Operator

Sun Valley Heli Ski

Sun Valley Heli Ski Headquarters — Sun Valley Gun Club · Ketchum, ID, United States

heliskiingUnited StatesIdaho

About

Sun Valley Heli Ski is the oldest heliskiing Operator in the lower 48, flying skiers and snowboarders into the backcountry around Sun Valley, Idaho, since 1965. Bill Janss started the operation that year after heliskiing with Hans Moser in Canada, and in 1966 the first U.S. Forest Service heliskiing permit on public land was issued. Today the company is owned by Alex Kittrell, a longtime operations manager who took over in 2024 and still guides as Owner and Lead Guide. Their U.S. Forest Service permit covers what Sun Valley Heli Ski describes as the largest heliskiing terrain of any Operator in the lower 48, spread across four mountain ranges around Sun Valley: the Smoky, Boulder, Soldier, and Pioneer Mountains. Runs typically drop 1,000 to 3,000 vertical feet, and the terrain suits intermediate through expert skiers and riders. The heliski terrain averages 200 to 400 inches of snow a year, the region sees more than 250 sunny days annually, and the season runs from December 1 to March 15. Sun Valley Heli Ski flies an A-Star B3e that carries 4 guests, a guide, and a pilot, for a 4:1 guest-to-guide ratio, and they take no more than 16 skiers and riders a day across up to 4 groups. Every day starts at their headquarters at the Sun Valley Gun Club, just up the road from Sun Valley Resort, where guests receive a Mammut avalanche airbag and transceiver and attend a mandatory safety briefing. The guiding team has more than 100 years of collective experience guiding and touring this terrain and includes a dedicated Snow Safety Officer. Sun Valley Heli Ski is a member of the Heli-Ski U.S. Association. Their core Adventure is the Full Day Heli Ski: 6 guaranteed runs with lunch served in the field. Groups can also book a private helicopter for the day, try Heli Assisted Ski Touring (HASTA) to earn their turns in remote terrain, or pair heliskiing with a stay at Sun Valley Resort through the Sun Valley Resort Lodging Package. For a multi-day trip, the Smoky Mountain Lodge Heli Trip is a 3-day, 2-night stay for up to 8 guests at a backcountry lodge on the South Fork of the Boise River, which Sun Valley Heli Ski describes as the only remote fly-in heliski lodge in the lower 48. And when storms ground the helicopter, Sun Valley Resort is right there as a backup.

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Locations

Where Sun Valley Heli Ski runs trips from — open any pin in Google Maps.

Sun Valley Heli Ski Headquarters — Sun Valley Gun Club
Sun Valley Heli Ski's headquarters is at the Sun Valley Gun Club, 301 Trail Creek Road, at the end of Trail Creek Road in Sun Valley, Idaho, just up the road from Sun Valley Resort. Every Adventure starts here, whether it's a Full Day Heli Ski, a private charter, HASTA, or the first day of a Smoky Mountain Lodge trip. Guests check in around 8:00 AM, get weighed, organize their gear, and attend a mandatory safety briefing in small groups covering helicopter operations, avalanche equipment, and backcountry skiing. The first group typically lifts off from the Gun Club around 9:30 AM; other groups either fly from the Gun Club or ride the Heli Ski Van (or drive their own vehicle) to a staging area before flying into the backcountry. Day groups return between about 3:00 and 5:00 PM, and Smoky Mountain Lodge groups finish their trip back here on day 3. A Nordic trail network runs near the Gun Club, which makes it a good option on down days.
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Smoky Mountain Lodge
The Smoky Mountain Lodge (Idaho Smoky Mountain Lodge at Baumgardner Ranch) is a remote, off-grid backcountry lodge on the banks of the upper South Fork of the Boise River in Idaho's Smoky Mountains, set at about 5,500 feet in the Sawtooth National Forest. Sun Valley Heli Ski describes it as the only backcountry fly-in heliski lodge in the lower 48 without road access: guests arrive by helicopter, and lodge managers haul supplies in by snowmobile over 20 miles. It was built by former Sun Valley Heli Ski owner Mark Baumgardner to host multi-day heliski trips, and in winter its trips run in partnership with Sun Valley Heli Ski for groups of up to 8 guests. Guests ski their first day out of the Gun Club and fly to the lodge that afternoon, ski from the lodge on day 2, and finish day 3 back at the Gun Club. The lodge has 6 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms, a large kitchen and dining area, two fireplaces, a living room, decks on all four sides, a wood-fired pizza oven, and a sauna and cold plunge. Meals are prepared by professional chefs, with après and dinner at the lodge each evening.
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Sun Valley Lodge & Sun Valley Inn — Sun Valley Resort
The Sun Valley Lodge and the Sun Valley Inn are the hotels where guests stay on Sun Valley Heli Ski's Sun Valley Resort Lodging Package. Sun Valley Resort, which opened in 1936, is known as America's original destination ski resort, and the package pairs a stay in its village with heliskiing from the Sun Valley Gun Club, just up the road. The package includes 3 nights in 2 rooms (up to 2 guests per room) at either the Sun Valley Lodge or the Sun Valley Inn, 2 heliski days for 4 guests with 6 runs per person each day, and a day of resort skiing on Bald Mountain with 4 lift tickets. Guests also have access to the resort village's amenities between ski days.
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Trips