About us

Since its birth over seven years ago, Turkey Heliski has grown to become a large extended family made up of a solid team of international guides, pilots and numerous mountain lovers.

The team's years of experience and skills form the backbone of the company, and are a guarantee of your safety.

Read on for an introduction to the 'family' and its history...

The birth of the adventure:

"Once upon a time two friends had an idea..."

Thierry and Danilo are both mountain guides and over the years they have seen first-hand the advantages and disadvantages of the various heliski destinations they have worked in. They have also listened to the comments, needs and priorities of their clients.

“The idea of opening up our own heliski destination was born out of numerous discussions and experiences from our time working in various heliski operations around the world. We decided to find a place where we could have our own base, from where we could run high-quality heliskiing trips, and it had to meet the following requirements:

• Proximity to Europe - to reduce travelling time and changes in time-zone.
• A huge mountain range with high-altitude landings.
• If possible it should be near the sea to ensure a stable snowpack.

"… We finally found our ideal 'playground' in Turkey..."

We came across the Kaçkar range during our very first explorations of maps of the area. A little later, returning from a heliskiing trip in Kyrgyzstan, our plane flew over the Black Sea and gave us the perfect opportunity to compare the Kaçkar range with the Caucasus Mountains, which we already knew quite well. This chance flight over the range increased our interest in the region and led to further explorations of the area the following summer and to the start of the venture itself.”

Pioneering members of our family of professionals

Left to right: Borge Ousland (crossed the North and South Poles unaided), Nicolas Clerc, Jean Troillet (mountain guide), Markus Koch (helicopter pilot and mountain guide), Francis Parel (journalist), Franck Cammas (sailor), Ueli Kestenholz (Olympic medal holder for snowboarding), Stève Ravussin (sailor), Harald Benselin (coach to the Swiss snowboarding team), Gérald Maret (mountain guide, rescuer and helicopter pilot). Kneeling at front: Mike Horn (adventurer), Thierry Gasser (mountain guide).

The pioneers who joined Thierry and Danilo on the start of their great adventure in the first season were Jean Troillet (mountain guide and renowned Himalayan climber who has worked for several years with the Canadian company CMH), Gérald Maret (mountain guide, rescue professional and helicopter pilot) and Markus Koch (mountain guide and helicopter pilot).

Since then, the team has progressively grown and has attracted more international members to join its family of mountain guides, pilots, helicopter mechanics, physiotherapists, ski technicians, interpreters and administrative staff.