CMH Heli-Skiing debuts new guides’ jacket

We recently swapped our iconic orange-gold CMH guides’ jackets for a brand-new look.

If you’ve spotted the fresh, bright-blue guides’ uniform online or in person this season and wondered what’s behind the change, here’s an inside look at the innovation and thinking that went into the new threads.

If you love talking gear, lock in. This one’s for you.

The golden gear

For more than 15 years, CMH guests have followed our guides’ orange-and-gold jackets down the mountain.

The guiding team’s uniform has become synonymous with CMH. It’s a visual beacon for skiers and riders to orient themselves by, no matter what. Whether you’re making your way through an open bowl or weaving between snow-stacked trees, the highly visible guide’s jacket is always ahead, leading the way.

Not only has the suit served as a lodestar for CMH skiers and riders, but also for the broader heli- and cat-skiing industry. Most ski guides in Canada currently wear the same jacket and pants (in different colourways), but the groundbreaking design originated at CMH.

The original was developed around 2009 in partnership with Arc’teryx, when our guides set out to improve the functionality of the outerwear they spend hundreds of hours a year wearing.

“We basically live in that jacket for usually between 70-100 days, eight hours each day, so we get to really put those things through the ringer,” said Craig McGee, Director of Guiding Operations. Craig has been guiding at CMH for 24 years.

During the development of the original Arc’teryx suit, guides and staff spent hours helping test and co-design features that address the unique needs of a heli-skiing guide. These include the ability to transport and easily access a radio and other safety equipment, to comfortably kneel repeatedly when loading the helicopter, and to adapt to a variety of demanding weather conditions.

The resulting design was tailored to the guiding world and worked so well that other operators began adopting it. Now, close to two decades later, it’s the go-to choice for most of Canada’s guiding industry.

“When people see our uniforms, we’re recognized for professionalism. That makes me pretty proud to be wearing that jacket.

Craig McGee, Director of Guiding Operations

New features rooted in safety and innovation

So, if it’s that good, why mess with it?

Recent changes in the manufacturing industry meant that the fabric and iconic CMH orange-gold colourway were no longer options. This kicked off the need to reimagine the legendary suit.

“First, I tested a lot of competitor jackets over the course of a season to see if there were other choices we should explore,” Craig said. “None of them performed as well as the Arc’teryx guide jacket we originally helped design. That thing just feels like an extension of my body. It bends and flexes and holds up.”

So, Craig and his team worked with Arc’teryx to update the tried-and-true jacket and pants.

“Our new suit is really an evolution of the original design we helped create,” Craig explained.

That evolution took two years to bring to life. During this redesign, a team of CMH guides and staff zeroed in on improving and testing specific features of the original suit. One standout improvement? The jacket’s radio pocket.

“On the original design, our radios faced inward in a chest pocket. Over time, we found that the way the radio sat wasn’t a great fit for all body types, especially for our female guides,” Craig explaind.

“The radios could sound muffled sometimes or could be uncomfortable. So this time we had a whole bunch of our guides — men and women — testing different pocket options for a full year and giving feedback. We were able to fix the issue and now the radio pocket fits much better, with the radios facing outward.”

The suit’s pants also underwent improvements to the gaiters, the shape of the upper bib panel (to better accommodate avalanche transceivers), and the knees, which are padded and reinforced for repeated kneeling when the helicopter lands and takes off.

It’s these seemingly minor changes that make a big difference day to day, Craig said.

“When you’re looking at arm length, for example, even small increments count. If you shave 4 cm off here, 3 cm there, it makes for a totally different jacket when you’re working in it.”

A colourful impact

The team’s final step in redesigning the suit was selecting a new colourway for the jacket.

Craig and his team approached the task somewhat reluctantly at first.

“We felt torn about it. I mean, the orange-gold suit was our colour. But after a while we started to look at it as a chance to evolve and to be an industry leader.”

The new jacket is blue with bright yellow-green and an intentional pop of vibrant orange.

Each of these three colours was chosen for an important safety reason: together they ensure visibility across a variety of terrain and daylight conditions.

The predominant colour is bright blue — but not just any blue. It’s a specific blue that is especially visible in open terrain such as glaciers, contrasting well against the all-white background.

However, blue is less visible in the forest or low-light conditions, so the jacket’s arms and hood are an intense, neon yellow-green shade, which excels in those scenarios and is known as the most visible colour to the human eye. The high-vis fabric, ‘ANSI Fluorescent Yellow,’ is used by Mustang Survival to make high-vis PFD vests and other military, public safety and industrial gear.

Lastly, the same intense orange hue that was present on the arms of the original CMH guides’ jackets is still part of this design, now as a single bright strip on the hood. This colour contrasts well against the snow and is another safety-minded choice for maximum visibility.

Helicopter pilots who fly for CMH have so far given great feedback about how visible the new jacket is from the air, Craig said.

The new colours have other advantages, too. Dirt and grime aren’t as visible, so they stay looking cleaner longer, plus the manufacturing process for the new colours is more environmentally friendly.

A full-circle moment

Although safety considerations drove the colour choices, the three-way colour combo also turned out to be a serendipitous nod to CMH’s roots.

“We’ve been doing this a long time. Our guide uniforms have taken on a few different looks over the past 60 years,” Craig said. “Before we had orange-gold, we had blue-and-yellow. And in a way, the new jacket is a bit of a callback to what we had in the past.”

With the blue and yellow of the new jacket now combined with the orange, the updated guides’ uniform blends the best of old and new.

The timing was meaningful, too, Craig said.

“Last year was our 60th anniversary, and I kind of like that this lined up with that. It seems like a good time to pay homage to our heritage but also be future-facing and do something new and innovative with our uniform. I’d say we’re once again wearing something unique to the industry that has a lot of thinking behind it.”

“We’re constantly looking for the best and seeking excellence in everything. It’s still the best uniform out there for the harshest conditions, and now we’re wearing it once again as a differentiator.”

Like many guides, Craig said wearing his guide’s jacket is a source of pride. The waterproof outerwear is the guiding version of a doctor’s lab coat or a fireman’s jacket: it’s earned over many years and symbolizes unique knowledge and skills.

“When people see our uniforms, we’re recognized for professionalism. That makes me pretty proud to be wearing that jacket.”

Did you know?

Guides’ jackets can only be earned as a guide, but the Arc’teryx guides’ pant referenced in this story is available for guests to purchase at the retail shops of our 11 destinations. If you’re an avid heli-skier, the pants’ padded knees and other heli-specific features are a nice addition to your kit.

Or set your sights on CMH’s other iconic outerwear: the storied Million Foot Suit that’s earned by heli-skiers who return year after year.