There has always been something about helicopters that has excited me, no idea what it is, but ever since I was a little boy I loved them. My dad used to commute to his job in the Okanagan by helicopter every now and then, and I remember going down to the helipad with my mom to drop him off. So when Steve Romaniuk called us at Pinkbike this summer wondering if I was interested in flying around in a heli for a day or two and shooting some big mountain lines near Williams Lake, it wasn't a hard decision. The STUND boys had arranged for a friend with a heli to chauffeur us around to film some big mountain chutes that they'd found in some areas that weren't road accessible. What follows is a photographic record of my day in Williams Lake...
One of the premises of the heli shuttles was that the lines would be ridden un inspected. Lines were scoped from the heli, and decisions were made based on what could be seen from the air. None of the riders actually had time to take more than a cursory inspection of the actual line that they would ride. This wasn't really an issue for Garett Buehler and Mike Kinrade. They were up first and they'd chosen lines that while steep in places, didn't have any prolonged steep sections. The dirt they rode in was soft, sometimes inches deep. Steve Romaniuk and James Doerfling however chose to rider a ridge that was shorter but also significantly steeper. Steve went first. The top section near the roll in was fairly soft, but as Romaniuk made his second turn the ground suddenly got a lot harder. The slope in the chute was steep enough that the dirt had all sloughed off, leaving behind nothing for traction. Within seconds he was accelerating like a rocket, no traction, and a long tight chute in front of him. He hung on for a while, but as he exited the chute he realized he was going way too fast to safely negotiate the rocks at the bottom of the slope. Brakes didn't work, and if he didn't slow down the prospect of getting out uninjured didn't look good. The only choice was to lay the bike over and hope for the best. Doerfling decided to walk down...
The next day the heli wasn't available, and Steve's bike wasn't in great shape anyway, so the decision was made to ride some road accessible faces near town. Mike Kinrade put down the line of the day...
Here is the Stund episode that I was onboard for, enjoy it again!
The first song on the video had some not so nice language for kids. I am not saying you should censor but maybe a warning so parents can turn down the volume before they let the kiddies listen? Thanks for the great series!
The entireties of the internet and life have NSFLCKWOPPWPATNTKTTKHABE (Not Safe For Little Closeted Kids With Over Protective Parents Who Probably Are Too Naive To Know That Their Kids Have Already Been Exposed) language and content?
@ snake; you should be pre-screening EVERYTHING on the internet.....BEFORE letting your kids watch it....
Definitely sounds like skiing except good luck walking down without axe and crampons - nice writing Ian
you're an idiot