WHISTLER, BC — Usually on a tour, it's the destination that's the best part. But with Head-line Mountain Holidays Heli Ice Cave tour in Whistler BC, getting there is pretty special too.
"We fly through the coast range here in British Columbia," said Matt King with Head-line Mountain Holidays. "We're winding our way through valleys and densely treed forest into glaciers. You're flying through the divide on two different valleys which surround Whistler. It's absolutely spectacular."
20 minutes after takeoff, you land on one of Canada’s southernmost ice fields.
"Our safety orientation start here on the glacier beginning with glacier safety and how we travel on top of the ice. We are doing constant evaluation, measurements referencing with our partners at Simon Fraser University and their glaciology team as to what the ice is doing."
Once safety precautions are gone over, it's time to head in.
"It's a pretty magical world inside the cave. We see a variety of different qualities of ice. As we get inside we get into some really high quality dense-blue clear ice with very little air content inside it. Then you get anywhere from tighter spots to these huge expanses with 30-foot ceilings big domed cave.”
The ice surrounding you can be well over 50-feet thick. And the colors are off the charts.
"The colors are absolutely so vivid. We basically have every blue in the entire spectrum. From different light filament through the ice and snow into the caves. It's an incredibly serene environment where all you can hear is running water and absolutely insane views inside."
It's not often you get to be inside a sea of ice, but Matt says if you get the chance the experience won’t leave you cold.
"It really is a magical place to visit."
The journey is more important than the destination when visiting the Whistler Ice Caves
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