Ep.33 - Brian McCutcheon of Gold Rush Heli Skiing

Imagine coming across a skiing tenure that hadn’t been used in years, stretching across an area roughly 15% the size of Switzerland, deep in the massive mountains and huge snowfalls of northern British Columbia. What would you do with it?

Finding that unused giant ski tenure? That’s what Brian McCutcheon came across, and in 2026, he launched his first season in the heli-skiing business with Gold Rush Heli Ski.

But how do you turn 648,000 acres of wild mountain terrain into a working business? We get into the challenge of building an operation from scratch, why Brian chose small groups and long runs over a cookie-cutter experience, how partnerships with helicopter operators help keep the business nimble, and why sometimes the smartest move is to grow slowly, hire great people, and let the customer experience do the selling.

We also talk about designing packages around busy customers, managing weather risk, and the surprising summer opportunities hiding in a business built around deep winter snow.

Now let’s fly up to Atlin for a chat with Gold Rush Heli Ski Co-Founder Brian McCutcheon.

10 Actionable Insights

1. Measure a New Product by What Customers Do Next

Quick Description

Early success isn’t just about selling the first booking. It’s whether customers want to return, recommend you to others, and commit again. Those behaviours can provide a stronger early signal than awareness or first-season revenue alone.

How Gold Rush Heli Skiing uses it

Gold Rush treated its inaugural 2026 season as a soft opening, hosting seven groups on a five-night, four-day skiing package. Brian reported that every client who travelled had rebooked for 2027, with guests bringing friends. He said the business was already around 65% occupied for its second season.

That’s a promising early signal of product-market fit, although the small initial sample matters.

How other ski areas can use it

• When launching a new product, program or experience, define success measures beyond initial sales.

• Track repeat bookings, referrals, deposits and conversion from trial to full-price purchase.

• Interview early customers to understand exactly what made the experience worth repeating.

• Use that feedback to refine the product before committing to a larger rollout.

The key question: Are customers simply willing to try it, or are they willing to come back and bring someone with them?

2. Don’t Sell More Capacity Than Your Experience Can Support

Quick Description

Growth can undermine the very thing customers are paying for. Before adding capacity, determine which elements of the experience create value, and whether they survive when more people are added.

How Gold Rush Heli Skiing uses it

Gold Rush designed its operation around just eight skiers, two helicopters and small guided groups across a vast tenure. Brian emphasized exploration, long runs and a less crowded experience. The team was also deliberately conservative in its first season, choosing more manageable terrain while it learned the area rather than trying to satisfy every request for steep, demanding skiing.

How other ski areas can use it

• Identify the parts of your experience guests value most, such as uncrowded terrain, short lift lines, personal instruction, local character or a sense of discovery.

• Before expanding capacity, test how additional volume affects those features.

• Consider whether growth is better achieved through additional operating days, new products, different markets or a second location rather than simply putting more people through the same experience.

• Make capacity decisions based on the experience you want to deliver, not just the number of customers you could theoretically accommodate.

The lesson isn’t that small is always better. It’s that capacity is a product decision, not just an operations decision.

3. Redesign the Package Around the Customer’s Time, Not Your Industry’s Traditions

Quick Description

A product can be attractive but still difficult to buy because it asks too much of the customer. Sometimes the opportunity isn’t a lower price, it’s a more accessible commitment.

How Gold Rush Heli Skiing uses it

Gold Rush inherited a tenure with a history of week-long heli-ski trips, including guests travelling from Europe. Brian recognized that even customers with the money for a premium experience might not have a full week to spare. Gold Rush’s five-night, four-day skiing package gives guests a defined, substantial experience within a shorter trip.

How other ski areas can use it

• Look at the time commitment required to experience your product, not just its price.

• Test shorter lessons, two- or three-day visits, midweek packages or modular experiences.

• Ask customers who enquire but don’t book whether scheduling, travel time or package length is the obstacle.

• Protect the value of the core experience rather than automatically discounting it to generate demand.

The key question: Are you losing customers because the product is wrong, or because the commitment required to buy it is too large?

4. Price Weather Risk Before It Becomes a Guest-Service Problem

Quick Description

Weather risk isn’t just a forecasting challenge. It’s a financial and staffing decision. Operators should understand what it costs to protect the guest experience against interruptions, and compare that with the cost of failing to deliver.

How Gold Rush Heli Skiing uses it

Gold Rush operates from mid-February through April, when Brian says its snowpack is well established. The operation guarantees guides a fixed amount across the season, whether they fly or not. Its staffing plan includes two working guides, one on standby and a fourth available as backup. Brian explained that carrying this guide redundancy over the operating window costs about the same as refunding one day of skiing for eight guests.

How other ski areas can use it

• Model the cost of weather interruptions, refunds, lost revenue, emergency staffing and disrupted guest plans.

• Compare those costs with the price of standby personnel, equipment redundancy or alternative operating plans.

• Identify which failures have the greatest financial and reputational consequences.

• Build contingencies before the season, rather than improvising when conditions deteriorate.

The useful insight is the comparison itself: What does prevention cost relative to one realistic service failure? Every operation will have different numbers, but the calculation is worth doing.

5. Buy Experience Where Mistakes Are Expensive

Quick Description

Experienced people can deliver more than expertise. In complex operations, they can shorten the learning curve, help teams make better decisions and prevent expensive mistakes.

How Gold Rush Heli Skiing uses it

When assessing a huge tenure with limited historical digital mapping, Brian brought in John Mellis, who had decades of experience with Canadian Mountain Holidays. Gold Rush also combined that experience with local knowledge from people familiar with the area. Brian described how knowledge of terrain, fall lines and helicopter efficiency helped the team operate more effectively and save money.

How other ski areas can use it

• Bring experienced operators into major projects before plans and budgets are locked in.

• Pair outside specialists with local employees who understand the mountain, community and existing operation.

• Use experienced staff to establish systems, train newer employees and document lessons for future seasons.

• Evaluate the return on expertise through better decisions, reduced rework, safer execution and avoided costs, not just salary.

The key question: Where are we paying to learn lessons that someone with the right experience already knows?

6. Partner for Capabilities You Don’t Need to Own

Quick Description

Owning an asset isn’t always the best way to control an operation. A partnership can provide access to specialized equipment, staff and backup capacity without requiring the resort to build and maintain everything itself.

How Gold Rush Heli Skiing uses it

Gold Rush contracts with Discovery Helicopters rather than operating its own helicopter fleet. Brian explained that the arrangement gives Gold Rush access to aircraft, pilots, engineering and backup capacity. The helicopter company is busy with other work in summer and has aircraft available in winter. Gold Rush pays for actual flying hours rather than being committed to minimum flying charges.

How other ski areas can use it

• Audit expensive assets and specialist functions that sit idle for part of the year.

• Explore partnerships with operators whose seasonal demand complements your own.

• Negotiate costs that better reflect actual use where the service and risk profile allow it.

• Assess the full arrangement, including availability, backup service, safety standards, response times and contractual responsibilities, not just the headline price.

This is not simply outsourcing to save money. It’s designing the business so each partner contributes the capabilities they are best equipped to provide.

7. Market the Experience Customers Want, Not the Content That Gets the Most Views

Quick Description

Attention and sales are different outcomes. The most spectacular marketing asset isn’t necessarily the one that convinces the right customer to book.

How Gold Rush Heli Skiing uses it

Brian said Gold Rush considered opportunities with major action-sports media brands, but realized that footage of young skiers tackling extreme terrain could frighten rather than attract its intended customers. Its audience wanted excellent snow, challenging skiing at an appropriate level, capable guides and confidence in returning safely at the end of the day. Gold Rush chose to focus on the experience its customers were actually seeking.

How other ski areas can use it

• Define your priority customer before deciding what your marketing should look and sound like.

• Show the experience that customer aspires to have, not merely the most dramatic thing your mountain can produce.

• Match imagery, messaging and testimonials to different ability levels and motivations.

• Judge campaigns by qualified enquiries, bookings and conversion, not just views and engagement.

The key question: Does this content make our ideal customer more likely to book, or does it just make our mountain look impressive?

8. Treat Returning Guests as a Growth Channel, Not Just a Retention Metric

Quick Description

A returning customer brings more than repeat revenue. They can provide referrals, credibility and a lower-friction path to future bookings. That makes the guest experience part of your sales strategy.

How Gold Rush Heli Skiing uses it

Gold Rush entered the market with an advantage: Brian’s broader adventure-tourism business, Rome Adventures, already had a customer base. That helped the new operation get in front of people who were familiar with his approach to adventure travel. The reported rebookings and referrals after the first season reinforced the value of those existing relationships.

How other ski areas can use it

• Build a deliberate follow-up process after a visit, lesson, event or trip.

• Make it easy for satisfied guests to recommend the experience to friends.

• Identify which guest segments return most often and what motivates them.

• Track repeat visits, referral bookings and customer lifetime value alongside acquisition costs.

• Use existing customer relationships to test new products before relying entirely on paid marketing.

The deeper lesson: Your guest database isn’t just a list for sending promotions. It’s a potential distribution channel for your next product.

9. When You Can’t Control Conditions, Make the Controllable Parts Exceptional

Quick Description

A mountain operator can’t guarantee every weather window or snow condition. But it can control how guests are welcomed, informed, fed, looked after and accommodated when plans change.

How Gold Rush Heli Skiing uses it

Brian was explicit that he can’t control the snow or many other external conditions, but he can control food, beverages and the hospitality orientation of his staff. Gold Rush brings guests, guides and staff together for meals, while its private cabins and shared lounge spaces let guests choose between socializing and spending time alone.

How other ski areas can use it

• Map the entire guest journey and separate uncontrollable conditions from controllable service decisions.

• Invest in communication, food, staff training, comfort and the quality of shared spaces.

• Give guests clear information and meaningful choices when plans change.

• Design service recovery in advance for closures, delays and poor conditions.

• Ask guests which controllable details most influenced their overall impression.

The insight is not that hospitality can compensate for every bad snow day. It’s that the quality of the experience is shaped by more than the conditions outside.

10. Explore New Revenue Streams Without Letting Possibility Become Distraction

Quick Description

A large mountain, resort or operating area may offer many ways to generate revenue. The challenge is deciding which opportunities genuinely fit the business, and which will stretch the team, dilute focus or require commitments that aren’t yet justified.

How Gold Rush Heli Skiing uses it

Gold Rush saw summer potential in heli-hiking, fishing, kayaking, glacier travel and other wilderness experiences across its 648,000-acre tenure. Brian described scouting routes, gathering imagery and working through proposals and permitting with the relevant authorities and Indigenous communities. He also acknowledged that the number of possibilities was almost overwhelming, so the business needed to stay focused on its key winter and summer activities for the time being.

How other ski areas can use it

• Audit existing assets, infrastructure, terrain and customer relationships for underused opportunities.

• Rank new ideas by customer demand, capital requirements, operating complexity and fit with your brand.

• Pilot promising experiences before making major investments.

• Engage local communities and relevant rights holders early, not after the business plan is already set.

• Establish explicit priorities so new opportunities don’t undermine the core operation.

The key question: Which new opportunity strengthens our existing business, and which is simply attractive because it’s available?