The Bonar family has heli-skied at CMH since the 1980s, logging millions of vertical feet together—pretty standard fare for seasoned CMH veterans.
But here’s the twist: they’ve done much of it on a single plank, shredding turns and turning heads on a monoski.
The family’s legacy of monoskiing is well-known at CMH. It’s not every day you see a heli-skier tackle the backcountry on one ski—with skill, style and flair, no less.
Not familiar with the monoski? The wide, single ski was popularized in the 70’s, mostly at resorts. Its used with the same boots, bindings, and poles as regular alpine skis, but both feet are mounted on a single ski. And unlike the sideways stance of a snowboarder, on a monoski both feet are mounted facing forward.
So, how did the Bonars come to experiment with this unique choice for off-piste powder punching? That story starts on regular skis, four decades ago, with their first trip to CMH.
A first to remember
Couple Jack and Virginia Bonar found themselves at CMH Bugaboos in the early 1980’s when friends of theirs convinced them to take the journey north from California to experience what heli-skiing in Canada had to offer.
At the time, Jack and Virgina’s prior skiing experience totalled less than three weeks. Upon arrival, they were met with difficult snow conditions and they began to wonder if they’d made a mistake.
“But later on in the week, it started snowing,” Virginia recalls. “Things turned around and we were hooked. It was just such a fantastic experience.”
So, they kept going back.
It wasn’t long before they began bringing their son and daughter.
The Bonars logged regular lodge visits through the 80’s, making the rounds to different CMH destinations and booking trips at new lodges as they opened.
When Galena Lodge opened in 1989, they found a slice of home and never turned back. Nearly 40 years later, the Bonars are still regular guests at Galena and are most definitely part of the family.
Powder experiments
The Bonars began their heli-skiing career on regular alpine skinny skis, but on a trip to the Bugaboos for a friend’s 50th birthday celebration, they decided to bring monoskis and have some extra fun.
What began as a lark quickly turned into a decades-long passion.
“I tried it out and thought, ‘Well, this is pretty good, you know!’ I’d never even really tried fat skis at that point,” Virginia says.
She enjoyed the floating sensation the monoski created compared to skinny skis.
“I tried it, and just kept on with it.”
As Virginia’s skill on the single plank developed through the years, she has pushed herself to tackle new features, dropping pillows with it and finessing fine powder turns in all types of terrain.
Jack also gave it a go and monoskied for a few years, later switching to a snowboard with his son. They were some of CMH’s earliest snowboarders.
Daughter Nicole also put in plenty of seasons on the monoski until a gear malfunction introduced her to newly developed fat skis.
“I was at Galena and I broke one of the bindings on my monoski in the middle of a run and it wasn’t repairable,” she remembers. “Literally in the middle of the day, I just transitioned to skis and then I was like, ‘Ohhhh these fat skis are super fun.’”
Million Foot moments
Nowadays, you’ll find the Bonars descending Galena’s steep and deep tenure each season on fat skis, a monoski, and a snowboard, all wearing blue jacket; the mark of a CMH Million Footer. The entire family is multi-Million Footers and have accumulated a staggering amount of heli-skiing between them.
The recognizable Million Foot jacket has united the Bonars with other CMH guests in different ways, Virginia says.
“All of a sudden, you spot somebody in it and you think, ‘Oh, I can talk to that person. I know where they’ve been. I know we have something in common and not just skiing.’ So, it’s an icebreaker in many ways.”
With countless stories of longstanding friendships, meeting other guests around the world, and even running into founders Hans and Margaret Gmoser in Patagonia, the Bonars stand by the sentiment that being part of the Million Foot program is far more than the measure of something vertical; it represents the full depth of the heli-skiing experience.
All in the family
Nicole Bonar speaks about CMH as if it’s part of her DNA—and it is. Her first trip was as a child, so she’s grown up in the CMH family.
“I can remember that feeling of first skiing powder,” she says. “It was at the Bugaboos and was my very first trip. We skied on the old blue skinny Rossignol skis. I was so little that my dad would ski behind me because the snow was so deep that I would go to make a turn and I would disappear in the snow because it was blowing over the top of me.”
While her parents lit the spark, Nicole has found the single thing she looks forward to most each year and continues her parents’ legacy by sharing her passion for CMH.
“I just love the skiing, and I love the people, and I love the lodge. It honestly feels like if my home is in Denver, Galena is my second home,” Nicole says.
“I’m bringing new people, introducing friends, acquaintances, and colleagues to CMH because of a shared love for skiing. I just keep going back because of the love of the skiing, the people, and the culture of what CMH is all about.”
“It’s about the relationships you build. I mean it all starts from this love of the mountains and the love of the outdoors. You meet people that have that same mindset and that same feeling and you just have this connection with people you know. That permeates through everyone that works for CMH, as well as, you know, the majority of the guests.”
So if you visit Galena this winter or next, keep your eyes peeled for your chance to bump into the Bonar family and see Virginia in action, rocking powder laps on her storied monoski.
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