Summer at Last Frontier

Over 80 feet of snow falls each year in the mountains of Northwestern BC. Our heliski tenure, the largest on earth, sits across the Skeena and Coast mountains on the edge of the Alaskan Panhandle. And the terrain is epic; a true winter wonderland deep in the BC backcountry far away from civilization. But what about summer?

People often ask us about summer at Last Frontier Heliskiing. For us, summer tends to be lodge maintenance and upgrades at one of our two locations and generally prepping for the coming winter season. It’s not often we have the time to really take in the breath and beauty of the Northwest Coast. This past week, our Media and Marketing Ninja, Steve Rosset, decided it was time for a visit to Stewart and Bell 2 as a tourist. He took his camera with him and managed to snap some beautiful shots of our winter wonderland in full summer bloom.

The first stop on that trip, some 1100km into the drive from our offices in Vernon BC, is the small town of Stewart, BC. Perched on the edge of the ocean just a couple of miles from Hyder, Alaska, and surrounded by glaciers, Stewart and Hyder were once booming mining towns. These days, the main industry is tourism and the pace of life is relaxed. To give you an idea of the vibe in the Stewart/Hyder area, US customs doesn’t even have a presence on the Hyder side of the border. Both towns lie on the Portland Canal, which is the gateway to the fjords and inlets of South East Alaska. Stewart is also home to the Ripley Creek Inn, Last Frontier Heliskiing’s base of operations for skiing in the Coast Mountains.

Stewart is also at the start of the Stewart-Cassiar Highway, which winds its way through 800km of wilderness to join the Alaska Highway in the Yukon. Roughly a third of the way up is Bell 2 Lodge, which is Last Frontier Heliskiing’s remote wilderness heli ski lodge. Not so much a town as a small heliski village, in summer the Bell 2 Lodge is open to highway travelers and folks heading to Alaska and the Yukon.

Summer in this part of the world is short; it takes a while for winter to lose its grip in a place where 80 feet of snow falls each year. But when summer does arrive, the mountains, creeks and forests come alive. Grizzly bears, wolves, cougars, wolverines abound throughout the land. Wildflowers bloom on the alpine slopes and the small towns of Hyder and Stewart come alive with character, showing their quirky vibes to the tourists and adventurers that venture to the north.

At Bell 2 it’s a chance to see the lakes and rivers at their most beautiful. The guest chalets sit quiet and the grounds are filled with the blooms of a northern summer. Summer is cherished in this part of the world and if you get a chance, it’s worth a visit.

Be safe, ski hard.