Making a living in Wanaka requires finding a balance between your skills and what the local market needs, and Laetitia Campe and Hugh Barnard have it down to a fine art.

"It’s hard to combine what you like doing with what’s viable in this town,” Laetitia said. Having lived here for 24 years, she is in strong a position to know. "You have to balance your background and what’s viable - it’s a real skill.”

Laetitia and her partner Hugh’s business Wanaka Heli Hikes supplies a service for a demand they identified years ago. "It’s something that’s evolved,” Laetitia said. "We have mountains all around us but there’s a shortage of walks for the number of people. Huge numbers of people climb Roys Peak and Isthmus Peak and the few other accessible walks such as Rocky Point and Rob Roy Glacier.”

Laetitia, whose mother is French and father is German, has lived in Europe where the infrastructure allows people access to the mountains. Here in New Zealand that access is limited to the occasional ski road, she said. "The helicopter is the only thing we have. It’s a taxi!”

While she acknowledges helicopters aren’t cheap, she said their heli hikes aren’t just for the wealthy. "It’s approachable.” She also maintains that, apart from the short helicopter flights, their business leaves little mark on the land. Their motto is ‘spread your wings’: "The kea is a symbol of how we want to be - treading lightly, not much impact. We don’t leave tracks.”

The pair set up Wanaka Mountain Guides many years ago, offering customised trips. With decades of experience between them in mountain guiding, ski patrolling and heli-ski guiding, they started offering heli-hiking a few years ago but are now concentrating on that aspect of the business. Laetitia is the main guide and Hugh guides less often (he works primarily in the film industry). Aspiring Helicopters does the flying, the Whare Kea Chalet at Albert Saddle provides accommodation and Fedeli does the catering - it’s a flexible mix and they all work together, Laetitia said.

The terrain is huge, covering the Harris Mountains - Black Peak, Fog Peak, Isobel Glacier, and the Buchanans - Daniel Spur, Alta Tarns, Albert Burn. Having climbed, skied and hiked the area since 1993 - and having worked for all the local guiding companies - Laetitia knows the terrain "super well”. "There is a huge variety of places to go,” she said, with standard packages and individually customised trips on offer.

Laetitia credits good teamwork with Hugh and identifying what’s important in life with the balance they have found. She kept working as a guide after having children Moana (18) and Manu (16), taking turns with Hugh on guiding trips so they could do what they loved while putting energy into their family life.

In 2010 they both took time for postgraduate study at Otago University. Laetitia studied printmaking and did a graduate diploma in Fine Arts and Hugh studied documentary filmmaking and did a Masters in Science Communication. Laetitia wanted to nuture her passion for visual arts practice to balance out her outdoor pursuits. "They feed each other,” she said.

After the year in Dunedin they returned to Hawea Flat (having travelled the world, Laetitia’s still a bit bemused she has settled in Hawea Flat) and had to redesign their working lives. She went back to guiding for a while, completed her qualifications and the heli-hiking business continued to evolve.

"It’s not all been plain sailing to get there,” she said, explaining the mix of living in Wanaka, identifying what you enjoy and what other people want - and being a bit entrepreneurial. "A lot of fulfilment for me comes from giving people an unforgettable experience,” Laetitia said. "For most people I take it’s the ‘best day’ of their life. And I get to do that on a daily basis. I feel really privileged.”

PHOTO: Wanaka App