Our Guides

All BCHS guides are professionals with a lifelong dedication to their profession and are certified by the ACMG / UIAGM (Canadian and International Association of Mountain Guides) and/or the Canadian Ski Guides Association (CSGA). In addition to this, the guides all have years of experience specifically related to heli skiing, as well as outgoing and supportive personalities.

Our Guide Manager, Paul Berntsen, has over 30 years of working experience evaluating avalanche hazards, and more then 20 years as a heli ski guide. His prime responsibility is for the safety of clients, staff and himself, and he is in over all charge of everything and anything to do with safety.

The skills and training he brings to bear on this task include: certification as a full mountain guide, qualification as an avalanche planner as stipulated by Work Safe BC, and extensive training in medical first aid and mountain rescue procedures.

We encourage all our guides to continuously upgrade their professional skills and host a yearly “Guides Training” program at the start of our ski season.

While in the field, all guides carry radios and are in constant communication with other guides, the helicopter, the lodge, and radio dispatch. Most of our guides have families and have as much interest in getting back to them at the end of the day as the rest of us. In short, they are not going to take unnecessary risks. They are out there every day and want to keep skiing for many years to come.