Heli lift off.Tailgate Alaska has entered its second full week. After a number of greybird down days the skies went blue and the helis came back to life.

Excitement was apparent with a line of over 25 people jostling for a spot on the heli Wed. morning at Alaska Backcountry Adventures in Thompson Pass. At $140 bucks per run it's certainly not as cheap as a standard lift ticket ($400 for 3 runs / $700 for six runs), however there are few things in life truly worth spending your money on - helling is one of them.

Turns for days.

With that Nick Perata gave the green light for myself and a few other media types to cut the line and get on one of the first birds out. Five hours later, I could say with conviction it was the the best day of riding I'd had in my life. Six heli drops, each approx. 4,000 vertical feet. Knee to waist deep pow - sunny and perfect. Use your imagination.

Even those who didn't get on the bird, had just about the same access via sledding. At $40 per run, Big Mountain Taxi will shuttle you wherever you want to go. That's the best deal going.

After riding, the afternoon was spent milling about the camp, playing ping pong, enjoying some Salmon, Alaskan Amber beer and sharing stories of success and face shots with other gathered about.
Ping pong in one of the Yurts works well to pass the
time while waiting for a heli lift.
Here's a few pics.

The internet service in Valdez moves like an wrecked oil tanker. More to come. soon.