If you live in the Pacific Northwest, your life practically revolves around playing in the snow. At least that's how I imagine it. But if certain global atmospheric anomalies steal all your snow and dump it on the the rest of North America, then drastic measures are in order to fulfill your daily fix.
This group of snow stunting adventure seekers happened to know the right people and headed for higher ground in search for some cold white stuff to get their sled on. Although most of the snow had hardened to a consistency of the granite that lay below the cold surface, body armor under their clothes protected the extreme sledders as they plunged over near vertical drops.
The GT snow racer is basically three short and steerable snow skis attached with a seat to ride on. It allows the rider to effortlessly glide down the hill at high speeds in full control. Lightweight but durable, it makes a great tool for a beginner to make some crazy tricks.
16 year old Wyatt (getting big air in the topshot) had never been on a GT racer before, but was throwing bigger tricks than an Olympic half-pipe skier Matt Margetts, who was up for the day to enjoy the slopes and snow. Wyatt was declared the winner, and in his honor was given the most epic aerial flag ceremony. You win this time, Canada!
Bradley Friesen has been a Commercial Helicopter Pilot for about 22 years and was kind enough to be one of the pilots to haul the thrill seeking group and to provide some sweet pics. According to Bradley, the logistics weren't too complicated, and totally worth the effort for a day of what seems like a mountain of fun.
I first flew 2 camera guys and their gear in, while a buddy loaded everyone and their gear into his river jet boat. He moved everyone about 20 miles north.
Took me about 6 minutes to fly there in a 130kt descending dive and then loaded 3 of them in. Took me about 15 minutes to climb back up there.
Next load I picked up a 140' longline with everyone's gear, extra fuel and the GT Racers and inner tubes.
Spent about an hour and a half ferrying everyone in. At noon, another buddy flew up to check it out with his wife since he saw the jump we built on instagram. He did a few minutes of flying a video guy for me, while I filmed them racing.
He left and I spent about an hour ferrying everyone out at 3pm (was faster in the climb without passengers.)
Last load, grabbed the camera guys and flew home.
Photos courtesy Bradley Friesen
Chris is a pilot who loves airplanes and cars and his writing has been seen on Jalopnik. Contact him with questions or comments via twitter or email.