Thoughts on Heliboarding in Russia.

Traveling in Russia, when you can't speak Russian, is a little difficult. Unlike say India, you can't always find someone that speaks English. In Moscow you can get by pretty easily, but once you head out into the mountains, be armed with a few phrases. Her are the few I can remember.

• Yes: dah
• No: nyet
• Please: pazhalsta
• Thank you: spahseeba
• What is your name?: kak vaz zavoot
• My name is.. meenya zahvoot...
• I don't understand: ya nyeh pahneemahyo
• Do you speak English: vi goovahreetye pa-angliski
• I don't speak Russian: yah nyeh goovaryu pa-rooskee
• Pivo: Beer
• Hleb: Bread
• Dovarish: Comrade
• Stroganoff: Stroganoff
• Telefon: Telephone

Alternatively, practice saying the word "Woddka", a few times to get the accent right and then just append "ski" to the English word and use your newly acquired Russian and you'll find you can get further than you think. (I also find the phrase "I kjill you weeth my beer hunds" works to get the accent going)

That's pretty much all I can remember two years down the line and it got me through my trip, and a few rather interesting meals. I even got complemented on my accent. Apparently I sound like I am from Moscow.

I am going to be working on my Russian in the next few weeks.

Heliboarding in an Mi8 is an experience. When they fire up one of those choppers a huge jet flame ignites from the exhaust. They are an awesome piece of machinery and unlike their western counterparts, the engineering is relatively simple and one hopes therefore quite reliable. It takes a crew of 3 to fly these beasts. You have a pilot, co-pilot and a spotter and its clear that the guys we flew with have worked together for decades. It reminds me of the story about the Russian cosmonauts using pencils in space while NASA spent millions developing a pen that wrote in zero gravity.

I have recently taken to researching the safety of various helicopters. I had heard from Aviation underwriters that I am acquainted with that a choppers maintenance record was a more important factor in assessing the risk of catastrophic failure than the particular model. When I learned that both the helicopter crash I remember in Cape Town when I was living there, and a heli guide I know recently involved in a crash in Tajikistan where both Russian Mi8's, I decided that I wasn't content with simply taking someone else's word and did some of my own research.
It is interesting to note then that all the stats I could find showed the breakdown of the number deaths per 1000 flying hours by helicopter model. Perhaps quality of maintenance is a little more difficult to assess.

I was encourage to find only 7 crashes logged in the following database. 5 of those (71% were fatal). Both of the accidents I knew about were amongst those 7. I rest a litte easier.

There are economies of scale in going heliboarding or skiing in a helicopter that can take 16 paying customers. There is no denying that is one of the attractions for me. Given the great deal we got, I also had some concerns about the standard of guiding and the ratio of guides to boarders that we would have. I was very pleasantly surprised but in retrospect I shouldn't have been.

Ultimately I think most of I want to live, and wealthy Russian skiers and snowboarders are no exception. These are premium customers that want a premium service and expect what anyone else in North America does. They are simply fortunate enough to have helicopters that make it more affordable to get to the top of the mountain, but once you are there, the experience is no different. Everyone was provided with Avalanche transceivers if they didn't already have them, they were given basic information on there purpose and how they operate and before each run they were individually tested by the guides.

The group would be lead by a guide, with a safe distance being maintained between all riders, particularly over more dangerous terrain, to ensure safe travel. A second guide would ride amongst the skiers/boarders an would be able to respond to any of their needs and a third guide would bring up the rear to ensure that everyone made it safely down to our beautiful Mi8, waiting for our next drop.

One of the most unique aspects of heliboarding in Russia has nothing to do with either the heli, or the boarding, and everything to do with Russia. Where else in the world do you get dropped off at the bar for apre ski and go and enjoy beer and caviar as if it where Gluhwein in Austria or Schummliflummli's in Switzerland.

Krasnaya Polyana didn't boast much of a night life but perhaps I am just guilty of failing to find it. Of the little I know of Russians, they like to enjoy themselves, so I figure I was just looking in the wrong places. I am lead to believe from my friend Sacha that Kamchatka has quite a serious night life. Bring it on.