Ski with Sage Cattabriga-Alosa in Alaska (3/31 - 4/6)!!!

Also, I cannot say enough good things about Pulseline. The guides were amazing, the support staff are great, the organization and communication ran like a Swiss watch. When we were flying the efficiency was insane. I barely ate all day because as soon as you could get your gear packed for the basket the heli was inbound. Consummate professionals.

It was super cool to have Sage on the trip. He has a wealth of experience that comes from a different perspective than the guides and it really added to the experience. He's also every bit the super nice and fun guy you see in the movies.

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Do they refund money if you only fly one day? Granted that one day looked pretty choice, but still? Is heli-skiing for people with no limit on cash and that’s just part of the deal?
Asking for a scrub ski shop employee I know.

What you're really buying isn't days, it's flight hours. My "7 day" package was 4 Hobbs hours (basically, the actual time you spend in the ship measured in 0.1 hour increments) and I used 1.4. I was guaranteed a seat in the ship for those 7 days, but if there had been a long run of high pressure I could have used all my hours up well before those 7 days were up. If that happens you have to pony up if you want to keep flying.

They credit you 100% of unused hours if used in the current season and 50% the following season. So, if I make it back up next season I'll have 1.3 hours (pretty much a full day) I can fly for "free."

My understanding is that this is pretty generous within the industry. They have a ton of fixed operating costs and can't control the weather, so if they refunded every unused flight hour they'd never make money. The owner told me they're trying to work out a sort of co-op model where people could buy hours a la carte in advance and use them whenever, but they're still figuring details of how they could make it work.

Hmm, a heli ski season pass of sorts but with a fixed amount of time.


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Thanks for detailed reply, DTM. We need to hit that powerball, y’all.

Fwiw, I've always heard that the policies at different heli ops can vary a lot, and to read their "no fly" details VERY carefully.

It's also very important to note that guided down day activities were provided. We did two guided ski tours, an ice cave tour, got a professional ice climbing lesson, and basically did a full Avi 1 class with certified AIARE instructors.

It's not what you're there for, but to buy those things separately would not be cheap. Now that I know the game a bit I probably wouldn't do an all inclusive package again to save money, but it was definitely the way to go for this trip.

Sage also got down with the iceberg novelty skiing.

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Shitty photo but epic nevertheless!
Who ever had the opportunity to have Sage air over their ice climbing line? [seemingly or otherwise…looks like he’s flailing a bit there ;) ]

DTM, you look like you were ready for his opportunity & wrung it dry

& thx for sharing with us!

Echo sentiments...
Dan thx for sharing. This has motivated me to train for the what if and last minutes.

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Originally Posted by ::: :::

Shitty photo but epic nevertheless!
Who ever had the opportunity to have Sage air over their ice climbing line? [seemingly or otherwise…looks like he’s flailing a bit there ;)

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It's impossible to take a good photo in that crazy flat light. That was even taken on a real camera by someone not me who actually knows what they're doing (he wasn't happy with it either).

Sage was actually well behind him, but he lined up the shot to get that perspective.

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Originally Posted by ::: :::

DTM, you look like you were ready for his opportunity & wrung it dry

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A lot of life choices got validated this week.

Butters FTW!

Stoked for ya! Thanks for the trip report and paying it forward a bit.

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Originally Posted by Dantheman

It's impossible to take a good photo in that crazy flat light. That was even taken on a real camera by someone not me who actually knows what they're doing.

Sage was actually well behind him, but he lined up the shot to get that perspective.



A lot of life choices got validated this week.

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Can’t imagine airing out an iceberg if the light is that flat.

Good on you, DTM.

Also, funny thing…. Of all the compliments I might get, somebody telling me they like my skiing gets me going more than just about anything else.

I just made the mistake of checking the updated forecast and the cameras at the pass. Looks like they might fly today. Oooof.

12 hours ago it looked like there was no hope. I was fully prepared to extend the trip a day if there was hope. Such is life skiing in Alaska. Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes he eats you.


edit: Still full blue up there. C'est la vie....

Trying to predict AK weather is often a losing proposition and can be maddening if you let it.
It can also bring lots of drama.
You put yourself in the position to ski for a week and saw and skied what Valdez has to offer
which will always be unforgettable. Thanks for sharing.

Yeah. AK weather..... We started our Tour up RFS a bit late ( hindsight) and flat light got us on the descent. We could still see full blue sky a few km further towards the sea and valdez. It was the only time I was happy to have a few heli Skiers tracks on a face I wanted to ski. [emoji3]
The crevasses in the flat basin were totally invisible. Luckily the heli tracks led straight through and back towards our skin track on the ridge further down.

Awesome stuff DTM!

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Originally Posted by gforce

Trying to predict AK weather is often a losing proposition and can be maddening if you let it.

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Truer words have never been spoken. The models had been spot on all week <24 hours out. Sage could have stayed the extra day free and he also left Saturday afternoon (we had flights out of Anchorage at about the same time). Even the pros blow it sometimes.

I'm 110% going back next year to use my flight credits. NFW am I letting those die on the vine.

How does the Hobbs time actually work? Is it running only when your ass is in the seat or is it from when the aircraft is inbound to your group and running until drop off when it is inbound to the next group? Basically are you being charged for a "round trip" of the aircraft or just your time in the seat on the climb?

Also curious about the group size, it sounds like you were running 2 guides for 2 clients? That sounds awesome but is that normal for Pulseline?

Congratulations on an amazing experience, I haven't ever pulled the trigger on something like this but it sounds like something worth pursuing in the next couple of years.

Hobbs time is engine on to engine off. Yes, you’re paying for deadhead time.

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Originally Posted by Shredhead

Hobbs time is engine on to engine off. Yes, you’re paying for deadhead time.

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When I've been around helis for non skiing work we've calculated it as time off the ground. Is that not the heli ski convention?

I’ve heard operators claim that, but that’s tach time.

Hobbs vs tach.

https://doublemaviation.com/hobbs-ti...Weston%20Hobbs.

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Originally Posted by Dantheman

I'm 110% going back next year to use my flight credits. NFW am I letting those die on the vine.

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Good call!

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Originally Posted by CascadeCrudSkier

How does the Hobbs time actually work? Is it running only when your ass is in the seat or is it from when the aircraft is inbound to your group and running until drop off when it is inbound to the next group? Basically are you being charged for a "round trip" of the aircraft or just your time in the seat on the climb?

Also curious about the group size, it sounds like you were running 2 guides for 2 clients? That sounds awesome but is that normal for Pulseline?

Congratulations on an amazing experience, I haven't ever pulled the trigger on something like this but it sounds like something worth pursuing in the next couple of years.

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Also consider how long it takes an op to get to their tenure. Awhile back one company (they may have added to their tenure since then) took 15 minutes each way, then another 5-10-15? to get to a good run. You could burn an hour that way, every day, I know this because we did exactly that! Many ops don't have this problem but some do. I bet a lot of rich clients don't even see this as a 'problem'.