Peanut butter and Jelly for Heli! by Monty Hays

O.K. so after the typical travel budget bargaining Kurt Jenson, Elan Bushell, and I landed in Juneau in the afternoon to be greeted by Glissade big mountain guru Mark Schultz. He told us they had a heli lined up for an evening session so we went to his place to regroup and get ready for the sesh. Juneau rulz, and thanks to Mark we went from the comfort of his casa to the top of Mt McGinnis in no more than 30 minutes!! A quick run for warm up followed by a run of filming and still shots and we were back at Marks eating fish and drinkin brews. Juneau rules!!
The next morning we loaded the ferry and headed for Haines. We arrived at the Thunderbird hotel to find the Absinthe films crew and the rest of the Haines posse. Then a storm moved in. 5 Down days of internet, swimming and boozing and it finally cleared. The absinthe crew went out only to find sketchy avalanche conditions. One guide even got swept 1500 feet in a slide and was luckily let out. The vibe that night was not good, some people left. We hung out hoping for our chance. The next day at the heli pad we hung around to see if the snow had stabilized. Conditions improved however politics and too many groups resulted in a frustrating and unproductive day. We swept our misfortune under the rug and looked forward to day 2. Second group out we went to caffeine ridge with hopes of bagging a phew great lines we had looked at the day before. After an hour sitting on the glacier waiting for a cloud bank to reveal our lines we decided to move on as the clouds were creeping in on us. Off to "venue", we dropped off the camera crew and then the riders. I dropped in first to set up for some stills and experienced a small isolated slide. Then Mark dropped in and broke off a large fracture that nearly swept him into some rocks, his experience and skills brought him out at the last second, PHEW!! Elan ripped a short line near mine and we met up halfway down. I worked with the boys and we managed some still shots, Mark found himself in another slide that was slow and heavy. It brought him to his backside but spit him out at the bottom safely. Check out SoundStrait productions film 5 to 9 for footage of both Marks slides.
Day 3 started a bit crazy as Travis Rice was pulled into a slide by the wind blast following a cornice release. He was sucked in and swept 2000 feet!! The filmer told us that from his view it did not look survivable yet Travis came to rest head and shoulder out and was able to dig himself out with only bruises.
We had our last chance due to rising avalanche danger. We loaded the heli and returned to Caffeine ridge to get our lines. I was up first so I could then film the others. I hiked to my drop zone from the heli landing zone and was greeted at the top by falling armpit deep into a hole. Neat! With my feet dangling and heart racing I was able to grasp the nearby rock and weasel my way out. Crew ready, I dropped in. I was concerned about a convex slope at the very start of my run so I pointed it and tried to tread lightly. It held, so just when I was feeling better I hear Elan and the guide yelling “slide on your left” over my radio. I head checked and could see that its path was leading away from me. Just then I hear the boys over the radio again, “slide on your right” With another head check I noticed it was headed away from me also. I hit the gas and finished my line by hopping over 2 large bergshrunds. Happy to be “safe” on the glacier I filmed Elan execute flawlessly a sketchy line through rocks on less than ideal snow. Then Kurt dropped into the heaviest line of the day which consisted of a couple turns, a long chute that he had to point through followed by an air and turns on sun abused snow!
Well, counting our blessings and being thankful for what we got, we got the hell out of there. I contemplated our experiences in the plane ride home. I knew that was the single most dangerous run I had ever ridden. Without a doubt a very sketchy experience in Haines, I can’t wait to get back!