Month by month
The best time to fly here is not the warmest month or the driest one. It is the month with the highest proportion of clear mornings, and that turns out to be March and April — early autumn, after the summer crowds and before the winter systems settle in. This page goes through the year month by month, on flying weather rather than on temperature, and then says what time of day to book whichever month you pick.
Quick answer
The short answer. March and April are the best flying weather of the year: settled air, stable mornings, snow still high on the névé and noticeably fewer people. Whichever month you choose, book the first departure of the day and give yourself two nights in the village.
The year in four parts
Ranked on the thing that decides whether you fly: the odds of a clear enough window in the morning. Rainfall totals are a poor guide here, because this valley can have a wet week with four flyable mornings in it.
Dec – Feb
Long days and the deepest schedule of the year, which genuinely helps if you are rebooked. Also the most people wanting the same morning slots, so book ahead. Afternoon cloud build-up is reliable: take an early departure and do not plan the flight for after lunch.
Mar – Apr
The best flying of the year and the answer to this page. The air settles, mornings are stable, the névé still holds summer snow, and the summer visitors have gone. Accommodation is easier and cheaper. If you can pick your month, pick one of these two.
May – Aug
Fewer flights, shorter days, and long grounded spells when a system parks over the coast. But when it is clear it is the most spectacular flying of the year: fresh snow down to the valley floor, hard light, and air with nothing in it. A gamble with the best payoff.
Sep – Nov
The most changeable stretch of the year. Good odds across a three-day stay, poor odds on any single morning. Beds are cheap and the village is quiet. This is the season where the two-night rule stops being advice and becomes necessary.
Time of day
Book the earliest slot the operator offers. It is the best light, the best air and the best insurance, all at once.
Whatever month you fly in, the time of day matters more than the date. Air over a glacier is stable in the early morning and increasingly unstable as the sun works on it. By late morning the valley has begun to move, and by mid-afternoon cloud has usually built against the Main Divide. The afternoon slots are the ones that get stood down.
There is a second reason, which is light. On a morning flight the sun is low and behind you going up the valley, which rakes across the icefall and picks out every crevasse. At midday the light comes straight down, the shadows disappear, and the ice photographs flat.
And a third: if the first flight of the day is cancelled, there is a whole day behind it to move you into. If the last flight of the day is cancelled, there is nothing.
Planning
None of these changes with the season.
One night gives you one morning and roughly even odds. Two nights give you two mornings and an afternoon. This is true in March and it is true in July.
Book the flight for the first full day of your stay so a cancellation has somewhere to go. A flight booked for your departure morning has no fallback.
Flights cost the same in January and in June. What changes is what you pay for a bed and how many other people want your slot.
It is around freezing at fifteen hundred to two thousand metres in every month, so the clothing advice does not change with the calendar. Bring a warm layer in February.
There is no walk-up discount, and the morning slots — the ones you want — are the first to go. Free cancellation up to twenty-four hours means booking early costs you nothing.
Want the full picture on how often flights are actually stood down?
Weather and cancellations→Book direct
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Common questions
March or April. Early autumn brings the most settled air and the highest proportion of clear mornings, along with fewer visitors and cheaper accommodation than the summer.
The first or second departure of the morning. Air over the glacier is most stable early, the low sun rakes across the icefall and picks out the crevasses, and a cancellation early in the day still has the rest of the day behind it.
When it is clear, winter gives the most spectacular flying of the year — fresh snow to the valley floor and hard clean light. The risk is that winter systems can park over the coast for days. Book winter with three nights, not one.
No. Flight prices do not move with the season. What changes is the cost of a bed in the village and how many people are competing for the good morning slots.
In December to February, as far ahead as you can, because the morning slots go first. In the shoulder months a few days is usually enough. Free cancellation up to twenty-four hours means booking early carries no cost.
The landing sites are snow all year. What changes is how far down the valley the fresh snow reaches and how much of the lower ice is bare and grey. Winter gives the cleanest white; late summer gives the bluest crevasses.
Go deeper
Twelve helicopter flights out of one village, from twenty minutes to ninety.
PricesTwelve flights priced per person and per minute, and where the money actually goes.
VerdictTwelve flights ranked for one decision, with a straight answer at the end.
LandingsWhich flights actually put the machine down, and what the difference is.
LengthThe only real variable, and how much country each length buys you.
Which oneTwo glaciers, twenty-five minutes apart, and the flights that show you both.
