I got the call to write an article for a magazine in Toronto so I jumped in the truck and headed for Blue River, 2 1/2hrs north of Kamloops. Wiegele World is nestled in the valley were the Monashee Mountains meet the Cariboos. It is a paradise created by Mike Wiegele, an Austrian who moved to Canada in 1959. Mike was one of the first pioneers of heli-skiing in Canada and since he began in the late 60’s, his operation has remained the standard to which others are compared.






We rolled into Blue River in my beat up, rusted out, old, blue truck and parked next to a sleek, new Audi. Aaron, who was joining me, and I checked in and received the key to our very own 5 star log chalet with a heli-pad out front. Pinching ourselves at how unbelievable the place was, we took a wonder around the village to see what else there was. The resort has 22 hand crafted log chalets, a beautiful dinning hall, main office, guides haus with climbing wall, sport shop and man made lake. Rising in every direction are mountains from which you can ski from their summits, down to the tree line, through a magic forest to the valley bottom where the helicopter is waiting to take you back to the top to do it all aver again.

We couldn’t wait to ski the next day, but we also couldn’t wait for dinner that night- the menu declared a king crab buffet.

Later that night I was asked to taste the wine for the table, so I did what any unsophisticated skier would do, and imitated the New York banker at the next table. I swirled it, sniffed it, swilled it, and declared, “Marvellous!”






We were treated to some of the most amazing food I have ever eaten. The kitchen staff are renowned Chefs from Europe and we feasted on all the crab, oysters, salad and desert we could fit in. Hell, after all, we needed to bank some energy for the 30,000ft of vert we would log the next day.

Our first day of skiing dawned with bluebird skies and not a breath of wind. Back in the early days, Mike Wiegele had chosen this destination because of its high snow fall and little wind, making it the best powder skiing on Earth. Mike wasn’t wrong either. With good stability, blue skies and lets not forget, a helicopter, we headed straight for the alpine and areas the guides hadn’t been able to ski this season until now.

My heart drummed in unison with the thud of the blades of the helicopter as we skied boot deep powder down 4000ft glaciers. The views were amazing and the skiing sublime. We logged 22,000ft by lunch, when we were treated to a wholesome, on snow meal of soup, gourmet sandwiches, cookies and tea.






The afternoon consisted of more of the same- powder that is. When it was time to shut it down, the group I was in slouched in the helicopter, exhausted from the day, as we were whisked back to the resort and unloaded out the front of our chalet. After a nice, hot, steam shower, Aaron and I wandered over to the Silver Buckle Lounge adjoining the dinning room for some apre drinks and live music before dinner.

Tonight was “carnivore” night and cheap margaritas, so we ate like wolves and after going through the motions with the wine again, pounded margaritas like they were going out of fashion with the other guests from across the world and all walks of life. There was “Powder Mori”, the Japanese guy who spends 2 weeks at Wiegele’s each year, Joe and his wife Gemini from Seattle who have something to do with or know someone from Microsoft and are on their 17th or 18th trip, TC with his thick Texas accent, and Bill and his son, who license fitness programs in Australia.

We finished off the day by accidentally getting locked out of the hot tub in our board shorts before retiring to bed to wake up the next morning and do it all over again.






As the heli touched down outside the chalet the next morning, I was beginning to wonder if the bird would be a blessing or a curse. The deafening thud of the blades did nothing to sooth the throb in my head from the margaritas, but once we were in the alpine again, the crisp air cured my hangover pretty quickly. Since we were “Media” Aaron and I had the privilege of only 2 days and not the luxury of a week, so we soaked up our last day.

The weather had been grey in the morning, forcing the heli to stay low, where we skied the trees and fun rolling features with the odd cliff. As the day wore on and the vertical added up, the skies cleared and we boosted back into the alpine where one could see forever.

By the end of the day, the legs were beginning to feel the effects of one perfect pow turn after another. We milked every last turn we could before we were catapulted back into the world of lift lines and moguls, making sure we got our moneys worth- or someone’s moneys worth, because I wasn’t footing the bill.

That evening, we had the pleasure of Mike Wiegele’s company during dinner. He is a very unique character who had the vision to create the ultimate heli-skiing experince. He is a successful business man, innovator within the ski world, and has been able to build an empire doing what he loves. He told stories of when he was younger and how he and his buddies would race and ski fast and live cheap. He wears his love of skiing on his sleeve and when I asked him if he was a ski bum in his youth, he replied, “I still am.”






He recounted vivid images of those moments in all of our ski lives when things are perfect and in balance. That one turn, that amazing alpin glow, the iconic trees caked in snow, and the cheeky grin we all wear as we come up for breath between turns. Mike Wiegele experiences that each and every day, but you get the impression he remembers very single face shot.

Amidst a life of making skiing a business, affluence and sometimes demanding clients, Mike truly hasn’t lost touch of why he gets out of bed in the morning. He loves skiing and relishes being able to share the experience with others. At 69, he is still guiding and logging lots of vertical. When he joined us, he had just jumped of the bike from a 40km ride to rehabilitate a hamstring injury he sustained skiing a tight, steep chute with some guests. His handshake is as firm as that of a confident youth and he is still thinking to the future and innovating his trademark product.






Mike retired after dinner and we mingled for a while, savoring the grandeur of the whole experience. Tomorrow we would again be poor ski bums in a rusty, old truck, but we would be wealthy in other ways- the memory of skiing amazing snow in even more amazing mountains.