High-Altitude Cuisine – British Columbia’s Heliskiing Secret

February 23rd, 2010

Last Frontier Heliskiing chef Steve Ridley brings the meal to the mountain.

An interview with Last Frontier Heliskiing’s Top Chef

Part of the heliskiing experience goes beyond the deep powder, big vertical and excitement of flying around in the bird. What many heliski virgins discover upon arrival to Last Frontier is the incredible cuisine offered – many are surprised to find out the food is as good as the turns. With Last Frontier’s reputation for superior quality small group heliskiing on British Columbia’s best peaks, that’s saying a lot.

Executive Chef Steve Ridley is the man behind the world-class food at Last Frontier Heliskiing. With a background working in the kitchen of Whistler’s famed Bearfoot Bistro and in the galley’s of luxury yachts, Ridley brings a wealth of gastronomic knowledge to the remote beauty of Last Frontier Heliksiing’s Bell 2 Lodge. We sat him down and asked him a few questions of what he brings to the Last Frontier table.

Hi Steve, Thanks for taking the time to talk. How is the snow at Bell 2 right now?

It’s good. Blue skies and good stability. The guests are skiing tons and having a blast. It’s been a good year.

That’s great to hear. I’m in Whistler and we’ve had a bit of dry spell lately.

Oh yeah? I live in Whistler too! How are things going there right now? Hopefully, the snow is good enough for the Olympics.

Being a whistler resident and living here for a while, you must be an avid skier?

Yeah, I ski and snowboard. It’s actually what brought me out west originally.

You’re not the only one, eh? Let’s talk about your background. Where did you get started in your chef travels?

Well, I went to school at George Brown College in Toronto. I started out about, well, about 20 years ago. I moved out to Whistler in 1990 and started working in a couple kitchens there. Timberline Lodge, Black Forest restaurant. I paid my dues in a few different Whistler kitchens.

And then you spent time at the famed Whistler restaurant, the Bearfoot Bistro?

Yeah, I was there from 2000 to 2007. I worked my way up through the ranks. I was Sous Chef and then Chef for about a year there.  And then from there I went onto the MVP Absinthe. It’s a luxury boat that cruised up and down the coast of B.C. and around Alaska. We had heliskiing on the boat and it was a really unique experience.

What did you learn at the Bear Foot that prepped you for your experience at Last Frontier Heliskiing?

It was a little bit different [than Last Frontier], with the wine pairings and the five-course tasting menus everyday. It was quite the experience though. It prepared me for my time at Last Frontier and my time on the boat. I learned quite a bit working with a big, talented kitchen staff.

You say that prepared you for working on the boat. That must have been a cool experience. What were some of the challenges of working on a boat?

Things were definitely a little different on a boat. You have a moving kitchen and a bunch of people on board. It changed the way you cooked because obviously you’re limited with what you can get on the boat. We tried to stock it up well in Vancouver so we could have great food all the way up to Alaska—the Haines and Juneau areas. It was nice. We were always getting fresh fish and crab, pretty much as much fresh seafood as we could.

Do you run into some of the same challenges at Last Frontier Heliskiing?

We do run into a lot of those challenges because Bell 2 Lodge is four hours north of Terrace and sometimes it’s difficult being in such a remote location. But we do get deliveries twice a week up there so we have a great selection for our guests.

What’s unique about the Last Frontier Heliskiing Menu?

We try and get as much fresh ingredients as we can. I think it’s important and makes the meal that much more enjoyable for our heliskiing guests. They seem to like it. And that makes it rewarding for me.

I bet. Give us a teaser of what you offer up there. What’s for dinner tonight?

Tonight is tomato salad with goat cheese and basil oil. Dungeness crap cakes with mango puree, sugar peas and blood orange roe…we make our own roe. We follow that with pork tenderloins, caramelized roastie potatoes, with broccoli and apple chutney garnish. Plus, we make our own breads. Our baker comes on at 1AM and bakes all our bread.

That sounds incredible. And it sounds like a lot of work to me. How big is your kitchen staff and how many do you serve a day?

It’s pretty small, and it is a lot of work. There are three of us in the kitchen plus a dishwasher. We have up to 20 heliskiing staff and up to about 30 guests plus the guides and the helicopter pilots. We do on average 40 people total, 4 courses a night.

People must get pretty hungry after a big day of skiing powder, eh?

They sure are. They get their snacks at four o’clock—a cheese and fruit plate, or chicken wings or glazed ribs, nachos—something hearty and tasty to keep them happy after deep powder skiing.

And how about your wine selection – what kind of goodies do you stock for the oneophiles?

We get as much local wine as we can. Lots of B.C. wines. We have Inniskillin, Poplar Grove. Mission Hill. We keep it stocked up so everyone’s happy.

How often do you get up in the heli?

Not as much as I’d like.

It’s never as much as we’d like, is it?

No. It sure isn’t.

- Mike Berard