heli biking

The Happiest Place on Earth – Pt. 1

Posted on by Smoke

What….two years have already gone by and I haven’t gone for a Disney run?

Well no wonder. At least it’s not duct tape and a half chewed EatMore….

Actually, it was Andrew’s birthday and he’s never been on one of these, so here ya go…the birthday boy ridin’ shotgun.

Good views from that chair.

With our first lift access, we had some time for plenty of pics, and between Andrew and Wyld Willy there were plenty of SLR’s on the flight.

Say hi to Willy…

OK, enough with the artsy crap…

Arthur, with some kind of gas or something…

Ahh, just relax, the bikes are coming….

Holy FroRiders!  Yes, that’s Tippie AND Simmons there with Willy.

Ready, set, walk yer bikes?!

Oh, there’s the trail.

Our diverse crew, which included other veterans of the heli scene like our old pal Burton, also had several first timers.  Not that it mattered.  This ride quickly degenerated into something of a hammer fest.  If you can call falling down cliffs like these hammering.

I know Burton was a bit worried about the size of the crew, but at this point I think he was more worried about his fitness.  These guys can all ride pretty good.

Ah yes.  Lunch.  Where it all fell apart for me.

Seems I got a tainted sammie from Safeway.  I was feeling fine until this point.  Maybe a bit outta shape compared to some of the hammers that came along, but nothing too bad.

At this point, I still felt at least as good as Lane did here.

What do I mean?  Well, just stay tuned for the next post and I’ll tell ya…..

Wade Simmons Freeride Experience – Day 3

Posted on by Smoke

Settled in to our mansion? Check.

Fueled up with a massive breakfast? Check.

Hooked up with the local cat skiing lodge for a 6500 vertical foot singletrack adventure with one of the owners? Oh yeah, check it….

Baldface Snowcat Lodge is getting in on the summer action, and we got to be the very first commerical crew to go through their area. It’s pretty raw at the moment, but it will get much better as time goes on. With this much terrain at their disposal, it will continue to improve for many years to come.

As it stands right now, there’s a little bit of uphill to deal with, but compared to the size of the down….whatever, man.

A nice littel view from the top. That smoke in the distance is a small forest fire burning in the West Kokanee Creek. As we sat up at the top we watched it jump the ridge into Springer Creek.

Our local guides included Jeff Pensiero, one of the owners of Baldface. He’s got soe style, that Jeff. Check out those shoelaces. Oh and a button down is de riguer when you’re at 7200 feet.

Also along for the rip was local trailbuilder extrodinaire Mark Holt, who also owns a local shop called the Sacred Ride in Nelson. This next pic isn’t Holt though. That’s Niclas, our token German.

As usual, George was flying high. Did I mention that he’s a helicopter pilot for the Canadaian Armed Forces? Sort of seems appropriate…

Mike was also getting his gap on today. He’s been ramping it up a little bit every day. Could be interesting later in the week…

Oh right, that Wade guy was there too. These trails were cut by another freeride legend by the name of Mike Kinrade. We were looking at some of the jumps that Mike’s been building and even the illustrious Wade was struck by the HUGE size of the hits. Like 60 foot stepdown gaps in the alpine huge.

Hey Nicole, that’s a gap. Surprise.

Jeff, just another day at the office.

Mike, trying out for his assistant position.

Not much in the way of stunts up there, but there’s the occasional bridge where necesarry. They get so much snow up there that a little plank system isn’t gonna last very long.

Around the halfway mark we stopped for a little “swim.”

I love flat tires. Can’t you tell?

Oh look, it’s our old friend Ronny Red! Hi Ron, got any Kokanee?**

**Ron appeared in a commercial for Kokanee about a hundred years ago where he went skiing, mtn biking, and kayaking all in the same day, with the same beer. “Same guy, same day, same beer.” Get it?

Oh, and that fire that blew across the ridge at lunch? Well, it exploded into some seriously dry timber and went on a massive run. At this point (August 30th) it’s still burning and doesn’t look like it’s going to be completely out for another month or so.

We came down the ridge with the shadow on it on the left. Thanks to our buddy Dickie for the shot o
f the mushroom cloud.

Heli Treat

Posted on by Smoke

After showing George around the local trails, he decided to return the favour with a gratis ride in a helo. He’s taking a mountain flying course in Penticton, so he’s got some hours to fill. In spite of the Pixies t-shirt, I took him up on the offer (punk rock and pilots……hmmmmmmmmm).

Another average day in the Okanagan, as we head out over Skaha Lake.

This is Penticton, looking south from Okanagan Lake to Skaha in the distance.

George didn’t do all the flying. After doing a recce overflight of Ellis Canyon, the instructor took the controls and put on a clinic of how to fly through tight spaces.

This is one tight canyon. At times, it was less than one rotor width to either side. The guy is so smooth, you felt like you were cruising Main Street.

Now if I can only convince them to drop me off at the top of Snowy Mtn. with my bike…