HELISKIING ADVENTURE BAIKAL - USADBA HOTEL

SUNDAY – arrival in Irkutsk
The flight we advise you to take from Moscow will land in Irkutsk (IKT) at 8.30 am on the Sunday.
Our Kamchatka Heliski Team driver will come to welcome you at the airport. He’ll carry a board with the name of your group so you can recognize him.
You’ll then have about a 2½ – 3½ hours drive to reach the lodge (depending on weather conditions).

Arrival at the lodge and check-in

You’ll have some time to settle in your rooms, and discover the lodge before sharing a first drink and dinner.

DAY 2 to DAY 6 OR 7 – MONDAY TO FRIDAY (OR SATURDAY)
The programme is quite straight forward: heliskiing!

Monday morning: safety equipment and safety briefing.

After breakfast we’ll hand out safety equipment for the week (DVA, shovel, probe and Airbag).

All the equipment will be tested and adjusted with the help of our guides.
The security briefing will follow (ARVA search, ski instructions), also including the pilot, who will speak about how to behave around the helicopter.

DAY 6 OR 7 – FRIDAY (OR SATURDAY)
Last day of skiing (early afternoon Friday or Saturday, depending on the program you’ve chosen).
After arriving back at the lodge you’ll leave around 3:00 – 3.30 pm towards Irkutsk where you’ll have dinner at the restaurant and spend the night from Friday to Saturday (or Saturday to Sunday), in 4 star hotel (International Hotel Sayen).

DAY 7 OR 8 – SATURDAY (OR SUNDAY)
We’ll organize your transfer back to the airport (according on your flight schedule).

The helicopters will be single-turbine Eurocopter AS350B3 Ecureuils or Aérospatiale SA 315B Lamas, which are regularly used for winching, transport, rescue & special operations and, more recently, for heliskiing.

These helicopters can carry five people (including the guide), as well as the pilot. They were all built recently and meet all current safety standards. They are carefully serviced and maintained according to international procedures.

FLYING TIME
Unlike classic heliski companies, who bill flying time based on the vertical descent skied, we base our calculations on the actual amount of flying time. This method is not only more transparent and more in line with the true cost, it gives us the opportunity to adapt our programme to conditions and therefore explore the best areas to ski.

So, a good day will give us 7,000 to 10,000 metres of vertical drop for around 2½ hours of flying time. The flying time indicated for each package is the average achieved on each trip. When the weather prevents us from flying all these hours, we’ll reimburse you the hours we don’t fly.

The Usadba Novosnezhka, where we’ll stay for the week, can be described as a small family hotel or a large guesthouse. With a cozy wooden exterior resembling a large family chalet, it has a large bar, living room and cozy dining room for our meals and time together.

The rooms are spacious and comfortable, offering a desk and flat-screen TV as well as a private bathroom.

Outside there’s a beautiful terrace with a fantastic view and a barbecue area.
The traditional Russian banya, also available, is a must to relax your muscles.

Also, as it’s important to face the cold and ski after having a good meal: the hotel has a great, carefully prepared continental breakfast.

We’ll have breakfast at the hotel.
At lunchtime, on heliskiing days, we prepare a picnic for you with a variety of food. Snacks are also provided (energy bars, etc.).

Bottles of water are available in the helicopter throughout the day.
In the evening, we’ll eat dinner at the hotel.

The meals, prepared mainly with local products, are varied with vegetables and dairy products…

Concerning alcoholic drinks: good quality wine, from South Africa or Chile is available, however the classics remain beer, champagne and vodka.

If the weather doesn’t permit flying, other activities can be considered but some require an extra charge.

Suitable skis (fat or freeride skis) that have been properly prepared (edges sharpened, freshly waxed, bindings correctly adjusted, etc.) will ensure you get the best from your trip. In addition to this obvious advice, we have drawn up a list of things you’ll need to pack.

The following details are for informational purposes only. The daily flight schedule with Aeroflot can be found at the link
https://www.aeroflot.ru/ru-en?_preferredLanguage=en&_preferredLocale=ru

It’s up to you to choose the company you want to travel with, as well as organise your flight(s). We remind you that your flight details must be communicated to us (for insurance purposes).

NOTE :

If you choose to make the entire trip on Saturday, please make sure that your stopover is long enough (beware: there will be a terminal change for the Irkutsk flight…).

With Aeroflot, ski bags are free of charge (in principle) but you must declare your baggage by telephone at least 36 hours before your departure and then confirm again 24 hours before departure.

FLIGHT TIME :

Geneva – Moscow : approx. 3 h 40 m
Moscow – Irkutsk: approx. 5 h 45 m

Foreigners wishing to visit Russsia must first obtain a visa.

In order to obtain a tourist visa for Russia, you must hold a valid passport that will be valid for at least six months after the end of your stay. The passport must have two adjacent empty pages to which the Russian visa will be affixed.

You must also have repatriation insurance and provide certification. You can take out this policy directly with Heliski Russia. However, it should be noted that most credit cards already include repatriation insurance if you use the card to pay for your flight ticket and your trip.

You’ll need a voucher (tourist invitation) which we’ll issue to you, and also provide us with a recent passport photo (less than 3 months old).

For any further information concerning the administrative procedures, please don’t hesitate to contact us directly.

As soon as your reservation is confirmed, we’ll send you a Travelers Booklet with all the information you’ll need to organise your trip.