Scott Sundberg should not vote on his own seven proposals to expand his company’s heliskiing area, according to a Haines Borough attorney’s recommendation. However, Sean Brownell can vote on his own proposals, according to the written opinion of attorney Patrick Munson of Anchorage, who provided legal advice to the borough on this matter. The nuance is that […]
Search results
Posted inNews
Borough to tackle glitch in heliskiing ordinance
Proposed legislation to cut back on conflicts of interest on the Haines Borough’s heliski review committee was sent to the Tourism Advisory Board. The borough assembly voted 6-0 Tuesday to do that because the tourism board is already reviewing the part of the borough’s code that addresses commercial tour permits. Borough manager Bill Seward recommended a change […]
Posted inNews
Conflict of interest on heliski committee?
By John Stang Five people are on a Haines Borough committee to recommend whether to approve two companies’ requests to expand their heliskiing zones. But two of those five committee members are partial owners of the same two heliskiing companies that made the requests. They are Scott Sundberg, co-owner of SEABA, and Sean Brownell, co-owner of Alaska Heliskiing. […]
Posted inNews
Assembly nails down heliskiing timetable
The Haines Borough Assembly changed the law to delay the next heliskiing mapping efforts until 2019. However, it also grandfathered in two existing applications to expand helicopter-skiing zones, allowing the borough to decide their fates in the next several months. On Tuesday, the assembly took two actions regarding applications to expand heliskiing zones. First, the assembly voted […]
Posted inNews
Alaska Heliskiing loses 350 skier days
Citing Alaska Heliskiing’s 2012 safety record, Haines Borough Manager Mark Earnest cut the company’s skier-day allocation by 25 percent for the 2013 season. Earnest this week allocated 1,050 skier days to the guide company, 350 fewer than the company’s request of 1,400. “It was based on safety record. And I made a determination I was not going to allocate […]
Posted inNews
Borough OKs permit for Alaska Heliskiing
Alaska Heliskiing broke state law, Haines Borough code and its own safety plan during a season that included the deaths of a client and guide, but its violations “do not rise to a level of ‘substantial noncompliance’” for revoking the company’s tour permit, clerk Julie Cozzi ruled this week. “I do not view commercial tour permits as […]
Posted inLocal News, Public Safety
SEABA rescues snowmachine rider caught in avalanche
An injured snowmachiner caught in an avalanche near the border was picked up by a Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventure helicopter Wednesday evening and brought into Haines for medical treatment. SEABA founder Nick Trimble said a group with the injured person contacted SEABA directly for help, which is not unusual, but rarely happens. “We’ve done a […]
Posted inThis Week in History
This Week in History: Average Haines age, extreme ski contest and border relocation
10 years ago After a drop of 84 people in 2013 and an increase of 21 in 2014, the population of Haines has reverted to a downward trend, dropping 58 people in the last year to a total of 2,493, according to state statistics. The town is also continuing to get older, maturing from a […]
Posted inLocal News
Pride, and some frustration, from Freeride weekend
Californian Ross Tester has made a career hurtling off mountain faces across the world. Standing above the Chilkat Valley’s Little Jarvis Glacier Friday morning was something different. From the starting gate of the 27-year-old skier’s Freeride World Tour run, Tester said the steepness of the pitch meant the mountain “rolled over” out of sight below […]
Posted inLocal News
Freeride cancels European, Asian tour stops as Haines event nears
Less than two weeks before they’re set to come to Haines, the Freeride World Tour has canceled events in Europe and Asia — a reminder of the borough’s financial risk. The Freeride World Tour, a company owned by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, is scheduled to hold six events this year, with Haines as […]