Sweetwater Heli Reviews

Logistics = Skiing + Accommodations + Skiing!

We recognize that Sweetwater Heli is not a destination heli-lodge or resort town, and therefore does not have its own accommodations. It would make absolutely no sense for Sweetwater to develop accommodations. This is not a "destination" location, like Park City, UT or Whistler or Revelstoke, BC.

Sweetwater is a "Day Heli" program. And any similar program is more than happy to accommodate your booking request for a multi day trip.

That leads us to the question of accommodations.

Currently, the Sweetwater operations is requesting that you arrive on location at 7:30 AM. Considering that you should fuel up before you go, you're probably talking about a 6:00 AM wake up call. Unless you get up extremely early and drive some distance, it's likely that you're going to overnight in or near Bridgeport, prior to your day of heliskiing.

En route between Mammoth Lakes and Reno, we have driven through Bridgeport at least a dozen times, passing by a handful of motels. We Have never chosen to stay there.

NOW...travel requirements are different! So, where to stay?

We stayed at the Walker River Lodge. We would highly recommend it, as does Sweetwater Heli. We're a bunch of old guys, so we require a quality night's sleep!

Not only is it voted the best motel in California, if you're lucky, you'll get to meet Roxanne at the front desk!

Those are the Sweetwater Mountains right there!

The one thing that concerns us about staying in motels is the quality of the bed and if there's noise. We can assure you that the rooms are well appointed, the quality of the bed is very nice, and it is quiet. You might think that being next to the 395, it may be noisy. IT IS A QUIET BLISS! And it also provides a tremendous view of the Sweetwater Range out your sliding glass door (or private deck from the 2B/1B Suite with a kitchen in room #46!)

And talking about convenient! We had a private booking of eight. We drove five cars over to Sweetwater Heli, and at least three of us drove back to the Walker River Lodge to grab more gear as we were getting ready! It's less than a half a mile away, and you can walk it by taking the foot bridge at the end of the street, next to the Lodge!

Getting to Sweetwater Heli from the Walker River Lodge takes 3 minutes!

Additionally, a quick tour on TripAdvisor for Bridgeport accommodations reveals:

• Virginia Creek Settlement Motel: With 418 reviews and a 4.1 star rating, this establishment seems to have the largest variety of room choices.
• Silver Maple Inn: With 250 reviews and a 4.0 star rating, this may work! You may choose from a typical menu one king or two queens.
• The Willow Springs Resort: With only 15 reviews, we may exercise some caution on the 4.9 star rating. It appears to be an RV park with rooms. It also appears to lack king size beds.

Imagine that you had a good night's rest and enjoyed an amazing day of heliskiing!

Now that you're done with your day of heliskiing, it's probably not too big an ask, to drive North, back to your point of origin.

It's a "no brainer" to head South on the 395 to get back to Mammoth by dinner time. Sadly, it's time to pull out that IKON pass again for tomorrow.

OR...rinse and repeat!

Terrain? This is the ultimate question for the Sweetwaters!

Here's a GOOD place to begin the discussion about the Sweetwater Mountains and the permitted terrain - a video!

On Saturday February 21st, 2026, some of Heli-Skier's Team sampled the terrain after North Tahoe and Mammoth both received five to eight feet of fresh powder! The Sweetwater range got their fair share, but not nearly as much snow as their popular neighbors Tahoe & Mammoth.

Heli-Skier Founder BRADY captured these nice fresh tracks, and guide Max Wittenberg let him "open it up" on the bottom half of the run!

Here's our "layman's 30,000 foot perspective" of the Sweetwater Heli Tenure (terrain)

On their website, Sweetwater Heli describes their mountain range as one of the least explored areas in California. Most of our team is born and bred in this state and would be inclined to agree. As one travels up and down that 395, your eyeballs tend to be attracted to all the peaks West the highway. This is certainly the case in the Bridgeport Valley. A passenger in the car is literally seduced by a panoramic, awe inspiring, ever ascending landscape that culminates into massive peaks out to the West of the valley. The same passenger spends little energy looking east. Yet, the Sweetwater range is on the East side of the highway!

The Sweetwater Mountains - California's newest heliskiing tenure!

Less some small exclusions, Sweetwater Heli apparently has been permitted to utilize the entire mountain range as their tenure, which spans 288 square miles, or approximately 184,320 acres. The terrain contains SIX mountain peaks, reaching over 10,000 feet! Mount Patterson, which stands right in the middle of the tenure, is included in this list. It caps out at a breathtaking 11,673 ft. As a matter of comparison, the top of the Panorama gondola at Mammoth Mountain is at an elevation of 11,053 ft.

So they have the necessary altitude in their tenure for sure!

We learned just a tiny bit about the Sweetwater Mountains' microclimate while we were there.

It appears to be slightly different then neighboring regions to the NW and SW, perhaps a bit drier. The snowfall should be more than adequate, considering that the average snowfall throughout the Sierra Nevada is more than 300 inches per year. Yet, as mentioned earlier, the Sweetwaters received less than half the snowfall of their neighboring region's prior to our visit.

We did notice that during that previous storm, the California weather system split into two parallel streams, surrounding the middle longitude in the state, like two caressing hands from the top and bottom! Perhaps it was just a fluke that the snowfall in the Sweetwaters didn't measure up - we don't know.

It is certainly worth note that the Eastern Sierras present plenty of pitch - more acute and vertical than the Western side. Afterall, Mt. Whitney rises straight up to 14,505 ft. on the East side. There is no comparison on the West side. Given stable snow conditions, we gather that plenty of nice steep descents exist in their terrain, but unfortunately, we didn't ski any - the overall snow conditions were considered unstable, so plenty of caution was rightfully exercised.

Also, the WIND is an issue on the Eastern side of The Sierras; the winds are generally less problematic on the West side. From what we could see in the tenure, the higher peaks including, Mount Patterson were devoid of any snow pack. These peaks had just been hammered by the weather and did not retain their snow.

The immediate realities of our day of skiing:

On Thursday February 19th, Ash told us that the Sweetwater team went out into the tenure to do some "Recon," and that she would report back to us regarding avalanche conditions and a "go or no go." Earlier that week, nine backcountry skiers had lost their lives in an avalanche below Frog Lake, near Donner Summit, so everyone was naturally a bit edgy and very sad about the tragedy. Yet, we were also excited about the prospects of a new adventure - a new heli operator in new terrain.

Sweetwater Heli decided to move forward with full operations for that Friday and Saturday after the huge snowfall. We later learned that the avalanche risk was described as "three-three-two" - considerable in the alpine and middle elevations, down to the tree line and moderate below the tree line.

Earlier in the week, founder BRADY had sent out a Team message that due to the weak layer and heavy wind loading, there was a chance that we would not ski that Saturday. And if we did ski, it would likely be at inclines of less than 30 degrees, so we set our expectations accordingly. We got the green light at 4:30 PM on Thursday...time to pack up and head out in the morning! It was a GO. We were stoked!

Just before 7:30, we drove all of our vehicles around the corner from the Walker River Lodge to Sweetwater Heli HQ.

Somehow, the pace of our briefing & equipment training was just sluggish...not what we were used to, and we have skied at other "Day Heli" programs in the states. Our guides Jason Champion and Max Wittenberg were SUPER PRO. Yet, by the time we had shuttled two loads - our group of eight to the top of the first run, and they had finished digging their first pit and analyzing the snowpack, it was after 11:00 AM! All things considered, that seemed very late in the morning to be making our first decent.

BUT, we were safe...in good hands and happy to be out on a bluebird day in the Sierras, enjoying a day of heliskiing with just a tight group of friends!

THE EIGHT RUNS:

The first run was short...with a drawn-out, very low incline finish. The next two runs were similar, with several hundred yards of skis just pointed straight - no turns...just getting to the pickup spot.

The fourth run was at last...a fun tree run...then the 5th was a brief, low angle descent down to lunch.

We named this run "Tomato Soup" -our delicious lunch appetizer!

After lunch we had three good runs for a total of 8. Short, but fun runs, less than two minutes top-to-bottom. Run #7 depicted by the video, is a pretty good example of the afternoon. This picture is of run #8, named "Tomato Soup." (Our lunch appetizer!)

No one tracked our vertical. We guessed no more than 12,000 feet total.

Certainly some of the landing zone, terrain selection and length of runs had to do with the extreme avalanche danger in certain parts of the tenure.

However, we all agreed that we didn't see any long, steep pitches, more common with heliskiing tenure that we are familiar with. Our guide Max Whittenberg (who said that he was hired as a consultant to evaluate the tenure and help begin to map the runs) said that the East side of the tenure has many bowls and runs as long as 2000 feet. Unfortunately, we didn't see any of it or ski any of it!

Photo courtesy of Sweetwater Heli

We didn't see any terrain that looked like this - an image that was featured on Sweetwater Heli's original news release. Perhaps we'll get a chance to sample some of the more challenging terrain during on another day or corn conditions in the spring!

We have reached out to Sweetwater for additional images that will better represent the comprehensive terrain that they have to offer...stay tuned!

Bottom line...flying around in a helicopter and skiing the backcountry on a blue bird day never gets old - It's a magical blessing for sure, and we are very grateful for each and every opportunity!

Sweetwater Heli Offers small-group heliskiing.

The helicopter commonly utilized in this capacity is the AS350, typically referred to the squirrel or A-Star - the industry's workhorse!

With two seats in the front used for the guide and the pilot, the four seats in the rear are for the heliskiing guests. This small group of four skiers (and one guide) in one aircraft makes it easier - more ideal for each skier to pick their own unique, fresh powder line down the descent on each run. Frankly, that's what you're paying for!

Sweetwater loads up to three (3) groups of four (4) skiers / riders utilize each helicopter at a base price of $1800 a day, $2,000 a day on weekends for 6-8 runs.

On Sweetwater's website, there is mention of an upgrade to unlimited vertical, if weather permits. It's more common in the industry for the operator to simply charge you for each additional vertical foot or meter skied.

Ashley said that we could potentially get in 10 runs, if we did not have to refuel for a second time. She also quoted us for additional runs at a cost of $300, sold and blocks of three. Considering that we achieved eight runs, and the (three groups of four) on the day before only achieved 7 runs, it would seem that surpassing 10 runs, then refueling again and buying another block of three would be a bit of a stretch for this operation, but who knows?

As is usually the case with Heli ski operators, Sweetwater Heli also offers a private charter package as well, which we took advantage of. It's your helicopter & guide(s) for the day; use it as you wish! We would recommend getting a timetable from Sweetwater and appointing someone in the group to hold you to it! We got a slow start which cost us.

"So...What About Sweetwater Heli?"

Naturally there were some questions regarding a brand new heliskiing operator with untested terrain and no information online yet about the staff. One of our potential guests for Heli-Skier's private booking said, "So we're booking for the second week of operations with a brand new operator who doesn't know their terrain yet, and we know nothing about their guiding staff. If we're just guinea pigs on a beta test, I'm out!"

Heli-Skier's founder BRADY had a lengthy conversation with Ashley Dickey, Director of Operations, as the booking process began. "Ashley came across as a true industry professional. She was very congenial and answered a ton of questions about their staff which primarily came from Valdez operators. We discussed their aircraft, pilot and mechanics, which came from Apex helicopters in Oregon. When I hung up the phone with Ashley, I felt very comfortable about the professional level of the product my team would experience," said Brady.

Here's What We Discovered...

Sweetwater Heli has put together a professional operation from top to bottom. Frankly, we were a little overwhelmed at the amount of staff that were running the show at HQ! There seemed to be more staff there than there were jobs to perform! (But what do we know...we were just there to ski!)

Ashley Dickey Director of Operations at Sweetwater Heli

As mentioned earlier, your first contact will likely be with Ashley Dickey, Director of Operations. Super energetic, more than accommodative and very personable, she is well casted in her role!

There's a good chance that when you arrive, you will also meet Mark Johnson, one of the owners, who obviously takes a keen interest in the activities inside Sweetwater HQ. Shockingly, we learned that he's never been heli skiing! HUH? When you meet him, ask him about the backstory!

You'll likely also meet "Gomez," who may give you a tour of all his trips around the world, via all the images that are beautifully portrayed on the walls of HQ.

Most of their team, including "Ash" has roots in Valdez Alaska, known for its extreme heliskiing.

Their aircraft from Apex helicopters in Oregon looked about as new as any A-Star we've flown in!

Pete Brady & Mike Cleary wearing the latest in BCA Float Gear!

Their headquarters are in a stand alone building with a well appointed interior. This is where you will get checked in, weighed and supplied with your safety pack. They are using brand new BCA Float E 2 Dash 15 Avalanche packs - top of the line. These packs provide avalanche safety balloons, which are inflated a with battery powered air compressor, not the old ones which CO2 cartridges. These packs are much lighter! NICE!

An added benefit to these new packs, is each pack has an attached BCA radio inside the right shoulder strap. These are small compact radios, unlike some of the larger communication devices that you may have used at other operators. VERY NICE!

The lounge looked pristine before we showed up!

Their HQ building, interior & lounge, equipment, staff and post heliskiing vibe is all top notch!

The exterior lounge in front, that faces the Bridgeport Valley at sunset, is a perfect place to celebrate your day of heliskiing with complimentary beverages - THANKS Sweetwater!