Riding High: Heli-Skiing at Wedge Mountain Lodge, British Columbia

People have been using long pieces of wood to glide across snowy terrain for thousands of years — rock carvings uncovered by archaeologists in Scandinavia and Russia depict humanoid figures perched on what appear to be primitive skis, looking as though they’re having the times of their lives. The technology may have changed, as contemporary skiers swap their predecessors’ leather-wrapped birch wood for sleek carbon-fibre coatings and steel edges. Still, the activity remains more or less the same.