The team at Southern Lakes Heliski is finding the silver lining in being a tourism provider in the COVID-19 environment. 

Southern Lakes Heliski operates under The Alpine Group, along with Minaret Station, Alpine Helicopters and Southern Lakes Helibike.

Southern Lakes tourism general manager David Hiatt said while the majority of the company’s business came from the international market before COVID-19 hit, pandemic restrictions had pushed the company to focus on the Kiwi market.

“We’re having to work harder on a domestic market basis and what that will provide for us long-term is a stronger 12 month business,” David said. 

“We’re targeting the New Zealand market and - having had relative success to date - we think we’ll come out of it better positioned than we were previously.” 

David has a pragmatic approach to when the international market may return: “We’re not banking on that happening any time soon.”

Southern Lakes Heliski boasts more terrain than any heliski operator in the Southern Lakes district. 

The company has just launched a new heliski and bike combo, to take advantage of spring conditions.

It offers access to glacier skiing, more than 800 runs spread across 17 different New Zealand mountain ranges and at 2,585m (over 8,400 feet) the highest heliskiing terrain available in the district.

“We’ve got some really interesting terrain,” David said. “This means we can give skiers of all abilities a great experience catering to their ability. 

“That’s the thing with any kind of experience - it’s about tailoring an experience to the client that you have.”

David said pricing had not changed at luxury lodge Minaret Station, at Southern Lakes Heliski “we’ve had to be a little bit more competitive in the market”.

Part of that is innovation: This week the company introduced a new world first product, a heliski and heli-bike combo, customised to clients’ abilities and interests. 

Customers get dropped off on terrain suitable to their ability. This group were expert! PHOTO: Josh O'Regan

The combo starts with four untracked heliski runs, lunch and a change of clothes into biking gear, a helicopter lift to the final drop-off point of the day, a downhill or scenic lakeside biking experience, and finishes with a scenic boat ride across Lake Wanaka. 

After launching the Southern Lakes Helibike brand in 2019, the company continues to deliver new mountain bikes experiences.

The new product makes the most of the spring conditions. “This really is about maximising the change of seasons,” David said.

Optimism, innovation and tailored products have kept the company “pleasantly surprised” at the strength of the Kiwi market. 

“We’ve got two weeks of school holidays ahead of us and we’ve got some really good bookings. We’ll ski into October as conditions allow.”

Learn more about Southern Lakes Heliski and the products and experiences available under The Alpine Group here.

PHOTOS: Southern Lakes Heliski