GMOSER PASSES: Father of heli-skiing dies at 73
The man considered the "Father of Heli-Skiing," Hans Gmoser, died Wednesday, July 5, two days after breaking his back in a cycling accident near Banff. He was 73 years old. In the early 1960s, Gmoser, along with his partner Ethan Compton, began what has become a right of passage for every skier. They founded Canadian Mountain Holidays and the heli-ski business in 1965. Gmoser's legacy will survive in the grandeur of every heli run to come.
See below for a story from last year about the forefathers of heli skiing.
BUGABOO BLOWOUT
By Topher Donahue
December 2005
Vol. 34, No. 4
If skiing quality can be measured by the magnitude of the party that follows, imagine the party that would represent every turn made with helicopter access over the past 40 years. It happened. In April, the inventors of heli skiing threw a two-week shindig in the Bugaboos of British Columbia to celebrate the mind-blowing experience that has become every skier’s dream.
L to R: Gmoser, Compton, Brooks, Dodge, and Patterson.
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It was much like any ski party. Contented eyes surrounded by goggle tans peered over steaming mugs of coffee in the morning and frosty cocktails in the afternoon. Throughout the luxurious post-and-beam Bugaboos Lodge, perched at the fork of two uninhabited valleys of the Purcell Range, someone was constantly toasting good skiing or a great friend. In some ways it was different. The sunburns went a bit farther back to meet the hairlines. The drinks of choice were wine and scotch instead of beer and tequila. There were several artificial knees, a couple of rebuilt hips, a fused ankle, and even a wooden leg—and everyone had plenty of friends on powder days.
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