Five random spot checks on Alaska Heliskiing during this year’s heli-ski season found one out-of-bounds infraction.
The GPS spot checks, conducted in March and April, found Alaska Heliskiing landed out-of-bounds on April 3.
The Haines Borough fined the company $250 for the violation, said manager David Sosa.
“We do understand that this landing was not picking up or dropping off skiers, and that the helicopter was setting down to wait for the run to be completed,” Sosa wrote in a letter to Alaska Heliskiing representative Ryan Johnson. “Although we do recognize the importance of safe waiting places with line-of-sight communications, it appears there were other areas ‘in-bounds’ that could have provided the same conditions.”
Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures and Alaska Mountain Guides didn’t operate on any of the five, spot-checked days.
Mayor Stephanie Scott suggested at Tuesday’s assembly meeting the borough might revise its policy on random GPS checks so companies not operating on a selected day would be checked on a later day.
The borough received one complaint this season about helicopters flying outside of designated flight paths, on March 21, though GPS investigation of all three companies showed all helicopters flying within allowed flight paths.
Takshanuk Watershed Council analyzed and mapped the GPS data.
Of the 2,600 allocated skier days for the 2014 season, only 913 days were used.