LAMOILLE, Nev. — Awaiting the return of the ship, it was time for our daily lesson in “Rubonics.”
“We’re looking for ‘porn’ snow,” Ruby Mountains Helicopter Skiing guide Tom Carter explained without a trace of irony. “But we’ll settle for some greasy powder.”
Over three days here last March, we had come to expect such titillating imagery. Here in this isolated alpine realm of the Ruby Mountains, it seems folks just talk that way. Colloquial in the dialect of heli-skiing the American hinterlands. Proud, self-proclaimed, Rubonics.
“Porn” snow, you see, is a legitimate hybrid of light winter “powder” and elusive spring “corn” snow. It may not be unique to Nevada’s Ruby Mountain Range, but oddly intrinsic, along with its greasy cousin in the warm, waning days of Ruby Mountains Helicopter Skiing’s 32nd winter. And with the aid of our five-passenger “ship,” we managed to uncover ample amounts of each.
As the helicopter rotors begin to spin for the 33rd consecutive season later this month, however, the 300 annual inches of freeze-dried desert powder that have earned the destination a reputation as the best-kept skiing secret in North America won’t require any clever description. Just a pair of skis or a snowboard, and a reserved seat on the hovering ship.
“We’re ready to rock ‘n’ roll,” said Joe Royer, proprietor of the longest continuously owned heli-skiing guide service in the nation. “We’ve had a week full of snow, so it’s good.”
A former ski patroller at Snowbird, Utah, Royer landed in the Ruby Mountains in the mid-1970s when the tall peaks of the isolated range east of Elko, Nev., caught his attention.
Featuring 10 peaks above 11,000 feet (including 11,387-foot Ruby Dome), the range in Nevada’s desolate Great Basin was misnamed when prospecting soldiers mistook garnets for rubies during the gold rush of the 1800s.
But the soldiers’ misfortune proved to be a blessing for skiers, as Royer managed to stake a claim to the region’s lone helicopter permit. He covers an area spanning 200,000 acres surrounding Lamoille Canyon, known as “Nevada’s Yosemite” because of the hanging valleys, towering peaks and year-round snowfields.
“The good thing about the Rubies is that they’re not mineral rich,” said Carter, Royer’s top guide for more than 25 years now. “If they were, we wouldn’t have this. They’d be mined like the rest of Nevada.”
Royer, who doubles as president of the trade association Heli Ski US (), is the first to admit that Ruby Mountains Helicopter Skiing’s location in the heart of the Great Basin can be a tough sell among a market accustomed to established alpine environments such as Aspen and Telluride, or to more opulent Canadian heli-skiing facilities.
But the remote locale works both ways, since it’s virtually impossible to access the quality skiing terrain without helicopter assistance, preserving the experience for clients. And just as the Rubies captured his heart, he remains convinced of their power to attract other skiers during a season that lasts only three months.
“I love it here,” Royer said. “But it’s always been tough to market a location that’s really centered in the middle of Nevada. People just don’t realize what we have out here.”
What he has is a high-end destination niche wedged into the rough hewn rural hamlet of Lamoille, about halfway between Lake Tahoe and Salt Lake City. The Ruby Mountains Heli Experience might be considered one-third ski destination, one-third dude ranch and one-third B&B.
The operation’s 10-room lodge on the 125-acre Reds Ranch is the spacious gathering point for skiers, guides and gourmet meals, prepared by Royer’s wife, Francy. In-house massage therapists and string musicians help skiers unwind before dinner in a huge room that doubles as a hunter’s trophy case.
On the slopes, up to 16 eager skiers are guaranteed 39,000 vertical feet over the course of three days, backed up by a pair of snowcats should the aerial ship suffer a down day. Terrain ranges from long, low-angle powder runs through high-desert canyons and metamorphic spires to Ruby Mountain’s signature slope known as the Come Line — a moderately steep 2,000-vertical-foot slot named for a bet in craps, a dice game.
“The terrain is what makes this place,” said Tim Regan, a Ruby Mountain regular who makes an annual trip from Rico. “It’s not as steep as some heli outfitters in places like Alaska, but there’s so much variety. It’s just fun to ride.”
Regan’s attitude is reflective of many Ruby Mountain heli-skiers more interested in a pure and thorough skiing experience than bragging rights or overt pampering.
“It’s different from a lot of the ski industry in that there’s no real hype here,” Royer said. “You don’t have a lot of the chest beating. It’s pretty much just about skiing in the mountains, not a lot of people talking about what they did where. But we encourage everybody to come here. We get all types of heli-skiers here, and I think it’s important to let people know that anybody can do this. You don’t have to be an expert, but just enjoy skiing.”
Scott Willoughby: 303-954-1993 or swilloughby@denverpost.com
Ruby Mountains Helicopter (RMH) experience
Facts and figures about the Ruby Mountains and Lamoille, Nev.:
Range: The Ruby Mountains in Nevada’s Great Basin are 60 miles long and about 12 miles wide, with 10 peaks surpassing 11,000 feet.
Terrain: RMH’s 200,000-acre permit surrounding Lamoille Canyon includes a wide variety of backcountry terrain, ranging from 40-degree steeps to open bowls and low-angle tree runs.
Snow: More than 300 inches of desert-dried powder a year.
Location: Lamoille is 20 miles southeast of Elko and about 250 miles west of Salt Lake City on Interstate 80. Flights are available from Denver to Elko.
The package: $4,100 per person guarantees 39,000 vertical feet of skiing over three days, three nights of lodging, all meals, guide service and premium ski rental. Snowcat skiing is offered at reduced rates if weather prevents a helicopter flight. Day rates are available on select dates.
Bonus: RMH’s Snowbird package, available the week of March 25, includes two additional days of lodging and skiing at Snowbird, Utah, at no additional cost.
Contact: Visit or call 775-753-6867.
Scott Willoughby, The Denver Post
