Helicopter tours of Lake Tahoe

Sitting in the nose of a helicopter 1,800 feet above South Lake Tahoe, I can't decide where to look.

Straight down through the curved Plexiglas, life is in miniature, filled with fascinating details. But the grandeur of the lake, stretching north for more than 20 miles - in shades from turquoise to azure - commands attention.

We've just lifted off from Lake Tahoe Airport and are cruising over the casino strip on the Nevada-California border. Pilot Claudio Bellotto, owner of tour company HeliTahoe, points out Zephyr Cove and Cave Rock beyond. The four-place Raven II chopper is quieter and smoother than I had expected. It's more like a magic observation bubble than an aircraft.

HeliTahoe has been flying tours of the lake for five years, but it might be more well known to people out of state or out of the country. Visitors from the Bay Area, says Bellotto, are less likely to see the company's Web site and plan details of a Tahoe trip in advance than tourists from around the globe. Some of his foreign visitors receive a tour in their native tongue, as the Italian-born Bellotto speaks five languages.

The lake, the mountains and the communities appear so different from above. It's one of the most frequent comments the 51-year-old flier hears - and it's true. As we turn south along the coast, the paddle wheeler MS Dixie II appears below, a child's toy churning the clear waters.

Summer and the ski season are the busiest tour times with each offering sightseers a different Sierra palette. Winter lacks the aspen greens, but the white blanket adds to a fairyland appearance. "On the east shore at Skunk Harbor you can see the snow all the way down to the lake's edge," says Bellotto. "It's really spectacular."

At least half of Bellotto's company's business is in flight training. With six helicopters, four based in Minden, Nev., HeliTahoe offers instruction in a variety of settings. Not surprisingly, helicopters can be addicting, so much so that some tour customers become students. HeliTahoe offers a $100 demonstration lesson that includes 40 minutes of ground instruction and a 15-minute flight in which prospective students can take the controls.

A different option is the flying wedding. HeliTahoe works with a wedding coordinator who supplies a minister. His newly acquired six-place Bell 206 helicopter, Bellotto says, has room for a best man and maid of honor, too.

Unlike some of the Hawaiian Islands, Lake Tahoe skies are not buzzing with tour helicopters. HeliTahoe is the only local tour company and Bellotto does not plan to expand the number of helicopters at the lake. At the altitude he flies, says Bellotto, the helicopter cannot be heard from the ground.

As we return to the airport, Bellotto guides the helicopter on a gradual, angled descent. Sharp, vertical takeoffs and landings are strictly for stunt pilots in the movies, he says. We seem to glide to the ground and the world returns to life size. {sbox}

HeliTahoe: 1901 Airport Road, Suite 106, South Lake Tahoe. Tours $54 to $304 per person, two-person minimum. (530) 544-2211. www.helitahoe.com.

Mark S. Bacon is a freelance writer. E-mail him at pinkletters@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page Q - 39 of the San Francisco Chronicle