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Most of the wildlife live down in the valley bottoms during
the winter where life is a little easier for them. Mountain
goats are the exception however, especially during the spring
when they choose the higher south facing slopes to travel
and feed. Due to this high-elevation travel, the goats are
susceptible to disturbance from helicopters. While many
studies have been carried out on the impact of helicopter
noise on mountain goats, the findings remain inconclusive.
However, TLH Heliskiing is of the mind ‘Why risk it?'
By working together with government wildlife officials we
have identified 2 different kinds of 'Mountain Goat Zones'.
One zone is deemed a 'No Fly Zone' which translates into
a 2000 meter buffer between helicopter traffic and the mountain
goat habitat. The second, 'Mountain Goat Sensitive Zone',
is an area where mountain goats have occasionally been spotted
in the past. When operating in these areas we are sensitive
to goat or track sightings and promptly move out of the
area to ski/ride somewhere else.
Wildlife movements and sightings are tracked constantly, recorded within our database and passed on to government agencies at the end of each season for use in additional research.
