Heliskiing has traditionally been a male-dominated sport, but why? Well, Chillfactor wrote an interesting piece about why that might be, whether it’s time, different financial priorities or misconceptions about the sport. Whatever the reason, if you’re an intermediate-advanced female skier who is on the fence about whether heliskiing is for you – we can assure you, it is.

In the Chillfactor article, it’s theorised that women are more likely to underestimate their abilities compared to men. We recently posted an article dispelling some of the common myths about heliskiing – notably, that you don’t have to be a hardcore adrenaline junkie or jump out of the heli to take part! Sure, we’ll take you down some steep stuff if that’s what you want, but if you’re happy cruising the sidecountry in various snow conditions, we’ve got the runs for you.

By women, for women

Here at Summit Heliskiing, we are primarily a women-owned, women-operated company. Owner Ólöf Ýrr has worked in tourism at all levels – as a Park Ranger, horse riding guide, and the Director of Tourism in Iceland. Operations Manager and summer activity guide Meg might be new to skiing as a sport, but has spent plenty of time hiking, running, glacier guiding and rock climbing in various regions around the world. We firmly believe that women belong in every corner of the outdoor community, and encourage you to join us!

We also recently introduced Sara in our latest Guide Spotlight – Iceland’s first female heliski guide! Sara has a wealth of experience guiding and ski instructing, and helped guide the “Kvennadalshnúkur” event. “Kvennadalshnjúkur” is a combination of the Icelandic word “kvenna”, meaning female, and Hvannadalshnjúkur, the highest peak in Iceland. The event saw 126 women summit Hvannadalshnjúkur in order to raise money for Landspítali – the National University Hospital of Iceland.

And if we haven’t convinced you yet…

This year, we were thrilled to welcome the ladies of the Kríurnar Adventure Club to ski with us – here’s what they had to say about it:

“Being dropped off on the top of a mountain, realizing that there are endless more peaks but still you have the ocean view. That is the true X factor!”

“We felt so spoiled, having the super talented guides choosing the best lines and all we had to do was to have fun, which was not hard!”

“Thanks from us – Kríurnar Adventure Club”

We also had Icelandic influencer Ása Steinars join us for a few days – we’ll let her reel speak for itself!

So what are you waiting for?

We still have availability in 2024 for multi-day heliski holidays and heli-touring getaways,. We welcome all enquiries and would love to see more women on the slopes next year!