Skimbaaja

The chopper hovered in from of the cliff wall known as Pillow Talk, Heliskiing, British Columbia. Team riders Christian, Sara, Moss and Karla scouted out their lines. The helicopter landed with only one skid on a knife sharp ridge, dropping of the skiers more or less in motion.

The cliff wall had ledges that they could jump down on, step by step. It was like skiing down a giant staircase. On every "step" there was 3 meters of snow. From above it looked totally white. But from the bottom looking up we saw mostly the cliffs, and they were completely black. It was difficult to understand how they were able to find their way down and hold the planned line in a safe manner. In any event, each team member took off from their respective starting points and succeeded, via a number of long, flying leaps, to make their way, cheering, to the bottom. Cool to see such awesome skiing in such a fantastic environment.

After having skied some of the "sickest" lines ever, we took a breather farther down in the woods. We waited for the sun to show itself from behind the fast moving clouds so that Therese, the photographer, could continue to shoot. It was a long wait. Time passed and we began to lose our patience.

Suddenly we heard Karla's opera singing over the area. She is a trained singer and now she let loose with an Italian aria. And as the cream on the top, that old time favorite, Summertime. Opera songs in Pillow Talk, what a treat! We others stood and leaned on our poles and listened. Not an eye was dry. But, dark clouds swept in and that was the end of that day's shoot. With opera ringing in our ears we skied down through Wallbanger ravine towards the valley.

Christian and Moss snuck away and cheated by jumping from a cliff that was sixty foot plus, in other words, approximately twenty meters high. It echoed from the cliffs when Moss dropped with a bang into the snow. Christians binding broke on landing. Then we heard the noise of the helicopter's blades and someone said, "It's a chopper baby." We sleepily stood up, epic run at Mica Heliskiing.