Where is Bella Coola Helisports Located? Bella Coola Heli Sports is located in a delightfully isolated utopia, near the town of Bella Coola, in the Coast Range of British Columbia. Bella Coola is a 1:15 hour flight north of Vancouver (a 722km trip via road and ferry). The primary lodge is located only 30 minutes east of the Bella Coola Airport in the eastern end of the Bella Coola Valley within Tweedsmuir Park.

The location equates to much less travel time than for many other Canadian heli skiing companies, and it’s possible to heliski on both your arrival and departure day!

Getting to Bella Coola is super easy because the travel is all looked after by BC Helisports. The flights between Vancouver and Bella Coola are included as part of the package (or to Anahim Lake if you’re on the Pantheon package), as is the transport to the lodge.


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Bella Coola Heliskiing Terrain

The size of the Bella Coola Helisports terrain is absolutely massive, although “massive” might be a massive understatement! The gi-normous terrain is over 10,700 square kilometres (2.64 million acres), making it the biggest Canadian heli skiing tenure. Its size completely dwarfs the big Whistler Blackcomb, which is only 1/325th the size of Bella Coola Helisports.

Many of the runs are leg-burningly delicious, with some long descents of 5,000 to 6,000 vertical feet (1,500 to 1,800 vertical metres). An average day of heli skiing consists of anywhere from 15,000 vertical feet to 30,000 vertical feet of powder skiing.

This vast area has an amazing diversity of dramatic mountain terrain. The alpine terrain is Bella Coola’s specialty with a range of bowls, glaciers and chutes. The tenure also has plenty of tree skiing, which is handy for getting out during stormy weather days. As a minimum, skiers and snowboarders should be of at least strong intermediate ability (ie can confidently ski off-piste blue runs and some black runs).

More Reasons to Heli Ski with Bella Coola

Like other Canada heli skiing operators, Bella Coola is a member of HeliCat Canada, which has very comprehensive safety guidelines for minimising risk in the backcountry. BC Helisports has very qualified and experienced guides, and the provision of safety equipment such as airbags to all guests, adds to the emphasis on safety.

Bella Coola Heli Skiing has some other major strong points. It’s quick and easy to get to. The heli skiing and lodging experiences are intimate with only small groups, the terrain is colossal, and the snowpack reduces the likelihood of just skiing ho-hum mellow slopes. This heli skiing isn’t just steep, it’s majorly deep too. Zip up the armpits on your jacket and keep your mouth closed… unless of course you want powder for lunch! Fire up the Contour head cam and make some ski porn!