[lcometto]

Last week, myself, and a group of seven other landscape photographers, helicoptered to one of the most epic mountain landscapes in the world. We flew to a remote section of the Waddington Range in the Coast Mountains of Canada where we spent four days hiking and photographing enormous peaks and massive glaciers. There were no trails and no people for many, many miles. Because of its remoteness and difficulty of access, few people have seen these mountains in person, creating a deep sense of adventure. My goal for this trip was to add to my gallery of mountain shots of the various ranges in the Pacific Northwest. Please check it out if you have a few minutes! https://www.lucascometto.com/northwest-mountains-gallery

[forest gnome]

So couple questions...range of the r/t heli.? Split between what 3 people? Did u visit a few lakes..and any chance there's fishing? Spectacular shots..ya got the goods on that trip¡

[jaysway]

Wow, your shots are absolutely amazing! What an incredibly scenic part of the world . This spring I was planning a trip to this exact spot and another nearby for this summer, but plans fell apart when I couldn't get a group together. Hopefully next year or sometime soon. It's an expensive ride. I even chatted with Mike over the phone to talk about logistics. There are few trip reports on this area and most people that access places like these ride with Mike. I even found a trip report from a young Marc-André Leclerc visiting a nearby spot. I was reading the report and thinking that the young guy looked so familiar until I realized that it was him! I would guess that more people heliski nearby than helihike, but I'm not entirely sure. Most of Mike's business comes from commercial work, and recently that sounds like a lot of helping fight forest fires. lcometto, did you climb the peak to the east of the pass where you stayed? I've seen pictures from there with amazing views of the pass along with the glaciers and high peaks of the range.

[lcometto]

Forest Gnome - thanks for the kind words! I was happy to experience diverse weather when I was there - partly cloudy, cloudy, and sunny. The helicopter costs were bundled into a photography tour that I payed for so I'm not sure what the exact price for just the helicopter ride but I can say that the group used White Saddle Air Services (https://www.whitesaddleair.com/). They are incredibly professional and proficient at what they do. I visited a few lakes but, to be honest, I didn't get any fishing in - but then again, I didn't see too many fish in the lakes either!

[lcometto]

Jaysway - Thank you for the kind words! That stinks that you couldn't make it out but I really hope you do as it is an incredible area. The mountains are so tall and the glaciers, so huge. I assume the Mike you are referring to is the owner of White Saddle, right? He's awesome! Knows his stuff and very accommodating. I also heard that they spend a good amount of time fighting fires. Fortunately, there was only a small, distant one when we were there so it caused no trouble but if it did, that would take priority. As for the peak, I did climb a small boulder field and got a crazy view of mountains and a distant glacier (pictures one and three in the report). This view is from the east, looking west.

[gb]

I climbed in the Niut Range across Mosley Creek in September (21st) of 1980. It is amazing that Mike King is still alive and doing what he has for so long. We did routes on The Brother and The Sisters. Although the climbs were quite good, it turned into an adventure as a fast moving and unseen snowstorm raced off the Pacific in just 3 hours and forced us to descend blindly an unknown opposite side of The Sisters, and then to traverse Mosley Creek for four days without a map or food (there were blueberries and water) until reaching the Bench Glacier, at whose top we had camped. A day after arriving back at camp Mike King flew in with the Constable in the other front seat of his Jet Ranger - they were expecting a body recovery. It snowed three feet, but we traveled just near the snowline after descending. Quite an adventure nonetheless.....

[contour5]

Spectacular photography! Thanks for the post!

[lcometto]

GB - that experience sounds both terrifying and incredible. Glad you made it out alright. These mountains are pretty remote and I think that fact (along with their grandeur) really make it amazing to see them person.

[MidLifeHiker]

lcometto, Amazing photographs to say the least! I do a lot of hiking (with my camera) in the Washington Cascades and must admit never thought about having a company take me up to a location for a couple days just for photography. Your pictures have inspired me to look into doing something similar. Can you say what company you used in Canada for this trip? Thanks, MLH

[lcometto]

MLH, you bet. My group used White Saddle Air Services (https://www.whitesaddleair.com/). As I mentioned above, they are incredibly professional and proficient at what they do. I highly recommend them!

[MidLifeHiker]

Icometto, Oh I misunderstood, I though there was another agency between you and White Saddle Air Services. Thanks, Mark