Heli-Free Wasatch

As part of their effort to calm public hatred for their noisy operation, the Wasatch Powderbird Guides are suppose to post information about where they will be operating the next day on their blog.  The idea is that people can then plan accordingly and go to areas where they are not flying, both to avoid the noise and the inevitable backcountry conflict that arises when they land with 200′ of you in the middle of the mountains.

Much to our dismay, on Saturday, Jan 3rd, we were out touring in the Mt. Aire area when suddenly the WPG comes roaring into the drainage and lands on a peak that was not on their daily list of areas where they said they would be operating.   From a touring standpoint, this is incredibly annoying as we had spent hours getting there.  In the end, it turns out that the WPG was on a turf-marking mission where they land, send out a junior guide to rip a few branches off of trees, tie survey tape litter to them, plant them in the snow, then fly off.  As soon as the next storm comes, the litter is buried and they repeat the process.

Letters of complaint were sent to both the WPG and the Forest Service, although they never acknowledged them, even to offer a simple apology.  Typical WPG behavior.

As a third-hand rumor has it, during a recent clear spell after a week of high avalanche danger, WPG underling guide Spencer Wheatly tried to talk veteran carpet-bomber Mike “Ole” Olson from going on search and destroy backcountry bombing mission. 

Bombing the backcountry during or immediately after periods of high avalanche danger accomplishes next to nothing.  If the slope slides, WPG is not going to ski the remaining tattered bed surface.  If the slope doesn’t slide, they still probably won’t ski it as there is known danger.  More often than not, WPG goes on bombing sprees just to get their rocks off by creating big avalanches that tear out trees and keep the snowpack thin and dangerous.  Not only that, two days later the snowpack’s stability had greatly increased, so as always, patience is a virtue.

If the rumor is true, GOOD JOB SPENCER!  You get the Golden Snowflake award for showing some restraint and trying to talk some sense into the Mad Bombers.