In the multi-episode “InFlux” series, we see dynamic people using their bodies and minds to meet the challenges of a world in constant motion. Delve a little deeper into their adventures in this bonus content from “Episode 2.”
In this installment, Myles Lewis, Travis Weaver and Kyle Railton of CrossFit Avalanche and CrossFit Blizzard take “Helicopter 101,” according to Points North Heli-Adventures owner Kevin Quinn. They learn how to load and unload safely, how to stand around the aircraft once landed and how to avoid “spindrift.”
“We’d gone through how to get in and out of the helicopter, so that’d been done while the helicopter was sitting,” Railton says. “So now, the helicopter’s moving, and it’s blowing and it’s loud now there’s this new anticipation.”
Later, the three reflect on the emotions they experienced while heli-skiing and snowboarding through the mountains of Cordova, Alaska, with the team from Points North.
“It’s great being in (the helicopter) . But once you start anticipating that landing and what’s gonna happen once you step out of that landing and strap on those skis, it’s something else,” Weaver says.
“Landing on top of some of those peaks there was a couple, in particular, that were pretty crazy,” Lewis adds. “Getting off of (the helicopter), you have less than a picnic table of space to kind of work with up there. And one side of each picnic table is a 200- to 300-foot cliff that you don’t want to go down.”
To watch the full episode, click below:
Video by Jason Smith and Carey Peterson.
6min 40sec
Additional reading: “Free to Fly” by Chris Cooper, published Feb. 17, 2014.