Heliskiing
Heli-skiing is off-trail, downhill skiing or snowboarding reached by helicopter, instead of a ski lift. In the late 1950s helicopters were used in Alaska and Europe to access remote terrain. In 1965 Hans Gmoser commercialized the activity in Canada by combining lodging, transport and guiding. In Switzerland there are an estimated 15,000 heliskiing flights each year, to 42 landing sites. In 2010 Switzerland's major environmental groups, including the Worldwide Fund for Nature, handed a petition with over 15,000 signatures to the Swiss government, demanding a ban on heliskiing. Heliskiing is banned in Germany and was banned in France in 1985. Austria allows two landing sites.
Heli-skiing is popular in New Zealand especially in the South Island with the season running from July to September.
