Valdez Heli Ski Guides is unethical and unsafe.
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- Опубликовано: 25 сен 2023
- Their clients paying thousands of dollars to ski road runs on Thompson Pass that the average ski tourer can get to the top of in an hour. Violating their BLM permit by skiing in close proximity to other parties. Skiing above other parties in big avalanche terrain.
Thompson Pass (near Valdez, Alaska) is an incredible outdoor recreation destination. It’s truly world-class.
Unfortunately, non-motorized ski tourers (and even sled-accessed skiers and snowboarders) have been experiencing negative encounters with irresponsible, unethical heli-ski operators for years.
I’ve been rotor-washed (by the now defunct Alaska Snowboard Guides) while climbing a 50º slope up the Worthington Glacier. They definitely knew I was there from a previous flyover. No excuses.
On the day this video was taken Valdez Heli Ski Guides (VHSG) skied above and around me and multiple other non-motorized, non-commercial parties.
The average ski tourer can get to the top of these runs in an hour from the Richardson Highway. VHSG guides and clients skied down along the uptrack (directly above other parties in big avalanche terrain). At one point, a guide stopped to explain to another party that they weren’t in danger because avalanche conditions were “safe.”
In this video you can see the helicopter landing on the skintrack within a few hundred yards of the highway!
Not only is this behavior unfair to non-motorized user groups, it’s unfair to motorized-access skiers and snowboarders and even other Alaskan heli-ski operators.
VHSG regularly tracks out terrain popular with both non-moto and moto-assisted skiers and snowboarders, like Cracked Ice: less than a two hour tour, or 15 minute snowmobile ride, to the summit from the road.
No other heli-ski operator in the state has access, or is permitted, to operate in terrain so close to their base in such a way as to degrade the experience of other users groups.
Undue regulations suck. After all, this is America: Land of the Free. An ethical culture, with an etiquette of respect for other user groups and the common public resource, is hands-down preferable to government-imposed regulations. In lieu of regulations, I hope raising awareness of the unethical and unsafe behavior of certain heli-ski operations in this area can bring about positive change for a better experience for all user groups.
Is the partnership between carbon gluttonous VHSG and Protect Our Winters a joke?
For real though! No respect for heli operators doing road access laps all day. Literally skiing the other side of these same peaks would be fine. You have a heli, quit farming road access powder. I've had them land on top of us hiking cracked ice before as well. They gave their clients first turns as we were about to summit. Lame.
Same thing happened to me on Cracked Ice back in 2014 - heli flew right over us when we were two-thirds of the way skinning up and dropped 4-5 robot skiers who snagged the first tracks on a bluebird powder day. What a bummer!
Coincidentally this also happened to me on Pyramides Calcaires near Courmayeur, Italy in 2018. Definitely lame, even though both times I can also admit and be grateful there was still plenty of room for me to Tele my way down sweet fresh lines!
Can't blame you guys for getting pissed.
Not sure about the main point he’s making but just practically you’d think their clients would be pretty pissed that they were paying heli rates for stuff that is readily ‘gettable’ otherwise. I know I would be.
Probably told that's the best snow in the range.
This...who has a highway and quad-serviced skiers in their mind's eye when picturing a perfect heli-skiing day?
Don't think you're alone in the ski world.....there is nowhere you can hike to fish in solitude for steelhead anymore up in British Columbia because no matter how far into to the bush you hike, there is a fleet of guided jet boats that will hunt you down and a murmuration of guided helicopters that will come and land on top of you and their clients will flash you a biog grin as they cast over your line
yet they are as mortal as we
@@bellapheron the rich cant be bothered to work hard for anything
Wild to hear they partnered with POW when Jeremy Jones says in his book something to the effect of “I realized heli-skiing isn’t very sustainable”
Reminds me of the “Heli-Free Wasatch” movement years ago. I still have my well-worn hat.
Keep up the fight for accessible and protected backcountry.
A well-worded letter to the BLM and FAA will go a long way.
They have money and they just don't want to hike for an hour.
Do they operate with a special use permit from either the state, FS or BLM? What does their permit say about when, where and how they can fly? Are they complying with the terms and conditions of their permit? If not, you need to go to the permit administrator and point it out with this evidence.
What's the feeling about sled-access skiers among the ski hikers?
Protect our winters is a racket.
Good call. I’ve seen videos of skiers talking about climate and colonialism as they take jet planes to a remote area passing by third world villagers on their way to ski on thousands of dollars of equipment. The highest of privilege, carbon footprint and hypocrisy. The activism ends when the inconvenience begins
interesting didn't know anything about this issue thank you. you called VHSG "carbon gluttonous." how big is heli skiing's carbon footprint compared to a ski chair/lift's or resort footprint?
You will not find a greater carbon footprint per person than heli accessed skiing. Resorts would be the lowest footprint per person of the mechanized ski avenues.
Helicopters are really good at turning fuel into noise, for example a bell 212 used by some larger heliski operations burns somewhere around 250 liters a hour a snow cat in an eight hour shift might burn the same amount.
@@dgw6448 per person sure that's obvious. 100's to 1000's use a chairlift vs a dozen or so using a helicopter for the day. net carbon output for a helicopter vs resort may be more interesting
@@archascents5157Isn’t a per-person carbon footprint the most apt comparison, though? What other comparison would make sense?
@@chrisoffersen I suspect a heli operation has a smaller carbon footprint than a ski resort in the aggregate which I care about more than per capita so I'm more supportive of helicopter ops than mega resorts. I guess in other words, at least it's only a helicopter ruining the self-propelled peeps' day a little bit, but if Vail Resorts came to town, game over. nobody having any fun then.
It’s like goin to the shooting range in Vegas they offer a heli shooting experience expensive as hell but ur in a helicopter
If you have fond memories of "The Good Old Days" when thing were different, consider yourself among the fortunate few.
I thought you guys love America LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
@@ClownFaceSurfChannel We do! We loved it even more when there were half as many people here and Internet fools weren't giving away our hard won secrets.
@@josephastier7421 Those days are gone! You will all be Equality
@@ClownFaceSurfChannel Don't laugh. You're next.
@@josephastier7421 I don't believe in equality you fool
"Protect our winters" is a scam
100% Its a indoctrinated cult that feeds on the weak minded. NONE of those with money will stop one thing they do in the name of there cause only convince the masses to do so so that they have more. Winters are like summers ever changings and humanity has to adapt as it always has. Do things better in regard to basic pollution yes but that's a easy one but yet they never fund infrastructure to deal with it unless its for profit
You mean all those stickers on huge pickup trucks won't stop the climate crisis ?
Total racket
@@DeltaSquad1162 I see more POW stickers on sprinter vans than pickups, but yeah...
It's "protect our winters.. from poor people"
First world problems
Wow that's weak as hell. 1500 a day for road laps.
Yes all for the pleasure of the flithy polluting elite. I stopped skiing because of carbon footprint concerns. I come from New Zealand where we have similar unaddressed problems with Heli Skiers. In New Zealand climate change is very evident through the glacial retreat and recent extreme weather events. Go figure. I thank you for your great video and posting this Chugach. James
Sounds like you drank a little much of the KoolAid buddy. Can you show the math on how much temperature rise you have prevented by giving up skiing?
@@bubbabigmin That's for sure. What a shame to give up our sport for that. Wasted effort.
this is one of the dumbest things ive ever heard. you quit skiing because of carbon emission concerns? this is like me deciding to not ever use a flashlight again because of light pollution concerns in NYC or that im giving up listening to music because of noise pollution near the airport.... only id be making more of a difference.
you clearly use the internet so im guessing you live in a society and drive a car and live in a house....if you quit any one of those things you'd be making more of a difference (still so small it coukdnt be measured), than you do by not skiing
@codytownsend
@dawntreader7079 Consider me public enemy number one😎