Kamchatka
Mountain stats
Lift count :
700 km of pistes
Kamchatka is the freeriders' mecca, the heliboarding paradise, and simply a very beautiful volcano land. There are dozens of non-active volcanoes packed together at a single peninsula and the possibilities for snowboarding are immense here. Experienced riders visit Kamchatka for heliboarding, which means that riding will cost you much, but it will totally worth it (and it's going to cost less than in Europe).
Heliboarding is available at many local mountains through out December-March. Kamchatka is the top destination for all Russian riders, but you have to be really advanced to ride at a remote mountain with a single snowguide who can help you at the slope and a helicopter waiting somewhere down in a several kilometers.
Most of the boarders prefer to ride at Viluchinskiy (2173 m), Mutnovskiy (2323 m), Avachinskiy (2741 m), Goreliy (1826 m ), Opala (2460 m) volcanoes. The average route lengths is 6 km, the average vertical drop is 1500 m. The helicopters are paid on a flight time basis. The price per flight hour is $500 - $1800 depending on type of helicopter.
There are several agencies which provide heliboarding tours, but you need to book it at least month before, otherwise it will be hard to find available helicopter. To hire the helicopter you better contact "Krechet" company - it is the only company which owns helicopters over there (see heliboarding).