February 13, 2004

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Publication Date: Friday, February 13, 2004

First tracks

Jerry Sanchez rested on his skis on the high mountainside in British Columbia, waiting his turn to go down the slope. It was the ultimate in ski trips - five days in a lodge in the town of Revelstoke, with a helicopter ferrying the skiers to different spots on the Monashee and Selkirk mountains to ski down unmarked trails in the virgin snow.

After disembarking, the guide Reid would test the terrain, digging a 5-foot pit, sticking in the shovel and tapping it to check the stability of the layers of snow. Reid would then ski first, halting at a point to await the others, who followed one by one. On this run, Sanchez's buddy Steve Chew followed the guide. Then it was his turn.

But the snow began to roll. "I saw the fracture line," recalled Sanchez. In an area about 50 yards wide, the flurry tumbled down the mountain to a depth of about 7 inches. It spun downhill about 100 yards, then came to a stop near where the others stood on their skis.

"I waited for the slide to finish," said Sanchez, "then skied on down." He said his first inclination was to ski away, but he had learned in a training session the first day that it was best to ski where the avalanche had been.

Sanchez, Chew and Ken Louie - three Pleasanton dentists - went on the helicopter skiing adventure last February.

"The views were spectacular; it was absolutely gorgeous," said Chew. "We would land at the tip of the mountain and see no one else had been there. We'd be the only ones for hundreds of miles. We'd be hooting and hollering."

The three and another friend from California were grouped with four skiers from Colorado, another from Switzerland and two snowboarders from Berlin.

"One from Colorado said, 'I've seen the Rockies and hiked in Nepal, but this is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen,'" recalled Louie. "You would be 100 miles out, and 20 miles away you could see the peak you skied in the morning."

It was exciting, said Chew, to stay at the lodge with the helicopter parked out front.

"You hop in the helicopter and that's your lift," said Sanchez. "It would pull up to the ridge and we'd get to ski down."

"Every run was exciting," he said. "It was all new."

Sanchez had been helicopter skiing in Sun Valley, Idaho, but that was only for one day. "It was such an adventure," he said. "Once it gets in your blood, there's no going back."

Sometimes the new layer of snow on the Canadian mountainsides would be 2 to 3 feet deep. "It was billowing in front of our chests as we skied," said Sanchez. "It was just like floating, and with the blue skies, it doesn't get a whole lot better."

The first morning their safety lesson included how to work their avalanche transceivers. They each wore a device that was set continually on "send." If one of them had been buried in an avalanche, the others would have put their transceivers on "receive" so they could all search for the missing party.

"We also learned how to approach the helicopter so we were not injured by the big blades," said Chew. "You approach from the front."

For five days, the helicopter would take them to points determined by their guide. After testing the snow's stability and assessing the terrain, Reid would direct them whether to take the pitch left or right or "just go down."

"The guide went first," said Chew. Then they would ski or snowboard down one at a time. "The last person carried the safety pack, with a radio, shovel and avalanche probe - a long pole, about 10-15 feet, that telescopes."

Their respect for the conditions was especially acute because the month before, 14 people had been killed in two separate incidents involving avalanches. Seven were helicopter skiing, when an avalanche swept them away. The others were high school students from Calgary. "They were back-country skiing," Chew said. "They had the same safety gear we had. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"It kept us listening to the guide," said Sanchez. "I had a lot of respect for the guide. He was nice and jovial but he would get upset if we ventured offline or skied below him."

Louie noted that the avalanche they encountered was on a gentle slope. "The steep slopes are more prone to avalanches," he said. "As good as we were and as much as we wanted to ski hard stuff, we were focused on having fun and making it home alive."

"You have to be careful," he added. "You can get stuck pretty easily. You helicopter in a good 100 miles and then you're in the middle of nowhere really."

They made eight to 10 runs a day, and the guide kept track of how many meters they skied. If they skied more than the estimated amount, they owed the company money for the extra skiing; if less, they might get a refund. But the weather held for their group and they skied the runs they had anticipated, including Tumbledown, Lost in Space, Icefall, Porcupine, Outsolation, Moonwalker, and Best ChoiceX2.

"We'd have a big lunch on the mountain," said Chew. "They'd bring in a cooler with hot soup and sandwiches. They really pamper you. It's a luxury trip."

"We'd plant our skis in the snow, and the skis were our bench," recalled Sanchez. "Each step (without skis) we were dropping to our hips."

"Some heli-ski packages offer gourmet dining," he added," but sitting on our skis, we were having a dining experience with the best view in the world."

"It was awesome," agreed Louie. "We'd have lunch on a glacier near this big cliff and the guide would talk about how in the summer he'd climb this rock face."

"The helicopter rides alone were worth the price of admission," Chew said. And admission is pricey. The five days cost $3,000, he said, plus getting there was another $1,000.

The evenings were spent in the lodge visiting with the other skiers.

"Everyone was fired up," said Sanchez. "There was no shortage of good ski stories around the fire at night, like golfing or fishing stories."

More and more people from Pleasanton are going helicopter skiing, said Chew, noting that he often runs into people who have made the trip. "It's like a little club," he said.

The skiers - and snowboarders - in his group were all expert, Chew said, although they were not screened ahead of time. The skiers enjoyed the adventure so much that the nine of them are planning another helicopter ski trip together.

"Next year we're headed up to Alaska," said Sanchez.

"We're trying to get our wives to buy into it," said Chew with a laugh. "We weren't worried, but the people at home are worried about you."

Chew, 44, has been skiing since he was about 7, and is now teaching his three children - Stephanie, 10; Michael, 9; and Lauren, 5 - to ski.

Chew often will go to Sugar Bowl for the day because he doesn't see patients on Fridays, but he said that now it isn't the same. "After helicopter skiing, Tahoe is just getting yourself ready for another helicopter trip."

Sanchez prefers Squaw Valley for skiing and his two children, Jennifer, 12, and Sarah, 5, have been skiing since they were 2, with help from their dad. "I have spent a lot of energy teaching people to ski," said Sanchez. "Sharing that passion is a special thing - it's fun to see that light go on." He said they'll be on the slopes on Presidents Day.

Sanchez, 49, was raised in Pleasanton and was always fascinated by the thought of skiing, he said. "When I was 13, a sporting goods store in Livermore had a day trip with a lift ticket at Dodge Ridge," he said. "I had a blast. It was an adventure." He had a handful of friends at Amador Valley High who skied, too, and he was hooked.

Although he and Chew both went to UC Davis - to be near the mountains - and UCSF School of Dentistry, they never met until they opened offices near each other in Pleasanton.

Louie said the helicopter ski trip was actually Steve Chew's dream, but now he's converted. They began skiing together after they met in dental school. He said he only skis 10 to 12 days a year, often with his boys, Michael, 11, and Brian, 9.

Louie said he will do one thing differently for the Alaska trip: "I'm going to exercise more next time."

"Once it gets in your blood, there's no going back," said Sanchez. "It was recharging your battery. I could feel the stress slipping away."
Never been skiing?

For someone who has never put on skis, the idea can seem formidable. Nothing turns a normally graceful person into a dangerous creature faster than clamping on skiing equipment for the first time. But the rewards are spectacular! Even intermediate skiers can enjoy high peaks at Tahoe resorts that exercise the body and refresh the soul.

Some advice for beginners: ¥ Take lessons. It's especially important in the beginning. ¥ Beginners use a lot more energy; instructors can teach them tricks. ¥ Practice in between lessons. ¥ Buy the best gear you can afford. Boots are especially important. ¥ Conditioning is important. ¥ The right gear is good, too, including a four-wheel drive to get you there in any weather. ¥ With the right clothing, skiing can be fun even in stormy weather. ¥ Ski, ski, ski! There is no substitute.

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