One of the best features of Vista Lodge is how easy it is to get to! Staging is just a few metres off the Trans Canada Highway, 20 minutes from Golden, BC. Then, a short helicopter ride gets you to the world-famous powder. The ski season in the Selkirks is over 200 days long, and Vista Lodge is not only one of the best lodges around Golden, BC, but one of the best places for epic spring shredding — minus the crowds. You can expect lots of alpine and treed lines, with everything from gentle open slopes to steep pillow lines, with 1100 to 1300 meters skied per day on average.
Superb skiing in the Selkirks on non-glaciated alpine and treeline terrain
Access to five drainages offering a myriad of terrain choices
Located inside a gorgeous alpine meadow at the edge of Vista Lake
Vista Lodge is located in the middle of a beautiful alpine meadow at the edge of Vista Lake, offering some of the best heli-accessed skiing near Golden in Canada. Vista is famous for its spring skiing, its five drainages offer a myriad of terrain choices. It’s perfectly positioned within the range and a portal to the big alpine zones off Cherub Glacier to the west. A heli ride gets you to the lodge, which sleeps up to 12 guests plus guides and has a professional chef — meaning warm meals after full days of skiing. It also has a wonderful sauna for a relaxing end to the day!
On Saturday morning, you’ll meet with your guides at 7 AM and head to the staging area. Then, it’s a heli ride to the lodge in the backcountry of Golden, BC—offering skiing in some of the world’s finest powder. Here, you’ll get situated and have a safety briefing before heading out for a day of ski touring in the area. With miles upon miles of terrain, there will be plenty to explore over the coming week.
Be prepared to spend whole days out with the group. The guides will make every effort to accommodate each member, but also try to set a pace and choose objectives that work for the whole group. Try to make an effort to accommodate the group’s needs and be as organized and punctual as possible. It’s best if everyone can get out the door on time and have a smooth ski tour day on the slopes minutes from Vista Lodge.
After breakfast, pack up your gear and prepare for a helicopter ride back to the staging area, where your cars will be waiting. Say farewell to British Columbia and head back to civilization.
Didn’t have enough of hut-skiing in British Columbia? Visit some of the best backcountry ski lodges in the region for more!
57hours is committed to providing safe outdoor adventure experiences. We require all guides using our platform to have a COVID-19 safety plan and to make the details of that plan accessible to travelers. In most cases, group sizes will be reduced, guides will avoid overcrowded locations, and other safety measures will be met depending on the location and activity.
We also expect clients to respect local regulations and take measures to protect themselves, guides and the communities they’re travelling to. For more information on COVID-19 measures in Golden, please refer to the Tourism Golden or British Columbia websites.
Please contact us if you have any questions or require further information. We are happy to provide you with the most up-to-date information!
What you get in this adventure:
In case of special dietary needs, please contact us and we can make arrangements (additional fee applies).
What’s not included:
In order to enjoy this Vista Lodge ski trip, you need to have an excellent level of fitness as this is a full week of ski touring. Your guide will choose the appropriate pace and terrain for your group, but you will need to manage controlled descents in variable conditions and be able to skin uphill for a few hours at time carrying a loaded daypack.
For the Relaxed Pace: You should be capable and happy to ski up to 1100 m/day, give or take. On average, ski runs will be of intermediate difficulty. This is hard to translate into ski resorts, but generally this means that you are comfortable on black diamond runs, even if it means taking your time, and in a variety of conditions (icy, deep powder, breakable crust).
For the Classic Pace: You should be happy with days in the 1300-1500m range. On average, ski runs will be of intermediate difficulty (as in the Relaxed Pace) but there will often be pitches of advanced difficulty as well as steeper tree runs and rugged alpine snow conditions involving hard and sastrugi surfaces.
This guided adventure based in Vista Lodge is suited for intermediate to advanced skiers. If you’ve never backcountry skied before, we recommend checking out the beginner options in Golden you can choose from.
For technical backcountry ski touring gear, you will need to bring:
For personal items, we recommend bringing:
All mandatory gear can be rented if you don’t have your own. You can rent:
Ski rental location is in Golden, BC, and should be picked up the night prior to your outing. If you need to rent gear, let us know and we can help make arrangements.
Group sizes and pricing
If joining alone, you’ll be placed with peers that share a similar level of experience.
Min. age requirement:
If you plan to ski with anyone under the age of 18, please contact us prior to booking to make arrangements.
To get to Golden, most people fly into Calgary International Airport which is a 3 hour drive away. You can rent a car or take a shuttle service connecting Calgary Airport to Kicking Horse Mountain Resort. Shuttles are operated by BanffShuttle and RiderExpress.
Kicking Horse River Lodge is a great place to stay the Friday night before the trip. They can handle a group with room rates that start from around $40/night. Clients guided with Sawback get a discount, but you must phone them directly. It’s a nice timber frame building on the Kicking Horse River. We meet here Friday night and breakfast is here Saturday morning so it is convenient. If you choose to stay here please book early. It fills quickly.
The meeting place for your trip is at the Golden Alpine Holidays office. Your meeting time will be Saturday morning at 7:00 am Mountain Standard Time (MST). Flights to GAH lodges take place at the helicopter Staging Facility, 30 minutes away from Golden. You’ll head to your tours from the lodge. The backcountry guides will choose the appropriate terrain close to the Vista Lodge dependent on conditions and the ski ability of the group.
For regular dates, a 50% deposit is due upon booking. Once your guide confirms your booking, your trip departure is guaranteed. Final payments are due 120 days before your trip starts.
If you need to cancel a reservation, please do so in writing (best by e-mail). Once your booking is confirmed, you and Sawback Alpine Adventures enter into financial obligations and they cannot refund payments or release you from your contractual obligations. Therefore, it is highly recommended buying cancellation insurance to cover your losses for the case that you can’t participate or have to interrupt your trip “for any reason”.
Sawback Alpine Adventures do reserve the right to change guides, particular lodging or the itinerary or venue should unforeseen circumstances (guide sickness, hut or route closing etc.) force them to do so or should the physical condition of the participants, weather or mountain conditions make a continuation as planned too risky. Sawback Alpine Adventures will not be deemed to be in default for any delay or failure to perform their obligations under this agreement resulting from acts of God, the elements, war, acts of government, civil or military authorities, natural calamities, catastrophe, fire, flood, accidents, epidemics, shortage of transportation, or any other like events beyond our reasonable control.
