ARCTIC HAVEN: HELICOPTER ASSISTED ADVENTURES

December 12, 2018 | Arctic Haven

ARCTIC HAVEN: HELICOPTER ASSISTED ADVENTURES

Tim Goodsell has experienced his fair share of Arctic adventure. A long term client and friend of the Weber family, Tim has been on countless expeditions with Weber Arctic. Here he shares highlights of his recent trip to Arctic Haven and some of the heli assisted adventures he and his grandson embarked on.

“What the Weber’s have always offered is a bit of edge — sometimes a lot of edge.”

Tim Goodsell first started going on expeditions with the Weber’s in 1994. Since then, Tim has been to the North Pole four times with Weber Arctic and over the years he has become an extended part of the Weber family. Tim’s great sense of adventure and grit has made him a veteran of Weber Arctic expeditions.

“The last time I was in the Arctic was in 2009 when we skied from Resolute Bay to Somerset Island. I have been waiting for a chance to get back to the Arctic ever since.”

After Richard reached out with an invite to an exclusive pilot project at Arctic Haven, Tim jumped at the opportunity. And this time, he brought his thirteen-year-old grandson with him. “The decision to go to Arctic Haven was easy. Hunter has aspirations to be an outdoorsman. It was a great opportunity to take him and give him a taste of the Arctic.”

Over the last few years, we started spearheading helicopter assisted adventures to see if there was interest among our guests. What we found was that the outings were always a great success and often the highlight of our guests’ visit to Arctic Haven. The ability to access new terrain in the Arctic landscape has added to the opportunities available at Arctic Haven. From hiking the open tundra looking for wildlife to biking winding eskers cloaked in fall colours to fishing remote streams for world-class Arctic grayling or lake trout, heli assisted adventures allow us to offer the Arctic’s best of the best.

“The helicopter being apart of the trip was an added attraction. Hunter had never been in a helicopter before and at first, he was quite apprehensive. But eventually, he got into the idea.”

One fall morning, guided by Josee, the group flew North from the lodge over expansive stretches of open tundra and observed countless caribou from the air. “For Hunter, that heli trip was the highlight of the whole trip. He sat up in the front seat with the pilot and just loved that. That was the big event, to be in a helicopter for the first time.” After being dropped off in an inland area known to have muskoxen, the group then hiked in search of some of the Arctic’s iconic wildlife. “We started off over this wetland, Josee in the lead followed by Hunter. When we hit a wet section, Josee went in one direction and I followed Hunter.” Moments later, Tim found himself stuck in what he calls bottomless Arctic bog. “I was really caught. Josee came running over but eventually, I broke the suction and freed my boots. Hunter was delighted. Bottom line was that we got really close to muskox.”

For Tim, who has seen his fair share of Arctic wildlife and Arctic bogs, his most memorable heli trip happened later in the week. “I think probably the coolest day was the packraft trip on the Kazan River. This time, we were dropped by helicopter at the mouth of the Kazan River with the packrafts. Hunter and were together and we ran some rapids, he was thrilled with that. Alex, our guide, stopped along the way and took Hunter fishing. He caught a 10lb trout which was definitely a high point.”

“It was just a great experience for him and a good opportunity for me to get to know him. Hunter and I are now reserved for 2020 at Arctic Watch and have plans to take a Twin Otter to Creswell bay to go fishing for Arctic Char.”

As always, it was a pleasure to have Tim join us in the Arctic and we want to extend our thanks for his continued support over the years. Under the mentorship of his grandfather, we are certain Hunter will become an excellent outdoorsman. We look forward to their visit to Arctic Watch in 2020.

Interested in other heli assisted adventures? Read Weber Arctic guide Emilie’s blog about hiking on the tundra looking for caribou. More about Arctic Haven’s heli itinerary here.