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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Anchorage, Alaska
    Posts
    445

    A Backcountry skiing trip gone wrong.....

    Was out flying around Sunday, looking around for some new places that might be aircraft accessable...

    Found a nice area about 7 minutes out that had several nice long (3,000ft roughly) lines and a possible landing area.....


    Looks like these bastards beat me to it, but Karma got the best of them















    Seriously, these guys are way fucking lucky, they had intentions of skiing, but messed up the landing big time...Coming from the direction that they did, you land on a fairly steep incline and it kind of rolls over to the edge of this cliff, and as the picture shows, you cant really see the edge until it is too late, the plane is held there by the wing in the snow and one ski....A good stiff wind (like the one blowing last night) would send this thing 4,000ft straight down the cliff to the bottom...I still cant think of how they got out of there without tipping that thing off the mountain.....

    Anyway...be safe out there!!!!!
    Last edited by Optimus Prime; 04-21-2009 at 02:04 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Posts
    2,352
    holy shit thats nuts

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    8006
    Posts
    131
    unbelievable. never thought i would see that.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Wish I knew?
    Posts
    2,752
    That is like out of a cartoon!!!
    The pacifists always lose, because the anti-pacifists kill them.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    grapes and grapes
    Posts
    3,331
    So you think the plane will just stay there until a big stiff wind blows it off or spring melt takes place? Then.....Tumble-Mania 2009!

    Is the pilot legally responsible to have the plane extracted out of there?
    "Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. The winds will blow their freshness into you, and the storms, their energy. Your cares and tensions will drop away like the leaves of Autumn." --John Muir

    "welcome to the hacienda, asshole." --s.p.c.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Bozeman, MT
    Posts
    2,405
    AK is gnarly! You guys/gals are all fucking bush pilots. That's some next level shit.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    North Vancouver/Whistler
    Posts
    14,026
    I'm surprised someone tried to land a ski-plane on terrain like that

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Wooded enclave
    Posts
    1,769
    So then they were stranded with no plane. How DID they get out of there?


    (ski to the road switch??)

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    glacier
    Posts
    89
    only in Alaska!

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    The next zone.. Co.
    Posts
    31
    Yea.. Wow.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Anchorage, Alaska
    Posts
    445
    Quote Originally Posted by LeeLau View Post
    I'm surprised someone tried to land a ski-plane on terrain like that
    Yeah I agree, looking at the picture straight on, you see the slope they were trying come up and that is what you would ski down...the tracks that they left indicated they made a hard 90 degree turn right before the cliff thus causing the plane to be placed like it is...

    The pilot actually crawled back in the plane and radioed for help, this is just outside of town so a helo was dispatched pretty quickly...

    As hard as the wind blows up there, I wouldnt be surprised if it got blown off in the next week or so, especially with that big old wing sticking out...

    Interestingly enough, I wonder why they didnt hit the throttle once they got to the edge and fly off the cliff, I mean you have 4,000 ft to get up and out of there....

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Hyperspace!
    Posts
    1,372
    wow.

    too bad salvage laws of the sea don't apply.

    i would anchor that thing off and get a huey out of palmer to bring it home.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Mendon, VT
    Posts
    75
    damn thats nuts

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    476
    Fail.

    Bonus points for effort though.
    I see Blue; He looks glorious.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    California
    Posts
    309
    damn snowboarders.

    HA!

    The climb out of that plane would be intense.
    Last edited by Flaskman; 04-21-2009 at 03:35 PM.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Couloirfornia
    Posts
    8,874
    I bet Hugh Conway has something to say about this.
    Quote Originally Posted by Ernest_Hemingway View Post
    I realize there is not much hope for a bullfighting forum. I understand that most of you would prefer to discuss the ingredients of jacket fabrics than the ingredients of a brave man. I know nothing of the former. But the latter is made of courage, and skill, and grace in the presence of the possibility of death. If someone could make a jacket of those three things it would no doubt be the most popular and prized item in all of your closets.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Missoula, MT
    Posts
    22,500
    Lotta bush pilots in AK. Not all of them are great. I met someone who crashed 2 supercubs, broke his back both times, and killed a guy the second time. He still flies for lodges. How he gets on the insurance, I have no idea. Nice guy, successful business man, just shouldn't be flying. Another associate of my bro's, whom I met a long time ago, called him one day to say he finally got a supercub. About six weeks later, he called him to tell him he wrecked the supercub! Now, some other close friends of his are such hot shit, they got recruited by Blackwater for some STOL operations in N. Afghanistan.
    Last edited by stuckathuntermtn; 04-21-2009 at 03:44 PM.
    No longer stuck.

    Quote Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn View Post
    Just an uneducated guess.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Reno
    Posts
    76
    Shitt that sucks.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    DNVR
    Posts
    547
    maybe they tried to land the plane switch?
    my dog sheds the gnar.

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    12,677
    If they have a lot of $$ they could get it outta there w/ a heavy lift helo or something. Might not be worth it but if they are close to town might be able to do it pretty quick.


    THat's gnarly, they are lucky

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Portland
    Posts
    2,034
    That would have been one helluva landing, and twice as sketch exiting the plane!
    Be careful about buying snowboard goggles for skiing. Snowboard goggles come in right eye and left eye (for goofy-footers) dominant models. This can make it hard to see correctly when skiing because you are facing straight down the hill, not sideways.

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    cordova,AK
    Posts
    3,695
    some motor head probably already came and got the engine for their airboat.
    off your knees Louie

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    STL
    Posts
    13,297
    Cornice cutting gone wrong.

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    straight out the nickel & dime
    Posts
    1,209
    Wow... Fail.

    I thought that's what you buy a heli for....

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Posts
    15,861
    Well, if they walked away...

    Great pic - thanks.

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