There’s nothing like getting away from the madding crowd with a day of AT. But getting to the summit for your first run can be quite a slog, involving a drive, a hoof to the trailhead and a long skin through dense trees, up the ridgeline and so on until you and your sweaty back have finally reached the peak. Blackcomb Helicopters has a sweet suggestion to make your next trip to Whistler truly memorable: a guided ski-touring day that starts at the peak. Enormous swaths of tenured terrain as well as the crown land of the Coast Mountains await groups of up to four. Along with your morning heli-drop at the summit and afternoon pickup in the valley, your AT day with Blackcomb Helicopters comes complete with an ACMG mountain guide, avalanche gear (AT gear can be rented in town if necessary), 3-5 runs typically—and even a lunch prepared by the Fairmont Whistler’s Portobello restaurant! Per person rates in a group of four range from $660 to double that depending on how deep your solace is to be found in the backcountry and whether your lift is from Whistler or Pemberton. blackcombhelicopters.com
