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The Aesculapian Society "EDUCATION IN THE GREAT OUTDOORS" Heliskiing, Helihiking and Scuba Diving Symposiums for health care professionals. May we introduce ourselves? The Aesculapian Society is an international group of conscientious health care related professionals. My name is Dr. Ted Ritota and, with my wife Lisa, we have been conducting Heliskiing, Helihiking and Scuba Diving Symposiums for Physicians, Dentists and Health Care Related Professionals since 1991. Come join us for an unforgettable heliskiing experience in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We ski exclusively with Canadian Mountain Holidays (CMH). Our Scuba diving locations vary each year: see below for upcoming plans. EARN CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS WHILE HELISKIING IN CANADA (Seminar tuition and associated travel, lodging and meal expenses may be tax deductible if the primary purpose of your trip is to maintain or improve professional skills. Always consult your tax advisor regarding your personal situation.) We usually have several trips each year. There will be three trips next year (2008-2009). "The Aesculapian Society" PROTECT YOUR TRIP: Please visit our online trip cancellation/interruption insurance coverage page. Very cost effective and well received by many of our group members for all travel occasions, with additional benefits of signing up on-line. (This particular insurance policy is available to US and Canadian Residents only.) 2009 Heliskiing Season Synopsis December 08 Gothics: OPPS WE DID IT AGAIN!! The word has definitely gotten out as this was the first "Early Dec Trip" were we had to turn away a significant number of guests that wanted to join us. The skiing was once again fantastic. It snowed most of the week with the exception of one day and once again the skiing improved each day. One guest said: " I would never have imagined the skiing could be this good in December!". The karma of the group again was exceptional, Some rated the week as high as a 9. The temps were moderate and the powder was consistently waist deep, sometimes chest deep and on Friday many were talking "face shots". The year was off to another great start. February Monashees 09 Well, we said we were going to come back as a group and we did. We had pretty nice skiing the first three days, but once again all the skiing was very limited due to a stability issue. Never skied Steep and Deep although we did ski Bonaza just next to it on Sunday and it was really nice. As the week progressed, the skiing deteriorated, having to repeatedly ski tracts, with only 10% of their terrain opened. On Saturday morning we had a few nice runs on Enchanted Forest and Corzine. But the guides got spooked on Corzine because the the hoar frost layer that continued to plague us. All in all, a pretty disappointing week for me once again at the Monashees. February Revelstoke 09 For the naysayers about Revelstoke; it was like a redemption after the huge disappointment at the Monashees. The skiing was awesome all week as the guides continued to find us great runs with deep controllable powder even though there hasn't been a significant snowfall in over two weeks. We started the week of on High Roller, in just fantastic conditions. Everyone was stoked. No face shots, but moderately deep snow and perfect consistency. The next four days we skied in the southern Selkirks portions of their terrain and were blown away with what they found for us. On Thursday the skiing was exceptional, with about 5 inches of new snow, not significant but enough to elevate the skiing to another level and skied a run Kuskanux 4 times with just a perfect pitch and ending with a long, steep cut block that was spectacular. Friday proved to be the same, with great runs on Private Stash through burnt trees and then the highlight of the week with several long steep pitches on Mustache. Saturday morning skiing was the typical; "y'all come back and see us again" skiing with bluebird conditions and a memorable run on Glider on the Blanket Glacier. A great way to end the two week stint for Feb 2009. A great recovery from the Monashees trip, all of us were extremely please with the quality and quantity of skiing at Revelstoke. Our most experienced skier called it "the best snow of the year so far".
2008 Heliskiing Season Synopsis December 07 Gothics: "Is there really enough snow in December?" “The Karma Continues.” We had several of our regular February “doubting” constituents on this particular trip. For years as we met in February they would always inquire about the December trips. For some reason they refused to believe the skiing could be so good that early in the season. Not only was it good, but once again the best conditions our group skied during the 07/08 season. The areas had a huge base prior to our arrival, but on the Tuesday before our expected arrival, a giant pineapple express, unloaded 2 days of vicious rains in some areas up to 2200 meters. Needless to say my expectations took significant nosedive. At the Gothics the rain level went up to ~1600 meters so there was still some great skiing above that elevation. The first two days we had “short & sweet” runs, often, getting picked up on entirely new landings keeping us out of the crud. Then on Tuesday night it snowed and continued snowing until Friday afternoon with 58cm of new snow. It started again Saturday morning. We had FOUR DAYS OF FACE SHOTS!! It was unbelievable. On Friday afternoon the conditions were so perfect on Hercules that all 3 groups skied it at least 4 times, all hootin’ and hollerin’ all the way down. Also skied Morning Star, Boulder, Little Creek, and an incredibly scenic lunch at Grenada with perfect powder from the highly perched lunch spot to the pick up. The naysayers are now believers some even going as far as saying it was the “best conditions ever” for them. For me, it was pretty spectacular as I had to use my avalung for a snorkel for 3 of those 4 days. Very deep, very light and tons of fun. Another super start to our season. Cariboos Feb 08 The week started off really strong, with the “Best Alpine” day of the year so far. Good, cold controllable snow and no wind, almost 9,000 meters after the mandatory morning's safety exercises. Day two took us to some very memorable runs on “Pussy” and “Abundance” where everyone had perfect lines on steep virgin snow. On Wednesday and Thursday we skied my favorite area at the Cariboos that being the North Thompson where we had deep fresh powder, almost face shots but not quite and the guides gave us a lot of latitude as the stability was really good. Some of us came in early on Friday, as high winds affected the snow pack. All in all Another great week at the Cariboos!! Bugaboos Feb 08 The week started off with some really nice skiing on Chalice. Then we had some great chutes on Benardo and Luftwaffe. On Wednesday the skiing picked up with nicer skiing on Groovy East and West then two awesome runs on Grumpy. Thursday we managed to get into Rory Creek for 4 fantastic runs and this proved to be the highlight of the week. Otherwise, the weather kept us confined to the home drainage, but there we some additionally exceptional runs on Frenchman’s and French Connection all within view of the Bugaboos Lodge. The week ended up with two great runs on Ugly and Black Forest. 2007 Heliskiing Season Synopsis
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Early December 06 What a crazy start. On Thursday 2 days before our departure the CMH office call and said “we have a problem, the Gothics has been quarantined; more than ½ the lodge is ill. But we have an alternative; we are going to send you all to the Adamants!” I didn’t believe it, but it was in fact true. So instead of the much anticipated return to Claude’s renovated Gothics we were flown up the valley to the rushing to get ready Adamants. Once there, we had an extremely warm greeting by Eric and his staff. Enough of that. The skiing for December was “very good” the first three days, Mid-winter like conditions with very good stability. Then came Wednesday with great new snow accumulation and we had fantastic runs, with lots of face shots on Buenos Notche, Tardes and El Norte, once again super Adamants tree skiing. Rated that day an 8 on a scale to 10. Thursday followed with a higher ceiling but not completely clear were had very good runs with spectacularly stable snow on Stit Shoulder, Dimple, and one group raved about Ninja. Unfortunately Friday started out with only one group getting out to Garage and then the operations put on hold due to heavy snow and limited visibility and high winds. Our group got out for one spectacular run down Tsunami, we all wanted more. Then at one point during the Friday night party, I wondered outside and saw tons of stars, walked back into the party, made an announcement about the clearing and a lot of us went off to bed in anticipation of what the next day would bring. Well, it is hard for me to believe also, but Saturday morning was simply incredible. Cold, clear blue skies, bottomless stable powder with face shots, a perfect ending to another fantastic Early December CMH trip. We skied, Easy Over, Zucchini and three great runs on Concentrator. Hard to beat!! February Bobbie Burns Feb 07: Well this is the first time in many trips that we didn’t have deep enough snow for “face shots”. It was a tough week that “continually improved”. We started out with some fantastic high alpine scenery but the snow was either hard pack or wind affected. Then the temps were warm and we had a day and a half of spring like conditions. Fortunately the week ended up on a real high note with the skiing significantly improving on Wed, Thurs and Friday. All were incredibly excited after a fabulous and very memorable run down “Yahoo”. Although the snow was only shin deep, it was perfectly soft controllable snow and you could cruise at any speed you wanted to through the many Larch trees. So, all in all, a tough start but a great finish to another fun filled week with many laughs, great friendships and lots of learning. February Monashees Feb 07: The Monashees week also had a tough start. On Sunday the first day of skiing a dense fog limited the skiing to one or two runs depending on which group you were in. But the skiing was all on shin to knee deep snow and very nice. We couldn’t wait for the next day. Monday we woke up to 25-30 knot winds screaming down the Columbia River valley and were told by the guides that they didn’t expect the winds to be where we were going skiing in Soards Creek and that proved to be correct. The skiing continually improved from really good to fantastic. Had an awesome run down “Steep and Deep”. But at lower elevations around 1500meters there were a lot of slabs sliding, and up went the caution flag. Tuesday proved to be simply a fabulous heliskiing day, nice runs through burnt trees topped off with sunshine all afternoon. Wednesday we had a pretty complete day of really good skiing, but again the program was shut down two runs after lunch. Thursday we woke to hard snow falling and had to head back to the lodge after three knee deep and all soft snow runs and the dump continued until early evening. Tons of new snow overnight complicated an already complicated snowpack. The guides did a safety flight and we didn’t start skiing until 10:30. The snow was somewhat “upside down”, a bit heavy but the skiing improved with each run. All in all a very tough week without getting to see most of the real Monashees terrain. Our skiing was very limited all week, so we will just have to come back.
2005-6 Heliskiing Season Synopsis Again, the Early December Gothics 2005 trip was spectacular. Seems like there is a pattern here. Well, we must start this synopsis by first mentioning that the Gothics Lodge has a new manager, who has brought a ton of life & contagious enthusiasm into that operation. Claude Duchene and his staff welcomed us with open arms. They were so super as were the improvements to the Gothics lodge, prompting the following: "No need to go anywhere else". This week is unique in that we only ever have a maximum of 33 skiers and we all know each other. Needless to say the partying atmosphere never takes too long to get going. We were up there the earliest we had ever been with our week going from Dec 3-10, 2005 and Claude had assured me in advance that there was “excellent” skiing. He wasn’t kidding. From day one the snow was fantastic with good stability. Everyone was pumped up to be there when we came in. Then came the surprise, the typical BC forecast of light snow. We woke up on Monday morning to 13cm of new snow at the lodge, no too big of a deal, but when we got to the runs the accumulation was 45cm and it was a full day of face shots!! Not only that, but it set us up for the rest of the week. This was the least amount of snow that I remember falling for the early Dec trip but it was enough to make the week fantastic. Some of the guests said better than the previous Dec but I don’t agree with that. I always like continuous snow falls and that is what we had the year before, but this was a close second. Skiing was very good the rest of the week but I want to comment about two memorable days. On Wednesday we went to the Monashees for a bit of an alpine struggle in the morning. Then the guides found a great “warm” spot for lunch and the skiing after lunch was awesome. The run was Crème de la Crème and it must have caught all the wind blown snow off the alpine runs because it was super soft and deep. Then, as is typical, the last runs of the week on Saturday morning on “Slusher” had some of the best consistency of snow found all week On that note, consider joining us for an early heliskiing experience like no other. February Cariboos and Kootenay: 2/06 Well, it seems we lucked out again. It snowed for almost a month continuously before our arrival. Guess when it stopped; the Saturday we arrived at the Cariboos! We had the whole area with untracked runs and bluebird conditions. (Bluebird means crystal clear with no winds.) It was an awesome week. The snow conditions for both weeks were quite similar. A bit deeper at the Cariboos as it hadn’t had too much time to settle. The thing I remember most about this week at the Cariboos was the quality of the snow. We had knee deep or deeper, non wind affected snow in the Alpine all week. From that you can imagine how nice it was in the trees which we didn’t ski too much of because of the beautiful weather. At Kootenay the conditions continued, but the snow was a bit more settled. Then on Monday, we were temporarily shut down in the field at lunch as it was dumping. Well this dump made the afternoon fabulous and set us up for the rest of the week. We skied a run “Entrance Exam” that our guide hadn’t skied in working there for 17 years. It was such an amazing chute, that we all stood around at the entrance and marveled at what we were about to ski for a few minutes before attacking it. Unfortunately, late Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning, we had to do some more “hunting’ for good snow as some of the exposures were wind affected and it got very cold. But, all in all, another very memorable couple of great CMH heliskiing weeks.
2005 OH Baby, what a year!! Well, the Early December Gothics 2004 trip once again lived up to expectations. It snowed the entire week except for Saturday morning. Fortunately for the skiers, we had Rocky as our pilot and he kept us skiing in some very snowy conditions. Only a few alpine runs, so mostly short tree runs in deep fluffy snow. It was knee to waist deep most of the week with chest deep and tons of face shots on Thursday and Friday. A very high energy way to start the year. Bobbie Burns: Great start to our week. Skied ½ day upon our Saturday arrival, something new for CMH and all the guests seem to like it a lot. On Sunday, got a full day of skiing in Rocky Saddle, near perfect conditions, sunny and very soft deep snow, lots of face shots, guides said it was the best day of the year so far. We felt lucky. Memorable run was Porcupine Chute. Same conditions continued for Monday and Tuesday with another spectacular run down HP Chute. Temperatures remain around 0 degrees Fahrenheit, cold which kept the snow light and dry. Fantastic skiing, long runs in the Selkirks. Started snowing on Wednesday morning, had lunch in. Skiing remained fabulous through Thursday, with a little bit of sun crust and wind crust on Friday. All in all, a fantastic “BlueBird” week except for a few hours of snow on Wednesday afternoon. Adamants: It started off snowing Sat, all day Sunday and into Monday. The skiing got better each day. Three memorable runs on Sunday, we landed on “Prospector” and jumped out of the helicopter and sank up to our waits. Dr. DeRoven commented, “this run has potential”!! That run and “Concentrator” immediately after it, had very deep powder, face shots and in a few areas overhead. The same conditions existed on Del Norte the day before. Monday afternoon the high pressure settled in and we had bluebird days Tuesday thru Friday with fine alpine conditions. Friday was an exceptional alpine day with good controllable snow all day and late in the afternoon we got to Alpina Basin and up to the base of Mt. Sir Sanford for some spectacular scenery and great late afternoon skiing. A super run down upper Ninja Turtle and Lower Firebird. There was unbelievable ENTHUUUUSIASM amongst the group! We thank you all for your continuing support. Look forward to see and skiing with as many of you as possible next year. LET US KNOW YOUR PLANS!! It might be in your best interest to first do either a single day of heliskiing or snow-cat skiing to see if you are comfortable with this type of skiing environment. This would involve much less financial risk than coming to Canada for an entire week with no prior experience. The heliskiing environment is unique and is not for everyone. You must be able to control your skis in all kinds of terrain and snow conditions. We are always willing to talk about heliskiing adventures so don't hesitate to contact us for advice. We want you to thoroughly enjoy your trip with us. Click Here for Into Article from CNN.Com If you wish to join us or just get more information, use the provided contacts and we will respond quickly!
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This site was last updated 03/17/09
