Southern Lakes Heliski — Attraction in South Island

I’ve been boarding a few times but always fancied Heli boarding so while in Queenstown booked in. Wasn’t really sure what to expect and thought it might be over my (intermediate) skill level but what thought I would go for it. Booked in with the Queenstown office and the morning of the trip got a call from the office saying weather was good and the trip was on. I got picked up by a really nice guy (Thomas) and he drove us (and a couple others) through Wanaka and to the meeting point, all along the drive amazing scenery and good conversation. A detailed and simple briefing about avalanche safety and format for the day took place on the ground which was reassuring. Once at the meeting point cloud was apparently holding us up but they pushed on and an amazing chopper flight took us to the chalets high in the mountains where we had an amazing lunch of hot and cold food with loads of drinks and snacks. Once the mountain gods sorted out the clouds we were on! Myself along with 3 other guys at the same ability got helicoptered up to a peak of a mountain and our legend of a guide (Lydia Bradey- check her out!) lead the way... Deep untouched powder and long runs - AMAZING!!! The views are unbelievable and the snow....

4 runs done I was wanting more but time had passed due to early clouds so back to base via chopper and boat then the drive back....

I can’t recommend this company enough, other people were asking if we flew a they were canceled by other companies but Southern Lakes delivered. Don’t think about it - DO IT!!! Thanks again...

Agree with poster a few days ago that guide Mark is very hard working and knowledgeable as we had him for our day with Soutren Lakes a few weeks ago. Scenery and experience overall was stunning and unbeatable but marked 2 stars for actual riding as the op put us into terrain on first run that was not suitable for first time heliboarders and I listed as intermediate (have 30 years experience nd ride 50 days a year in all conditions at resort but no backcountry and indicated preference for no super steeps) While i didn't feel in grave danger it was a very unsafe thing to do and I sat out rest of my scheduled runs as I didn't want to be and shouldn't have been put in that position again. I believe this op caters more to experts given the terrain they used that day so if you are intermediate or looking for less steep terrain maybe go with other op that has more fixed runs as Southern Lakes does not match abilities well as we had 3 groups using 1 heli so someone is always going to be disappointed if varied levels. Also lack of communication throughout the day led my spouse to only get 4 of 6 booked runs and for us to be offered to fly back to Queenstown at days end by one guide only to have the other guide say there was no room in heli. Very unprofessional. I will say the office staff were very responsive during booking and have indicated they will credit us for the...

We had the most amazing day of heliboarding with Southern Lakes Heliski. They are incredibly professional and do everything in their power (the rest being up to the weather gods) to ensure you have an amazing experience.

They made it so easy and relaxing for us from get-go, picking us up in the morning (thanks Mark!), giving us ample time to get prepped and dropping us home at the end of the day.

We went for the 8 run day, and were lucky enough to have our own heli and fantastic pilot Liam, and 2x guides go out with us on the day, Phil and James, both were awesome, incredibly knowledgeable with great chat, they briefed us in well on how to use our trackers, and found us some absolutely stunning locations with great powdery conditions (considering it still being early in the season).

Also must rate the lunch highly, delicious food and ample fuel to keep us going for the afternoon!

Couldn’t rate the experience highly enough, you just can’t beat a good day in the powder with the mountains all to yourself. We’ll definitely be back for more!

The most important thing is that the onus is on yourself as a customer to make sure you have enough flexible dates in case the weather doesn’t play ball, as we had to postpone to make sure we could get the best...