Alaska and Helicopters go hand in hand and SEABA is the most epic heli op in the world. If you love shredding and dream about mountains that are bigger than anything you have ever seen with 3000 feet of blower pow. SHRED SEABA!!!
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
ANDREW MILLER
We have had one zone on our mind for the past 5 days but it only gets light in the afternoon and for one reason our another we have not been able to take down the SPINES.
Here is a look of what life in Haines looks like when you are waiting for one particular zone and dealing with weather and completely unpredictable scenarios.
Wyatt,Coulter and Nico staring down the clouds and hoping that they will lift so the Heli can lift. The past few days have been questionable as far as light or weather and being smart about when we fly has been key to our tour here. Basically there is no solid weather reports as simple as using NOAA. You have to keep your eyes towards the sky and when it’s blue ITS BLUE!!!! and when it’s not you need to be creative on how to pass the time.
After spending over a month in Haines we have figured the routine out and know how to play the game. It isn’t hard to occupy your time outside of shredding. In all reality you will spend more time doing everything but slashing so taking advantage of all the beauty that surrounds Haines is a key part of the whole AK experience. We decided to go explore some hiking trails and have a fish bake while waiting for our next window.
Just outside of town there are some of the most insane hiking trails. After a few short steps onto the trail it soon turns into an enchanted forrest from a fairy tale. The trees are massive and create a huge canopy that doesn’t entirely block out the sky but makes for a dark misty hike.
It’s crazy being in a forrest where everything is alive from the trees to the mossy floor. It is really overwhelming to be in such a wild place from the mountains to the water and the forrest.
As if you need more things to see or experience in this place…..but AK just keeps revealing more and more to us every day.
After winding through the forrest and multiple streams we found our way back out to the water.
Nico,Coulter and Wyatt having a great time killing time. The day went by and it was obvious that we would not be flying so we kept the day going with dinner on the beach.
There is no shortage of wildlife and nature to shoot here. You could spend days shooting the surrounding areas.
So on top of everything else that is awesome about AK the salmon is another great reason just to come and eat here. Our good friend BRUCE BAUER hooked us up with his personal stash of Salmon and Halibut….THANKS BRUCE!!! We have been eating like kings. COULTER is getting a little more wild every day!!!
Andrew Miller,Coulter and Wyatt are having an epic AK evening.
Coolest shred town in the world-by far!
THE FORT is one of the best bars in town to chill at. We have been putting in some long nights at this bar.
Drinking at the FORT usually results in the BELL RINGING and that results in plenty of FREE DRINKS. Basically going to the bar to just have A BEER doesn’t happen around here.
And if you go to the bar to spend the chips you got the night before you just end up getting more. This is what your pockets usually will look like after a good night at the fort.
This is what the Hotel looks like after 10 bell rings. Nico makes the mistake of asking Coulter about JU JITSU at 3 am. This night ended up with us only drinking it partially blue!! We were going to be chilling hard again waiting for some windows of light.
Waking up with some clouds covering the zone we wanted to hit we made good use of our down day. Coulter worked on his sled for a few hours.
Having a room with a kitchen is so key. There are plenty of options for food in Haines but nothing is cheaper and better than home cooked meals. Wyatt on breakfast detail.
Coulter keeping our zone neat and clean
The rest of the day we were just waiting for the call that was going to tell us if we were flying or not. The clouds were breaking up enough that it looked more and more possible that we would be suiting up at any time. Once you get in the field your time to scope your lines is quick and chaotic so if you have the time and the photos it is good to go over the shot and the line way ahead of time. Wyatt,Nico and Coulter studying the potential lines for the evening session.
We don’t have cell service just a few miles out of town in either direction so the more it looks like we might go out we just have to post up and wait.
having a crew that can chill as hard as these guys has been so key. No one ever complains about not going or wondering whats going on in the lower 48…everyone is here for one reason…To shred the gnarliest zones we can get on. Wyatt and Coulter are some of the most entertaining guys you could ever camp in AK with. They can just lounge when they need to and Light it up when its time.
Than just like that we get the call…IT’S ON!!! this is when things go from 0-60. Coulter letting us know we are about to get GNARLY!!!!
Everyone scrambling and rallying to get to the airport…after 4 weeks we have the FIRE DRILL down. Harness,radios,boots,boards,cameras,avy gear, packs and beacons…Time to shred after 4 days of sitting around we are heading back out. Wyatt is sooo stoked to get his feet over the bolts.
Then under 10 minutes from the airport we are back in the field eyeing up some spines. The light was breaking through the clouds and it was lining up to be one hell of of an evening.
Andrew and Nico are dropped off on a knife blade with some of the gnarliest exposure you can imagine. The ridge line was wide enough for your feet to be side by side and that was about it. Getting the right angle is key and sometimes its a sketchy place to be standing for a few hours.
Being positioned in the right spot can give you the right shot and it doesn’t get any better than this!
After a few minutes of communication with Wyatt and Coulter we have the shots lined up and Wyatt dives in to open up this run.
Wyatt Caldwell dropping another hammer in HAINES.
COULTER put a full hessian assault on this face…It is insane to watch how fast Chris point it down these runs.
This was both of their warm up runs and now they wanted to get into the gut of the spine zones-our Pilot Zack was on it and bumped them right back into the mix.
there are good pilots and then there is ZACH!!!! You couldn’t ask for a better pilot and even more so on a production level.
Perched up in our shooting zone every where you look is a shot. Your eyes just got bombarded by images that are so mind blowing in every direction you look.
While shooting the two amigos we noticed to the back of us that there was this column of snow crystals transporting through the air. This column shot hundreds of feet into the air…The hardest part about shooting this was just turning around and changing your footing. The ridgeline was a solid knife blade that wasn’t even wide enough to have a snowboard lay down with out either the tip or tail sticking WAY OVER the edge.
As we are perched waiting for Chris and Wyatt to lock down their lines with their cameras ZACH came buzzing past us. It is crazy to be up on a ridge like this and have a chopper come give you a flyby…Basically it is a full sensory overload to be able to see mountains like this and be able to be around a machine that is this bad ass!!!
After a few minutes Wyatt and Coulter are ready for round two and it was go time.
Wyatt Caldwell coming in HOT-Just lighting it up!
Wyatt lining up his exit after just destroying it through the spines.
COULTER lining up a rowdy fucking run!!!
And just like every other run here the RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE begins. COULTER puts up more snow than anyone….Sounds like an earthquake is going on when he is riding.
so after 4 days of waiting for this feature and the right light it was over in 2 hours and we are headed back in.
All the patience pays off and that is a wrap for the day.
Back to the THUNDERBIRD for another chill sesh before we ride again could be the next day could be 10 days you just never know. If you come here you have to be prepared to wait and wait and wait some more but it is the sickest fucking place you can imagine when everything lines up!!
Life in Haines is unreal!! A true shred dream come true- FOR SURE!!!!
Remember to check in with SEABA for all your AK shred questions and needs…these guys will lace you out!!!!
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
ANDREW MILLER
It was another hammer day in AK. We have been posted up for 40 days now just waiting for the perfect days to go fly. The waiting game is one the toughest parts to making Alaska work. We have seen everything from Nuking weather that has dumped feet of snow to fog banks that cover all of Haines but as long as you are patient and know what the reward for you patience is….It is all worth it. When you drive 2200 miles to get it done you have to be patient.
Andrew Miller just took a few weeks off from his “day job” to come join the crew and will be shooting our crew for the remainder of our AK sesh. Here are a few photos he shot on his first day over the course of 8 hours in Haines Alaska.
We heard rumors that the “MILK BIRD ” was going to melt off and the skies were going to pop blue so we got an early start at the airport on Easter Sunday. Temps have been cold and the snow up high is as good as it gets. Thanks to SEABA’S two matching red birds ECHO WHISKEY and JULIET PAPA we have been able to access some of the sickest terrain in the world.
We were using a new bird today so it was important to add a little something to this one for good luck….and up here you want as much luck as you can get.
It’s crazy to be standing on gravel one minute and than within 10 minutes you are on top of the craziest mountains you have ever seen. Helicopters are amazing machines!!!!
Welcome to HAINES!!!! Andrew got thrown right in the mix!! Coulter, Nico and Wyatt have been sitting around for a for a few days waiting to get another bump into dream land and right as Andrew rolled into town it was game on!
Another fine day with WILL SPILO leading us into the field. Right as we made our way to our first zone the skies began to split open and the light was starting to look promising.
Studying your lines from the air is a tricky aspect to riding these mountains. Your recon flights are quick and expensive so you learn to pay attention,take photos and study everything you are about to get dropped off on. WYATT CALDWELL has gotten this scene dialed very quickly. Every day is a learning curve like no other.
Cameras are dropped first to set up the shots and provide ground communication to the riders via radio. Nico and Andrew get the shots dialed in as COULTER and WYATT are shuttled to the top of the gnar.
Getting dropped off is a quick experience and all you can here are the blades from the Heli…It goes from a completely crazy scene with snow blowing everywhere and you can’t hear a thing.
Then before you know it the Heli lifts off and the noise fades into nothing and its just you and your homies about to slay the heaviest shit you have ever seen or ridden….It is an unreal experience.
When you are filming here it is a whole new program. You are not taking warm up runs and you are not wasting any time to get the shots when clouds are rapidly closing in on you. We take all precautions to make sure the shots are safe and ready to go but it is a quick process and when you are working with guys like Wyatt and Coulter they waste no time getting after the lines they have on their hit list for the day.
This is what a first run in Haines looks like.
Fully knowing that once you step onto this slope its time to TEE OFF. Just by seeing the sluff that is naturally running you know its going to be a lively run. With a few minutes of radio communication the riders and the cameras are set. Our guide WILL SPILO is staged in a key location to get to our crew if something goes wrong. Coulter was the first to step up on this one with Wyatt giving us a 10 SECOND count down to his drop. If you look closely to the top of the lines you can see a few black dots just to give you an idea of how big these runs are…..this one is smaller than most!
COULTER DROPPING IN 3 2 1
The first few turns were quiet and blower but after a few more you could here the mountain start to rumble louder and louder as the plumes grew bigger and bigger.
By the time COULTER got to one of many mandatories in this line the RUMBLE was in full effect.
With the sluff race in full effect Coulter airs into a pocket and has to get up on the next flank to set up for another mandatory in his line. These are not runs you can just call time out and take a break…when it’s on it’s on.
Within seconds the whole run turned white and we couldn’t see much until the smoke cleared and saw Coulter spitting out the bottom of the run.
And just like that…he made it out unscathed and slashing his way up to the cameras…..Not bad for the first run of the day. What were you doing at 8 am?
Unfortunately somewhere along the way COULTER’S binding broke so we had to have the heli bump out and get a new pair for him. Equipment failure can be a dangerous thing in theses conditions. Luckily it worked out ok and we had a back up.
WYATT CALDWELL took a similar style line as COULTER and again it was another white out once he dropped in. The sounds that these mountains make when you are riding them is like nothing you have ever heard before. Some say it is the Mountains stomach growling because it’s hungry to swallow you up….Just point it and get ready for anything….that is exactly what WYATT did.
With the mountain chasing after WYATT he lit it up and charged his way down with lightning fast speed.
This a really typical face that a huge run will give ya…..WYATT is SO STOKED!!!
Once the athletes are down and in one piece then the guide gets to make their way down the hill….This quite possibly could be one of the best jobs in the world. These guys hardly get the credit they deserve and are the glue that keep all of this together. We have been working with SPILO for a few weeks now and can’t emphasize enough on how professional and how qualified this guy is….
With weather rapidly approaching we had enough time to get in one more bump for Coulter and Wyatt and get another shot before we got shut down and had to bump out.
With a small briefing about what our options were for the limited window we had before we had to go back in we go for one more small manageable shot and we call in for another lift.
And just like that our homie ZACK pops out of no where and gets us bumped back into position. 
Important to remember that COULTER is GOOFY!!!!
WYATT finishing out the day with a huge 3 into the closed out light….Flat light is something the world can do with out!!!
After only 2 hours in the field our window was gone and we were on our way back to stage and wait for the next window.
Splitboarding,hiking and Sledding are all awesome ways to get into the backcountry but nothing beats a Heli at your command. Coulter’s teeth must be getting cold from smiling so much but when you have a SEABA heli only a radio call away you can’t help but to grin ear to ear.
Back at the airport we set up to stage and wait for our next call out. The waiting game is something you always want to win. Wyatt and Coulter are getting pretty good at chillin out.
Wyatt and Nico reviewing the days footage in between FIRE DRILLS for gearing up and trying to get another afternoon session.
HAINES wouldn’t be the same with out Bruce Bauer…Bruce has been a backbone to the local Heli community since the beginning. He came by the staging area to chill with his daughter and the crew….If you ever make it here make sure to look into Bruce’s FUNNY FARM if you need a place to stay.
Always good to chill with good people!
Not bad for ANDREW MILLER’S first 8 hour session in Haines- Keep checking back because we are not leaving this place until we get a full blue bird day. It’s been 35 days so far so we can take a little more.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
WILL WISSMAN
This is a sign that everyone should see once in their life.
Haines Alaska could very well be one of the coolest towns on earth-If you love to shred and have dedicated your life to it than this should be number 1 on your list. This is a pilgrimage that everyone should make from Feb-April every year.
Whether you fly here,drive here, or take a boat SEABA is one place that can make all your slashing dreams come true. The crew is as rock solid as it gets. You can count on your guides to have your back and get you into some insane terrain.
After you check in at the office make your way over to the Airport and get ready to send some shit!!!
When this place pops blue it is 100% the sickest scenario you can imagine! Chris Coulter has been making the annual trip to Haines for 6 years now and every time just keeps getting better and better.
This is Wyatt Caldwell’s first trip to Haines and you can guarantee this wont be his last. You could hear his sluff rumble so loud as he ripped his way to the valley floor. This place is NO JOKE!!!
We have been really fortunate to work closely with the guide staff and WILL SPILO is the FUCKING MAN!!! this guy as as rock solid as they get. Not only should you fly with SEABA but you should put in a request to roll with this homie. This guy has been there and done that more than a few times. When it comes down to it…Your guide is the one of the most important parts to the equation. You need to know that you can have some one get you into the terrain you want and be there to back you up. SPILO can slash with the best of em!!
There is no way that you can ignore the pilot and the chopper for making it all happen. BIG UPS to our boy ZACH for crushing it so hard. Takes a real BAD ASS to be able to land on some of the gnarliest terrain in the world and safely get you to your runs. Thanks Homie!!!
CHRIS COULTER just destroying shit! if he isn’t pointing it he’s airing the fuck out of it. Coulter is hard as nails and runs like this are just another day for this dude!
For the past 3 weeks the RESET button has been hit too many times to count. It would just snow for days and days before we could fly again. Our down time was usually spent RINGING BELLS or SHOOTING GUNS and waiting for the skies to break open and clear so we could fly again.
When the skies crack open you are back in the mix with the most Epic runs of your life. This place is beyond describable and words just don’t do it justice. Another fine day with Chris Coulter in Haines AK.
WYATT CALDWELL is a long way from Idaho and judging by his riding he is getting really comfortable here.
When it snows 10-15 feet get ready for the deepest day of your lives. 3000 feet of Blower pow all the way to the valley floor. Coulter getting amongst it!!!
Nothing better than meeting your homies screaming and laughing at the valley floor…This is a great way to live!!!!
GET READY THE SKIES ARE BLUE AND WE ARE GOING BACK FOR MORE!!!!!
If you want the ultimate HELI experience in HAINES AK you need to look into SEABA . They can get you to the biggest gnarliest terrain or just the most chill pow runs of your life. The food and lodging is all time as well. Nothing like a a great meal and warm bed after a long day of charging in AK. Basically if you get to Haines all you need to do is hit these homies up and they can get the rest for ya. You will have a hard time finding a better shred experience anywhere in the world!!!!
Take it from us our trip that was only supposed to be two weeks long has now gone on for a month and still going. Might be time to get out your credit card and make it happen. IF YOU DON’T TREAT YOUR SELF-YOU CHEAT YOUR SELF!!!
PHOTO BY WILL WISSMAN
CHRIS COULTER is about to light it up!!!
PHOTO BY
NICO NOLAN
We couldn’t ask for a better photog on this trip. If you don’t know WILL you just don’t know how hard HE’S KILLING IT!!!
DOUBLE FISTED WITH SOME SERIOUS GLASS!!!!
FLY SEABA!!!
ALL PHOTOS BY
WILL WISSMAN
WYATT chipping away at another epic run.
WYATT CALDWELL and CHRIS COULTER have been tearing it up in AK for the past 3 weeks. Both of these homies have essentially little to no support from any solid sponsorships and yet they obviously still have a lot of life left in their careers. It’s almost funny to see the type of riders that the industry will throw tons of product and budgets at these days and just let solid riders like these two go. If you have ever been to AK you know how gnarly it is to take down some of these runs and if you have never been you have no idea.
THE LEVITATION PROJECT is proud to support these two homies and allow them the opportunity to step to the terrain they were meant to ride. It would be funny to have all their team managers that cut them dropped off on these same runs and see how it turned out! Pretty sure these TWO AMIGOS would be laughing their ass’s off!
LEVITATION is more about ability and love not industry approval or status.
COULTER leaving a few turns hanging in the air.
ALL PHOTOS BY
WILL WISSMAN
COULTER getting sooooo pitted!!!!
WYATT CALDWELL airing out of a nasty run.
IF YOU WANT TO HAVE THE SICKEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE HIT UP SEABA. The homies at SEABA will dial you in on one of the most epic experiences of your life.