Helicopters

Arctic Heli Skiing is in partnership with some of the world’s leading helicopter providers with Heli Austria providing our machines for the Iceland operations whilst Greenland Copter and Air Greenland are our partners on the East Coast of Greenland.

Heli Austria is one of the largest mountain flying operations in the Alps with over 35 years of experience in the field of mountain rescue operations, heli skiing and aerial work and a fleet of over 40 helicopters providing services in five different countries. These strong partnerships provide Arctic Heli Skiing with unparalleled services and reliability. With extensive safety and heli ski specific flight training our pilots are as good as they get. Our fleet is comprised of the latest models of Airbus H125 helicopters, the most modern and powerful fleet of heli ski machines in operation in Iceland. These powerful and time proven machines are the best possible helicopters for small group heli skiing.

The H125 has space for 4 skiers in the back, and the guide and pilot up front. One helicopter can service up to three guided groups of skiers in a fast and efficient manner. For family groups of 5 skiers we can also configure the H125 to seat 5 skiers plus the guide, allowing for unmatched flexibility in group size in the Icelandic heli ski industry.

  • Fast Machines and High Hour Pilots

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is the cost for extra flight time?

    Extra flight time is based on 3,000 EUR per hour. This is divided among the group so for example if a group of 4 guests fly 15 minutes over their package the additional cost to each guest is 188 EUR. 

  • How is Flight Time measured?

    Flight time is calculated from when the helicopter leaves the ground and until it touches down again. If the helicopter is on ground and idling the time is not ticking but if we are doing a technical tow in landing on a steep ridge for example where the pilot is basically still flying the helicopter as we get out, the time is ticking.

  • What type of helicopters are used in Greenland?

    The helicopters are AStar B3E and B3 flown by excellent pilots who have been flying heli skiing for many years.

  • What is the difference between vertical and flight time?

    Some operations charge per vertical feet or meters skied. We charge per minute as the helicopter is flying. With this setup we have calculated that our guests get about 20% more skiing for money spent than if they were being charged for meters or feet skied like in Canada. We also think this is a much more transparent way of calculating the skiing for both guests and operation. When on a meters/feet package the operation will try to ski you as much as they can as close to base as possible, basically fly as little for as much skiing as possible, meaning you might not get to the best snow or coolest terrain as it is not in the interest of the company to fly you far out. When on time you have the option of skiing close to home and get more vertical or fly further out where there might be better snow or scenery and get a bit less skiing for time flown all the while realizing how that works. The clock basically starts ticking when the pilot pulls on the collective and starts flying, and stops as soon as the helicopter is on the ground.

     

  • What kind of helicopter will we fly in for the Iceland programs?

    We use Airbus H125/AS350 B3e Astar's. This is the work horse of most heli ski operations, powerful, safe and reliable. We also use the Airbus H130 for our programs. Our pilots have thousands of logged flight hours in difficult Arctic conditions and are sought after all over the world for their skills and training.