Haines Borough Manager David Sosa has set the skier day allocations for the 2015 heli-ski season and has decided not to penalize a company that had a guide die on its watch last season.
Sosa gave Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures 1,000 of the 1,000 requested days.
SEABA guide Aaron Karitis, 31, died after being buried by an avalanche near the Kicking Horse Valley in March.
Though past safety record is weighed when doling out skier days, Sosa said he decided not to penalize the company.
“The borough looked into the incident when it occurred and determined that there was no cause to fine SEABA for any violation, nor has any new evidence come to light suggesting a rationale for a fine. Based on this I did not feel a reduction in skier days was warranted,” Sosa said.
Alaska Heliskiing initially requested 1,750 skier days but dropped the request to 1,500 after learning any use during a special ski competition wouldn’t count toward the company’s skier day limit.
Sosa gave Alaska Heliskiing 1,450 of the requested 1,500, docking the company 50 days for safety and compliance violations in 2013.
Alaska Mountain Guides requested 450 skier days, but was only allocated 150 due to their historical lack of use.
AMG didn’t use any skier days in 2014 and 2013, and used only five skier days in 2012.