HELI-VATE YOUR SKIING
Published in the Dec. 6, 2025 issue.
There are currently no heliski operations in California. Thanks to Sweetwater Heli, this will soon
no longer be the case. The Bridgeport based operation will run their first trip in the Sweetwater Mountains on January 30.
The Sweetwaters are a sub-range of the Sierra and are located in northern Mono County. The mountains are largely undeveloped and untouched. Sweetwater Heli will give their guests access to over 180,000 acres of this terrain.
“We’re smack in the middle of Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Lakes,” said Sweetwater Heli co-founder Brian Kirschenmann. “That’s one of our selling points.”
Bridgeport is also home to High Sierra Snowcat and Yurt, a catskiing operation. Kirschenmann described Drew Layman, the owner and lead guide of the catskiing business, as a friend. The companies will work closely together.
“It’s an exciting opportunity for Mammoth and Lake Tahoe,” Kirschenmann said. “I’m excited to bring another form of mechanized skiing to the area to give people options.”
The operation will run day trips and service small groups of up to eight guests, with one guide paired for every four guests. The groups will ski six to eight runs.
“We’ve hired some of the best guides in the world with some of the best pedigrees,” Kirschenmann said. “I’m really big on safety.”
To further mitigate risks, guests will complete avalanche safety training in the morning before setting off and the majority of skiing will occur on low angle terrain.
Getting Sweetwater Heli off the ground has been a work in progress for the past three years.
“It’s been a labor of love,” he said. The conversation originally began between Kirschenmann and Mark Johnson during the “big year” (the winter of ‘22-’23). “We put together his connections in the skiing industry and my [love] of adventure skiing.”
Johnson and Kirschenmann then worked to secure permits from the USFS, a physical location in Bridgeport, and a team of three guides and one operations manager.
The Sweetwater Heli team is fueled by deep personal connections to skiing in California.
Johnson lives in the Sweetwaters and Kirschenmann has been skiing in Mammoth for years.
Although Kirschenmann is not a commercial guide, he described himself as a personal one.
“I’ve taken my kids backcountry skiing,” he joked.
Kirschenmann has also skied in Russia, Antarctica, Chile, and Greenland. But by day, he’s a potato farmer in Bakersfield. He intends to continue farming as his heliski business takes off.
Sweetwater Heli will operate for nine weekends this winter, starting on January 30 and ending on Easter.
The starting price per person is $1,800. Group rates and packages will be available, as well as an option for private tours. The experience will also include lunch.
Sweetwater Heli is taking bookings now at www.sweetwater-heli.com.
