Record heat forces Atlin heli-ski operation to close early
Vic Istchenko | CBC News | Posted: April 7, 2016 1:00 PM | Last Updated: April 7, 2016
'We cancelled all our customers in Europe, and offered them to come back next year, hopefully with more snow'
Record warm temperatures have forced Atlin Heli Sports to suspend its heli-ski operations for the year, and cancel bookings for at least 40 European clients over the next three weeks.
Atlin Heli Sports operator Andre Gutenberg blames "half the normal snowfall" in the coastal mountains, and the fact Atlin Lake stayed open all winter — a first since 1967.
By mid-March, just two weeks into the season, he says the thin snow pack on the coastal glaciers they normally ski could no longer be trusted.
"We cancelled all our customers in Europe and offered them to come back next year, hopefully with more snow," Gutenberg said.
He says at least half of the cancelled groups have already rebooked, although they won't get refunded for cancelled flights. His last clients leave Friday.
"So, once those customers are gone on Friday," Gutenberg said, "We'll lick our wounds and figure out how much the season cost us."
Gutenberg said he's counting on more seasonable weather next winter.
Just in case, he's already scheduled bookings next year to start a month earlier, in February.