04 Nov Can you ski tour and heli ski in one trip?
Can you ski tour and heli ski in one trip? We get this question a lot. “I want to downhill ski, but I’ve also always wanted to try ski touring, and heli-skiing, can I do all of that in one week?”
The answer is yes. Every one of our trips is tailor made, so nothing stops you combining all three. The trick is in how you sequence and time them, not whether it’s possible at all.
Start with downhill, ease into touring
If ski touring is new to you, it’s best to start with downhill days first. Then, we introduce a single day of ski touring once you’re warmed up and acclimatised. It’s a gentler start. Enjoy a feel for it without the pressure of turning your entire holiday over to something untested.
Heli-skiing needs the right week, not just the right wish
Heli-skiing takes the most planning. This is because it depends on conditions on a specific day, not just on your travel dates being free. Snow needs to be right and the weather needs to cooperate. You need enough flexibility built into the week to wait for that window rather than force it.
This is exactly why heli-skiing works best folded into a longer, week-long trip rather than as a standalone day. A single day trip has no room to move if the weather doesn’t cooperate. A week gives us several possible days to choose from.
Timing helps too. The first two weeks of February is usually the best time to start. Snow conditions in the Alps tend to be excellent from that point on, so building your trip from then onward gives you strong odds of success.
Why this works better as a group trip
All of this, the downhill days, the touring introduction, the heli-ski window, is genuinely achievable for one person. The honest trade-off is cost. Every trip we run is private, so a solo week carries the full cost of that private itinerary on your own, rather than sharing it across a group.
This is why we often suggest bringing four to six friends along. The itinerary doesn’t change, you still get the same private, bespoke week, but the price per person becomes far more reasonable once shared.
The bottom line
Downhill, touring and heli-skiing can absolutely sit inside one trip. Sequence the touring after you’re settled in, build the heli-ski attempt into a week rather than a single day, and if you can, come with friends. That combination is how this kind of week goes from an ambitious wish list to a trip that actually happens exactly as planned.
If this sounds like the trip you’ve been putting off planning, get in touch. Tell us what’s on your list, downhill, touring, heli-skiing, or all three. We’ll build the week around it.
Warm regards from the mountains, The SwisSkiSafari Team
FAQ
Can I combine downhill skiing, ski touring and heli-skiing in a single trip? Yes. Because every SwisSkiSafari trip is tailor made, we regularly build weeks that include all three, sequenced so each one is set up to succeed rather than squeezed in.
Do I need previous ski touring experience to try it on this kind of trip? No. We introduce ski touring as a single day within a week of downhill skiing, which is the easiest way to try it for the first time without committing the whole trip to it.
When is the best time to include heli-skiing? The first two weeks of February is usually the best time to start, with good conditions typically continuing on from there. The exact day within your week is chosen once we can see the conditions clearly.
Why does heli-skiing work better as part of a week rather than a single day trip? Heli-skiing depends on the right weather and snow conditions on the day. A week-long trip gives us several possible days to choose from, so we can pick the one that will actually deliver, rather than being locked into one date with no flexibility.
Is this type of trip expensive for one person? Every trip we run is private, so a solo guest carries the full cost of that private itinerary alone. Bringing four to six friends keeps the same bespoke itinerary while bringing the price per person down significantly.