Beginning in January, adrenaline junkies heading to Alaska for heliskiing can now launch off a boat moored at the foot of untouched mountains in Petersburg.
After three consecutive bad winters, Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures (SEABA) has secured a two-year permit with the U.S. Forest Service to operate in Petersburg and partnered with a boat to offer Inside Passage heliskiing.
“It’s a new way to generate interest in the Southeast region,” co-owner Scott Sundberg said. The last few seasons in Haines have been tough because of an increased number of operators, poor snow conditions and a lack of availability for business growth in Haines, he said.
Last year was the worst season ever with only 37.5 percent of allocated skier days utilized by three local companies, according to the borough’s commercial heliskiing end-of-season report. SEABA used 60 percent of 975 days in 2018, compared to 62 percent of 975 in 2017, and 70 percent of 900 in 2016.
Sundberg said SEABA’s new tour will offer clients fresh terrain, a longer season and no competing operators.
“Skiing in Haines is fun until you’ve done the same runs 40 times,” he said. “This will offer a new adventure for old clients and possibly new clients.”
For about $90,000, up to eight guests will be picked up in Petersburg and travel by boat to Thomas Bay or Farragut Bay, where they’ll moor and launch a chopper from the boat. Sundberg said heliskiing locations include the Baird, Patterson and Oasis glaciers, and into the Witches Cauldron around the Stikine Wilderness. The tour package covers food, fuel, outdoor gear and transportation for a week-long trip.
Sundberg said that launching from the water cuts helicopter air time and cost, as the Petersburg airport is about a 24-minute ride to peak, as opposed to four minutes from Thomas Bay. “That’s why it hasn’t really happened in Petersburg, because the airport is simply too far away from the terrain,” Sundberg said.
In Petersburg, there is only one other issued permit for heliskiing, Silverton Mountain Guides, but the company doesn’t regularly operate in the area, Sundberg said.
The 69-foot boat chartered for the tours was built with a heli-pad deck for private hire in the summer on Prince William Sound. It can carry eight clients, two guides and boat support staff.
The Petersburg permit will lengthen the heliskiing season for SEABA by up to 35 days. Haines operating permits run from February to May 3, while Petersburg’s season will be from January to May 7. A colder climate at 8,000-foot elevation, as opposed to Haines’ average 6,000 feet, will also contribute to a longer season, Sundberg hopes. “I have faith that this year is going to be better,” he said.
Sundberg said SEABA’s longterm goal is to expand their operating area to all of Southeast with additional operating permits, as the Haines Borough and the Bureau of Land Management office that oversees tour permitting have not been accepting to expanding operating area or dates.
“SEABA’s home is Haines, but without growth in terrain development through public processes in the last three years, we are making moves to find revenues in areas that are more accepting and open to our business,” Sundberg said.