HELISKIING CAUCASUS – MOUNT ELBRUS ADVENTURE

SATURDAY
If you’re flying from Geneva, we recommend you spend the night at the Novotel close to Moscow airport

SUNDAY
Flights Paris > Moscow > Mineralnye Vody. One of our guides will meet you at the airport. Transfer to the hotel in our bus (3-hour drive). Check in to the hotel, welcoming drink and lunch.

FROM MONDAY TO FRIDAY
1st morning: safety and helicopter briefing followed by a maximum of heliskiing.

FRIDAY, LATE AFTERNOON
Transfer from the hotel to Mineralnye Vody. Final dinner with a member of our team.

SATURDAY
Transfer to Mineralnye Vody airport. Flight home.

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

Flight time : We prefer to base ourselves on the flight time actually flown – unlike traditional heliskiing agencies which charge flight time based on the vertical drop skied.

Not only is our method of calculation more transparent and more in line with the reality of the costs, but it also allows us complete freedom, adapting to the conditions and giving you the opportunity to explore the best sites.

So, a good day offers us 7,000 to 10,000 metres of altitude drop for the cost of about 2 ½ hrs of flight time!

The trip options’ announced flight time is the average flight time during each trip. When the weather prevents us from using all these hours, we’ll refund the hours not flown.

This adventure’s distinctive feature is exploration, meaning that we move around a lot. This nomadic applroach imposes constraints concerning accommodation.

So, in order to make the best of weather conditions, we’ll organize the programme from day-to-day, meaning that accommodation will vary according to the programme. As a result, we can’t guarantee a specific type of accommodation in advance. We may sleep in 3-star or 4-star hotels, or in lodges with a more basic level of comfort.

Breakfasts will be taken at the hotel.

On heliski days we provide picnic lunches based around a variety of ingredients. We also provide snacks (energy bars, etc.).

Bottles of water will be available in the helicopter throughout the day.

Evening meals are taken at the hotel.

Meals are varied and based around mostly local ingredients, together with vegetables and dairy products, etc.

Reasonable quality wine (from South Africa or Chile) is available, but the most classic drinks are beer, champagne and vodka.

Other activities are available if the weather isn’t good enough for the helicopters to fly. However, some of these activities will involve extra cost.

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.

Your trip is from Sunday to Saturday.

You’ll be picked up by the Kamchatka Heliski Team on your arrival at Mineralnye Vody Airport.

You should plan to arrive in Mineralnye Vody on Sunday and leave Mineralnye Vody on the following Saturday.

NOTE :

If possible, travel on Saturday and spend the night in Moscow before departing on Sunday to Mineralnye Vody.

We advise you to take the flight listed below, so that you don’t arrive too late at the lodge, as you have about 3 hours transfer from Mineralnye Vody airport.

On Sunday, departure from SVO at 1:40 pm – arrival at MRV at 4:00 pm (flight SU 1312).

SATURDAY

We recommend spending the night at the Novotel Hotel near Moscow Airport when departing from Geneva.

Foreigners wishing to visit Russsia must first obtain a visa.

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.

Visa

You must also have certification of your repatriation insurance. 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.

We’ll issue to you a voucher (a tourist invitation), which you’ll need for your visa as well as a passport photo of less than 3 months old.

For further information on administrative procedures, don’t hesitate to contact us.

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.