What is heli-hiking?
This isn’t hiking as you know it
CMH didn’t just invent heli-hiking – we perfected it. Every CMH trip promises amazing mountain adventures and alpine hospitality to match. Whether you choose to escape to the Cariboos, Bugaboos or Bobbie Burns, you’ll enjoy gourmet meals, incredible daily heli-access excursions, inviting accommodations, all the equipment you need and more. Explore our three trip locations for additional information and select your ideal adventure.
What is heli-hiking?
Our heli-accessed hiking program takes guests and our professional guides directly into the high country with endless alpine vistas extending to the horizon.
From there, your guide will lead you along ridgelines, through alpine meadows, and to stunning viewpoints.
Matched to group dynamic, our adventures are led by guides with a wealth of knowledge about Canadian mountain flora, fauna, geology and history—as well as stories to share from lifetimes lived in the mountains.
From dramatic glaciers to route-finding across open terrain framed by wildflowers, the experience of heli-hiking at CMH is defined by wonder, education and awe around every corner.
Your trip, your pace
Do you prefer to amble at a leisurely pace? Do you want to see a variety of terrain, but stop occasionally to take photos along the way? Or are you longing to conquer multiple peaks and break a sweat?
When you join us on a mountain adventure, we want you to see everything you want to see, at the pace you enjoy exploring. Our guides meet every morning and evening to create a plan for each guest.
With groups of up to 11 guests and 2 guides in a Bell 212 helicopter, each day is tailored to all levels of desires, experience, level of fitness and agility. We split the groups as necessary so everyone can stay within their comfort level.
Exclusive access
Our guides are equally skilled at choosing terrain for a couple in their 90's who want a dreamy stroll along an easy ridge overlooking an alpine wonderland, to leading a team of hard-charging adventurers safely across a glacier.
Each day offers the chance to heli somewhere different – with exclusive access.
Guided groups might get dropped off in an alpine meadow and hike up to a summit, on a glacier to explore and hike, on a mountain ridge to hike down to alpine meadows or at the beginning of an exhilarating via ferrata.
These boots were made for walkin’
We have an enormous selection of terrain for our guides choose from, which means endless distance options.
The amount of horizontal distance you’ll cover each day will be customized by our guides to your group and your desires. Wander for a short distance, push across longer distances, or somewhere in between.
You’ll stand in awe at where your two feet will take you.
Going up!
Unlike regular hiking, you won’t have to slog for hours through the trees to gain much of your elevation. Instead, you’ll be lifted by helicopter to a starting point where the most scenic sections are still ahead of you.
From there, the amount of elevation you'll gain and lose (go up and down) on your heli-hiking adventure is tailored to each group.
If you want a strenuous challenge, expect to cover lots of varied terrain with a high level of elevation gain and loss. Or, if you are more sure-footed when less elevation change occurs, you’ll cover easier terrain with minimal to moderate elevation gain and loss.
Breathtaking views, or breathtaking views that also take your breath away? You choose!
Something for everyone
We tailor our hiking groups based on individual wants and needs to create the ultimate trip experience, where the only requirement is a thirst for adventure. Here’s how we typically create hiking groups:
Wander
Wanderers want to see beautiful terrain in a very relaxed manner. They prefer to meander slowly and enjoy the scenery with shorter walks over easy ground. Long, relaxed breaks along the way offer opportunities to reflect, slow down, and take in the stunning vistas.
Pace: Slow with extended breaks
Terrain: Easy ground
Distance: Short horizontal distance
Elevation: Minimal gain and loss
Roam
Roamers are seeking a full day of hiking, but at a more relaxed pace. They will experience simpler but stunning terrain with minor amounts of elevation gain and loss. Longer breaks along the way allow for plenty of photo opportunities and time to pause.
Pace: Slow with regular breaks
Terrain: Easy and moderate
Distance: Moderate horizontal distance
Elevation: Minimal gain and loss
Explore
Explorers want to be somewhat challenged on their trip, hiking full days in varied terrain. They can maintain a steady, moderate pace over reasonable distances, and likely already exercise multiple times per week. This group will typically navigate terrain with some elevation gain and loss, stopping for regular breaks along the way.
Pace: Moderate with regular breaks
Terrain: Varied terrain
Distance: Moderate horizontal distance
Elevation: Moderate gain and loss
Adventure
Adventurers enjoy strenuous, fast-paced activities. They are already very physically active and want to hike full days, covering a lot of ground on their trip. This group will typically navigate more challenging terrain with lots of elevation gain and loss, stopping for shorter breaks along the way.
Pace: Fast pace with short breaks
Terrain: Varied terrain
Distance: Long horizontal distance
Elevation: High gain and loss
Heli-hiking FAQs
While even the fittest alpine athletes will find challenge in our terrain, our guides are experts at matching group objectives to fitness levels and preferred pace. Whether you aim to log long distances and vertical gain or focus on a slower appreciation of the alpine—we match the pace and objective to your preference.
No problem. There is a lot of flexibility to change groups during your trip if your first day wasn’t what you expected. Chat with your guide if you’d like to adjust anything.
Our guides are constantly checking in with our guests to make sure they are comfortable and will make the necessary arrangements to fly them back to the lodge at the earliest opportunity. There are plenty of things to do back at the lodge; rejuvenating muscles with a massage, soaking up the scenery from the hot tub, relaxing on the deck with a good book or even a dip in the nearby pond.
At CMH, the heli will be a daily part of your experience. In the morning, the helicopter will lift your group and your guide to an alpine starting point from which you’ll hike. It might later transfer you into new terrain or move you into the best weather, then return you to the lodge at the end of the day.
FEELS A BITLIKE CHEATING
On a typical "multi-drop day" you'll hike from point A to an awaiting helicopter at point B, then repeat again, depending on the group's preferences. It all feels a bit like cheating - until you've hiked for hours, logging several thousand vertical feet.
CMH Stories
Choose from three inspiring locations
Our iconic mountain lodges are your basecamp for adventure. Choose a single destination or a lodge-to-lodge experience.
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