusing on my education and keeping active. 

Good Luck Jana! We can’t wait to hear from you as your journey continues. 

If you are interested in finding out more about the ACMG and their courses and resources, you can find them online here. You can also find information on the CSGA ski guide training program here.

HeliCat Canada - COVID-19 Impacts on the helicat industry

The following are excerpts from the HeliCat Canada 2020 Annual Report written by Executive Director, Ross Cloutier, and President, Rob Rohn.

See the full report for more details of the COVID-19 impacts on this iconic BC tourism sector.

Executive Summary, Industry wide shut-down

HeliCat’s Executive Director, Ross Cloutier

To say that the 2019-20 ski season has been a roller coaster would be the understatement of the decade. Going from the best helicopter and snowcat skiing season ever, to the worst ever, all within a couple of weeks, was shocking. Completely discombobulating.

At the February 2020 HeliCat Canada Board meeting, COVID-19 was largely affecting cruise ships and we were discussing any parallels the helicat sector might have with them, hypothetically. By the HCC Board meeting in March, the sector was shutting down completely. What a difference a month makes.

Due to the sector-wide shut down in early March, 2019-20 skier days were approximately 30% lower than the year before. Profits disappeared, jobs were lost, and ski lodges were shuttered, but our members rallied. Options for bringing international guests across closed borders were explored; COVID-19 testing regimes were researched; Best Practices for Helicopter and Snowcat Skiing Operations Under COVID-19 guidelines were developed and vetted by government; politicians and public health staff were consulted; and yes, even with a very early industry closure, some sector staff and guests tested positive for the virus.

Impacts on the Industry

Excerpt from HeliCat’s 2020 Annual Report

In March, our priorities shifted almost overnight to focus on the rapidly changing COVID-19 pandemic as we supported our members through these unprecedented times. The sector closed 4-6 weeks early, resulting in the loss of approximately 30% of the season's anticipated revenue. This loss is unrecoverable and accounts for approximately $32-43 million in sales, $49-65 million in provincial output, and 2,800 early layoffs.

It would be extremely difficult to overstate the degree to which COVID-19 has impacted the adventure tourism industry in general, and the helicat sector specifically. While international travellers account for only 30% of tourism in Canada, approximately 90% of helicat tourists are international guests. Although the helicat sector averages approximately 120,000 skier days per year with 40,000 individual skiers, only 10% of these guests are Canadian, with 45% crossing the border from the USA and another 45% coming from all around the world. Without this diverse clientele, the sector could fall to 10-15% of normal sales, in spite of being 100% sold out for the coming season and with waiting lists booked two years into the future. Simply put, this high-yield, low-volume market is completely dependent upon international guests being able to enter Canada. Without this, the impact on the 2020-21 season will be extensive.

Working together in uncertain times

A message from HeliCat’s President, Rob Rohn 

Throughout history, major disruptive events have ushered in periods of profound uncertainty. By their nature, they upset generational paradigms and world-views. Comfortable customs and conventions are upended, with no clear vision of what lies ahead. This is scary. With the COVID-19 pandemic, we are living through one of these events. Globally we are trying to decipher what the future holds and how we should adapt to, and manage, the uncertain situation we face.

HeliCat Canada members are experts at managing the risks of mechanized backcountry skiing. However, the risks posed by COVID-19 reach far beyond our area of expertise. The disparate and uncoordinated public health responses, even between Canadian provinces, show that the experts are also struggling to determine which strategies will be effective. We are all trying to figure this out as the situation evolves.

These are times that can bring out the best or the worst in individuals, nations and organizations. I am very proud to see how our sector has rallied our collective energy and expertise to tackle our common challenges and to show a level of leadership disproportionate to our size. The all-hands-on-deck effort to draft our Best Practices for Helicopter and Snowcat Skiing Operations Under COVID-19 guidelines, and our willingness to openly share our hopes and fears, and to brainstorm a path forward, shows how tightly knit and collaborative our community truly is. This is our greatest strength.

I would like to thank Ross, Corrina, the Board of Directors and committee members for the hard work and steady leadership they have shown in navigating the immediate crisis without losing sight of other important issues, such as those surrounding tenure security, wildlife and species at risk, and our relations with First Nations. I hope that you, the members, have found value in the work HeliCat Canada has been doing on your behalf. If you feel we’re missing anything, be sure to let us know!

Disruptive events occur over a span of decades and eventually pass. Some are more localized, some global. Some precipitate cataclysmic change, while others fade as footnotes in the history books. I have no doubt that the helicat sector of western Canada, and this association, will survive the COVID-19 pandemic and thrive well beyond it. Some things will likely look different in the future, and the coming months will test us all. However, the power and timeless magic of the experiences we offer will endure. And when we get to the other side of this, the pent-up demand for the best skiing on the planet and the passion of our guests will position us well for the future. We will get there!

HeliCat’s full 2020 Annual Report is now available online. The Annual Report is a valuable tool for all stakeholders. It provides an overview of our economic impacts, governance, and strategic direction. Please take the time to read and share. Thank you.