Your First Heliski Day

The evening before

Your first heliski day really begins the night before, and the best thing you can do is keep it calm. After settling in at the Sigló Hótel in the little fishing town of Siglufjörður, you will usually have an informal gathering where the team introduces themselves, runs through how the coming days work and answers questions. It is relaxed rather than formal, and it is the moment to raise anything that is on your mind — your experience level, a niggling worry, a question about the terrain.

The other job for the evening is your kit. Lay everything out so the morning is not a scramble: your own boots and helmet, layers, waterproof shell, gloves, goggles, sunglasses, sun cream and a small pack. Skis, board and the full safety kit are supplied, so the list is shorter than you might fear — our what to pack for heliskiing guide covers it in full. Then resist the urge to stay up late. An early, unhurried night is worth more than any last-minute planning, and you want fresh legs for the mountains.

The morning weather call and breakfast

Here is the first thing that surprises many first-timers: there is no fixed start time. Heliskiing runs on the weather, not the clock. Each morning the guides study the forecast, the wind, the visibility and the state of the snow, and they make a call on when and where flying makes sense. Some mornings you are moving early; others begin gently while a window opens. This flexibility is a feature, not a fault — it is how the team keeps you both safe and on the best snow available.

Over breakfast at the hotel you will get a sense of the plan for the day. Eat properly — a full day of off-piste skiing burns a great deal of energy, and you will be glad of a solid start. Fill your water, pack any personal medication and layer sensibly for a day that may swing from cold flights to warm spring sun. The March to mid-June season brings long Arctic daylight, so the guides have generous windows to work with, and an unhurried morning rarely eats into your skiing.

The safety briefing and beacon check

Before anyone skis a single metre, you will complete a proper safety briefing led by your IFMGA/UIAGM-certified guides. This is the backbone of the day, and it is genuinely reassuring rather than alarming. A transceiver, shovel and probe are provided as standard to every guest, and the briefing walks you through how each one works, how to approach the helicopter, how the group moves on the mountain and what to do in the unlikely event of an emergency.

A key part is the beacon check. Each transceiver is switched to send, then the guide confirms every signal so the whole group is accounted for before you fly. You will usually run through a short search exercise so the kit feels familiar in your hands, not abstract. It takes only a few minutes but it transforms how you feel about the day — you are skiing with some of the most qualified mountain professionals in the world, and the routine reflects that. If you would like the wider context on how mountain risk is managed, our heliskiing guide sets it out clearly.

Boarding the helicopter for the first time

For a lot of people the helicopter is the part they are most nervous about — and almost always the part they end up loving most. The machine carries a small group with a guide, so it is intimate rather than crowded, and the whole load is choreographed by your guide from start to finish. You are never left to work it out alone.

When it is time, the guide signals you forward. The routine is simple once you have done it once:

• Approach the helicopter from the front, always in the pilot’s line of sight, never from uphill or behind.
• Keep low as you move under the rotor arc, carrying your skis or board flat and horizontal as the guide shows you.
• Load your kit into the basket where directed, then climb aboard, sit where indicated and buckle in.
• On landing, stay put until the guide gives the signal, collect your kit and regroup a safe distance away.

The flights themselves are short, smooth and spectacular. You lift from near sea level and rise towards the summits with ridgelines, glaciers and the Arctic Ocean unfolding beneath you. By your second or third flight it feels utterly natural — the thing you dreaded becomes the highlight you cannot stop grinning about.

The first drop and your first run

The helicopter sets you down high on the mountain, the guide gives the all-clear, and then the machine lifts away and the noise fades to a huge Arctic silence. This is the moment first-timers remember forever. A flutter of nerves here is completely normal — the guides expect it and welcome it, because it means you are taking the mountain seriously.

Your guide skis first and chooses the line, reading the snow and picking terrain to match the group. For most first-timers that means a wide, forgiving face rather than anything steep or committing. You then ski one at a time, or in small controlled groups, so nobody is ever out of sight and there is no queue behind you and no clock timing you. Untracked snow feels softer and quieter than a piste; the main adjustment is to stay balanced over both feet rather than leaning back, and to let your turns flow at a patient rhythm. If the first pitch feels like a lot, say so — the guide will simply pick an easier line next time. Most people find that by their third or fourth run something clicks, and the powder starts to feel like the best skiing of their lives. If you would like more on the mindset, heliskiing for beginners is a natural companion to this page.

The rhythm of lapping runs

Once you have your first run behind you, the day settles into a rhythm that is deeply satisfying. You ski down to a pick-up point, the helicopter arrives, you load up in the routine you now know, and it flies you back up for another run — often to different terrain, because Viking Heliskiing draws on eleven zones across the Troll Peninsula. This lapping is the heart of heliskiing: descent, short flight, descent again, each run fresh and untracked.

As the day goes on you relax into it. The loading becomes second nature, your legs find the powder rhythm, and the guides read how the group is skiing and adjust terrain accordingly — a little steeper for those who want it, a little mellower for those building confidence. It is a wonderfully unhurried way to ski enormous mountains. Here is a short list of first-timer mindset tips that make the rhythm even better:

• Be honest with your guide about how you feel — it is the single most useful thing you can do, and it helps them set you up to succeed.
• Pace yourself early. Powder is tiring; save some energy for the afternoon runs you will not want to miss.
• Watch the guide’s line and follow the flow rather than forcing your own route.
• Hydrate and snack between runs; small top-ups keep your legs fresh.
• Look up now and then — the scenery is half the reason you came, so take a breath and enjoy it.

Lunch on the mountain

Somewhere around the middle of the day you will break for lunch. Depending on the plan and the conditions, this might be a relaxed pause out on the mountain — laying out food somewhere with a view that no restaurant could ever match — or a return to base to refuel in comfort. Either way it is a genuine highlight, not just a refuelling stop.

It is also a lovely social moment. You swap stories from the morning’s runs, compare the flights, and get to know the small group you are sharing the helicopter with. Take the chance to eat, drink and rest your legs properly. The afternoon runs are often when everything feels easiest, precisely because your body has warmed to the movement and your nerves have long since melted away.

How much a day actually gives you

People often ask how much skiing a heliski day really delivers, and the honest answer is: a lot. A typical day with Viking Heliskiing covers roughly 15,000 to 25,000 vertical feet across 7 to 14 runs. The exact figure flexes with the weather, the snow and the pace of your group, but even a quieter day is a huge amount of descent by any measure.

What makes it feel so generous is the terrain. The Troll Peninsula offers true sea-to-summit skiing — descents of around 1,200 to 1,500 metres from ridgeline down to the Arctic Ocean — so each run is long, sustained and utterly memorable rather than a quick lap. You are not counting runs so much as collecting experiences. If you would like to understand how the vertical is measured and guaranteed, that detail sits within our heliskiing guide.

When the weather has other plans

It would be dishonest to describe a heliski day without mentioning the weather, because it shapes everything. Helicopters need reasonable visibility and manageable wind, so whether you fly, and when, is always a judgement call made in the interest of safety. Some mornings you launch straight away; others begin with a wait while the guides watch a window open. Occasionally a day starts late or pauses partway through.

This is normal and nothing to be frustrated by — it is simply the price of skiing genuinely wild mountains. The team monitors the forecast closely and is expert at reading the local weather, so a slow start often turns into a fine afternoon. Crucially, Viking Heliskiing offers guaranteed vertical feet, which means weather-affected time is accounted for rather than simply lost. The best approach is patience and flexibility: trust the guides, enjoy the setting, and let the mountain decide the timing.

The return and evening at Sigló Hótel

As the skiing winds down, the helicopter brings you back to base and the day’s rhythm gives way to something gentler. There is a particular glow to the end of a first heliski day — tired legs, a head full of untracked descents, and the quiet disbelief that you really did ski from a summit to the sea. It is a feeling worth savouring slowly.

Back at the 4-star Sigló Hótel, the evening is yours to unwind. Siglufjörður is a characterful old herring town on the edge of the Arctic, and the hotel sits right on the harbour, so you can soak away the day, eat well and relive the runs with your group. If you booked in the earlier part of the season you may catch the northern lights; later on, the long midnight-sun evenings stretch on and on. This is the reward at the close of the day — a warm, comfortable base after the wild grandeur of the mountains. As an authorised booking agent for Viking Heliskiing, Heliski Travel books you at exactly the same price as going direct, so if you have any questions before you travel, just get in touch.

Frequently asked questions