The Chilkat Thunder beat the Haines Packing Co. at the Men’s City League basketball championship Sunday night. The score was 107-75. Two other league teams, Alaska Marine Lines and Harbor Heat, were knocked out of competition in previous rounds. Organizer Kyle Fossman said the league will take a break for the holidays and start up again in […]
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Posted inNews
Year marked by citizen involvement
Heightened citizen participation marked 2015, a year in which residents challenged municipal leaders on a range of issues, and seemingly small matters spawned prolonged debates. Harbor expansion plans and a proposed minor offenses ordinance touched off months of give-and-take, but residents also raised questions about borough meeting procedures, funding for studies of helicopter noise and […]
Posted inNews
Proposal would more than double heli-skier days
Following last week’s dispute about the distribution of heli-ski user days, Haines Borough Assembly member George Campbell is seeking to more than double the current cap, from 2,600 to 6,000. Campbell has asked his proposal be included on the agenda for the Nov. 10 assembly meeting. Each of three local companies could be awarded up to 2,000 […]
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Helipad permit sought at 35 Mile
The manager of Coastal Helicopters has filed for a conditional use permit to site a helipad near 35 Mile Old Haines Highway. Michael Wilson, general manager of Coastal Helicopters, plans to site the helipad on a 10.4-acre parcel of property. In the permit application, Wilson wrote the helipad “will allow the Alaska Heliskiing operation to […]
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BLM: Heli-ski permits trump borough map rules
The Bureau of Land Management’s recent decision to permit commercial helicopter landings on a block of the agency’s land south of town has raised questions about the Haines Borough’s authority to regulate heli-skiing on federal lands. According to five GPS spot checks conducted in April and May, Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures twice landed outside of […]
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Heli-ski area open for 1 year
The Bureau of Land Management is opening more than 66,000 acres of land south of Haines to heli-skiing, an area that has been closed to the activity since 2009. BLM recently issued permits to Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures, Alaska Heliskiing and Alaska Mountain Guides to use 66,200 acres of land in the “south block” of […]
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Solid, deep snowpack at upper elevations: good for ski season
Snow around town doesn’t look impressive, but at upper elevations where backcountry and heli-skiing occurs, conditions are the best they’ve been in several years, the director of the Haines Avalanche Information Center said during a presentation Monday at the Sheldon Museum. “There’s a solid, deep snowpack above timberline. There are no active, persistent, weak, deep […]
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Dodovs say they’re ending heli-ski suit
Parents of an Alaska Heliskiing client who died in a 2012 avalanche said this week they are dropping their civil suit against the company. Natalia and Alex Dodov filed the suit in state court in February 2014, claiming Alaska Heliskiing “sought profit above safety” and failed to avoid the fatal avalanche that killed their son. […]
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Sosa OKs SEABA skier-day request
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 […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Quash attempt to expand heli-ski map
There is another attempt in the works by a few owners and proponents of the heliski industry as Title 5 Ordinance revision 14-08-390 to access out-of-bounds areas for a ski competition, event or production. The issue is not about a ski competition. I think it would be a great event for Haines. The issue is about using […]