Money for something, heli trips for free

• Posted on April 9, 2009 at 4:05 PM
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Research is so boring, but someone's got to do it.

After a flurry of blog posts on some of the awesome trips I've managed to slip into my March of Madness – Icefall Lodge, Revelstoke, Mica Heliskiing – I'm sure there are a few people wondering how I pulled off these gigs on a freelance writer's salary and there may even be a reader who thinks I'm in cohoots with the heli-ski industry.

Let me start by saying flying around in helicopters and skiing untracked powder is hard work. Well...not really. It's dream work but it's definitely not handsomely paid. Usually a magazine and I settle on an article idea. Lots of ski and travel writers are gunning for heli-ski trips, so it's not like these jobs happen every winter. I will then contact a company and work out a way for me to experience their product. There's little chance of landing trips without a confirmed assignment. Often the trip, lodging, heli time is given to me by the company, but parts of the travel and accommodation are often my responsibility.

There's no agreement on what will or won't be said or the tone of the article I write about from the experience. Most of the time I have a great experience and the article reflects that. But it's not a pr campaign. If there's something that I don't feel comfortable recommending to readers then I won't. I look at these trips as an opportunity to check things out for the readers of my article. It's a service I'm providing and my reputation and the reputation of the magazines I write for are at stake. If I recommend something being great that's really crappy and a bunch of readers go and try it, based on my positive recommendation, and have a bad time, I doubt those readers are going to trust me or the magazine again.

For instance, in Revelstoke I stayed in a dive of a motel free of charge. I couldn't recommend it, so I made a point of looking around at some of the other options in town so that I can make a positive recommendation.

If my trip reports sound like a rosy picture, they were. Heli-skiing isn't my favourite way of recreating in the backcountry, but man is it fun. I had an awesome time with all the people I worked with this past March. Each showed me a safe experience in good company and a great atmosphere. I'd recommend them all to my best friend and every reader.