Impressive Pinnacle Landing

[WylieCoyote]

I haven't tried posting a link before so please be nice if I cock it up!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd8AJdcnw4A

The vid shows an Evergreen AS350 and I was wondering if the Pilot or anyone invovled in the filming of 'First Descent' could give us some background if they visit the forum,i.e is this just a bread and butter day or was this as out of the ordinary as the film suggests?
For those who don't won't to listen to the 'dudes' the heli bit is around 36 -40 seconds.
Also does anyone have any other Heli ski/snowboard links,photos worth seeing.

[A.Agincourt]

Never mind the helicopter.................the snow boarding is definitely the best and most interesting bit.


Best Wishes

Ace

[WylieCoyote]

I must admit the heli stuff is an added bonus.

[MightyGem]

A 100% certifiable nutter!!!

[206Fan]

Holy jasus, insane alrite!!!

[OFBSLF]

seems to be an excellent way for a snowboarder to win a Darwin award...

[John Eacott]

"First Descent" is a classic snowboarding vid, and Terje is a snowboarding legend :ok:

Another clip from the DVD here (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-mnhT1IZI-4&feature=related), with two shots of him running into his own avalanche at 3min 40sec, and 4 min 15 sec, which are amazing! This clip is better, being in the original 16:9 format, so the peaks aren't quite so steep.

The helicopter stuff isn't so bad, either ;)

[WylieCoyote]

You weren't lying John, excellent video, thanks for the link,just wish my snowboarding was up to that standard,I'd also have to grow some balls to do those sort of runs though.:ok:

[Non-PC Plod]

So, would that rate as a black run, do you think?:\

[Staticdroop]

Scared me just watching that, amazing:D

[K48]

:=The frame is squashed along the horizontal, notice that everybody looks like a pin in the video.. the peak is about half as steep sided as you think it is.. certainly overhyped - there's nothing special about the boarding, the only good bit is the heli drop off.. but someone was already there to cut out the landing.. pause and look. Don't believe everything you see 'dudes'. Take it from someone who has been in the pro boarding business for 15 years. I can't stand these doctored videos and 'dude i'm so good commentaries' that the internet is flooded with. It wouldn't sell in real format. All that vid shows is a normal/good heliboarding day out. Anyway these days 'impressive' would be a 50ft air drop with a flip or something, not just a lazy carve down a chute and nice powder field. Other wanabee video tricks to look out for... speeding up a carve, slowing down an air.. tilting the camera to make a hill or wave look higher...and the squishing you have just seen := Rock on dudes....:bored:
Rant over.:p

[manfromuncle]

If you want a crazy 'extreme sport' video. Check this lot out!

http://www.biertijd.com/mediaplayer/?itemid=4262

[John Eacott]

The frame is squashed along the horizontal, notice that everybody looks like a pin in the video.. the peak is about half as steep sided as you think it is.. certainly overhyped - there's nothing special about the boarding, the only good bit is the heli drop off.. but someone was already there to cut out the landing.. pause and look

Maybe that's why I mentioned that This clip is better, being in the original 16:9 format

It wouldn't sell in real format. All that vid shows is a normal/good heliboarding day out

The clip is from a best selling DVD called "First Descent": as my boarder son says, Terje Haakonsen is "the Godfather" of snowboarding :cool: Shaun White and Travis Rice have a few runs under their belts as well, but having been pro boarding for 15 years, you'd know that, wouldn't you :p


Another clip here (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ncHZVY2uSyI&feature=related) shows some better footage of the initial helicopter drop, and some aerial footage too :ok:

[remote hook]

That's a fairly straight forward landing for any decent mountain pilot, conditions looked about as good as they were going to get. It's really not that hard, particularly given the relatively low altitude, and capabilities of the B2.


That decent however, was epic. Been watching that guy for 15yrs, he's quite something, was as a teenager. THAT, was impressive.


RH

[MD900 Explorer]

Awesome footage of the pinnacle landing...no doubt it woud have been more extreme if the pilot had to do a "toe in" and the boarder had a drop instead of psyching himself at the top of the drop... but what can i say... the boarder was Norwegian... say no more..... Lunacy rules ok, on Boards or ski's, But professionalism, rules ok ;-) Great flying and great mountain skills by the man... Terje!!! GO TERJE!!

MD... just fighting and keeping mediocraty at bay :D

[John Eacott]

Apparently it was Travis, not Terje, riding out of his own avalanche :cool:

As long as it's not me, it looks spectacular ;)

[IntheTin]

Manfromuncle.

That was awesome. :ok:

[heli-mad]

Amazing,

we were watching this at work today...good landing but the snowboarder....:eek:

i thought only heli pilots were mad...........

[Floppy Link]

...Anyway these days 'impressive' would be a 50ft air drop with a flip or something...

Mike Basich thought this was 50ft...he had to sit down for a while when he saw the photo...

http://www.arborsports.com/04/pages/snowboard_section/heli/heli_adrop_lrg.jpg

:eek:
Prize for the first muppet to shout "FAKE"

[Firepilot]

I didn't fly the job, but know who did. That shoot was done up around Valdez, Alaska. Evergreen was working with Valdez Heliski Guides, founded by the late Doug Coombs. VHG usually runs two B-2s out of the Tsaina Lodge.
It was a prepped LZ. Sometimes up there you may have to toe-in (ie film shoots), drop the guide, let him prep it, and come back in once the pad is done.
The terrain up there looks a lot more challenging on film than it is to actually fly around. It isn't particularly high, most of the LZs are from 6000' to 7000' so a B-2 does quite well. There are some drawbacks to the area, there isn't a lot of definition to the terrain when the light goes flat (rocks/snow, no trees) and it can get pretty windy, especially around the Thompson Pass.
(I flew for a different operator up the road)

[Foggy Bottom]

I havent seen him in a long time, but any chance that Nils ws one of the pilots?

[WylieCoyote]

Fire Pilot,
Thanks for the background info and for explaining 'toe-in' which had me confused for a second, I find it interesting that 6000' - 7000' landings are no big deal, flying in the UK we obviously don't go near those sort of altitudes(normally) let alone land at them,we'd struggle to get that sort of site cleared for public transport in a single anyway.
Must admit to been a bit jealous,seems like a decent place to fly around.

[Firepilot]

Nils did the scouting for the job. The primary pilot in most of the filming was Angus Gibson. Paul Turecki was the main ski guide for the operation. Drew Rose also did some of the flying for the film.
Some of the elevations we work in Utah can get up to 11,000' feet for heliskiing. I know they fly even higher than that down in Telluride. It is a lot less work flying at 6-7000' At least its not hot ;)

[trackdirect]

I worked with the Wescam DoP Mark Hryma a while back, A pretty talented dude.
There are a couple of short reels of First Decent and others on his site.
http://www.flyboypictures.com/reel.html