EuroCopter Single tops Mt Everest

I would have thought that the summit of Everest would not be big enough for a helicopter landing. :dunno:
 
RotaryWingBob said:
Might give a new meaning to a slop landing, as well...
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Saw video once of a Kenmore DH Beaver on reinforced floats landing on Mt Olympus at a very steep angle. On takeoff he flew down the slop and dove the airplane until he had airspeed to pull out. Very impressive! :hairraise:
 
Frank Browne said:
I would have thought that the summit of Everest would not be big enough for a helicopter landing. :dunno:
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Look at photo's taken of people on the summit sometime. It's more than plenty big for a helicopter as long as you're not going to try a run on landing.

The problem is having enough whoppity flop oomph to get up there...and down again. It's a horsepower feat but that doesn't make it any less spectacular.


FWIW there's been at least few landings on top of Denali with an Aerospatiale SA315 Lama. I think it's one of the local rescue/supply helicopters.
 
fgcason said:
.....

The problem is having enough whoppity flop oomph to get up there....
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Is that a helicopter technical term? :)
 
Ed Guthrie said:
Way cool. Do I need a permit from Nepal or China if I want to open a heli-skiing operation on Everest?:rofl:

I suspect the client list would be huge.
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Oh man, did you ever see the video of the Japanese guy who tried for some ski record down Everest? IIRC he was one of the very early skiiers on the mountain, I think his name maybe Kawasaki. It was a few decades ago, and he was doing it with a drouge chute on to keep him slowed down, and it was working reall well.....until. The edge of the chute tags a rock and it starts the chute spinning and collapsing and that's when things went horribly wrong. Dude was flying and bouncing off rocks like a freakin rag doll for a Long way before he came to a stop. One of those videos where you go "Oooooo that hurt..and that, and OWWW Dang!!...He's dead, look at that hit to the head." It was amazingly brutal, but IIRC the guy lived, hard to imagine the abuse the human body is capable of withstanding.
BTW There already are Heli Skii ops on Everest, have been for quite awhile. Seems to be a big thing with the Aussies.
 
Saw that video. The guy fell MANY times the distance longer than he skied. I think it was over one mile for the fall/tumble. He was an animal.



Henning said:
Oh man, did you ever see the video of the Japanese guy who tried for some ski record down Everest? IIRC he was one of the very early skiiers on the mountain, I think his name maybe Kawasaki. It was a few decades ago, and he was doing it with a drouge chute on to keep him slowed down, and it was working reall well.....until. The edge of the chute tags a rock and it starts the chute spinning and collapsing and that's when things went horribly wrong. Dude was flying and bouncing off rocks like a freakin rag doll for a Long way before he came to a stop. One of those videos where you go "Oooooo that hurt..and that, and OWWW Dang!!...He's dead, look at that hit to the head." It was amazingly brutal, but IIRC the guy lived, hard to imagine the abuse the human body is capable of withstanding.
BTW There already are Heli Skii ops on Everest, have been for quite awhile. Seems to be a big thing with the Aussies.
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Dave Krall CFII said:
Saw that video. The guy fell MANY times the distance longer than he skied. I think it was over one mile for the fall/tumble. He was an animal.
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Yeah, it was like a mile and a half, just brutal, makes me laugh every time I think about it. "well that didn't work real well"
 
The Man Who Fell Down Everest

Henning said:
Oh man, did you ever see the video of the Japanese guy who tried for some ski record down Everest? IIRC he was one of the very early skiiers on the mountain, I think his name maybe Kawasaki. It was a few decades ago, and he was doing it with a drouge chute on to keep him slowed down, and it was working reall well.....until. The edge of the chute tags a rock and it starts the chute spinning and collapsing and that's when things went horribly wrong. Dude was flying and bouncing off rocks like a freakin rag doll for a Long way before he came to a stop. One of those videos where you go "Oooooo that hurt..and that, and OWWW Dang!!...He's dead, look at that hit to the head." It was amazingly brutal, but IIRC the guy lived, hard to imagine the abuse the human body is capable of withstanding.
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He was given the dubious title of "The Man Who Fell Down Everest."

I remember that video and seeing more of the same type nonsense much later. That drogue chute didn't seem to be doing a whole lot of good before it started collapsing. After that he was just along for the 100mph ride.

A little search on google and...

http://classic.mountainzone.com/climbing/skieverest/
The Man Who Fell Down Everest: Yuichiro Miura made the famous 1971 attempt to ski Everest, but after making a few turns from the South Col, he pulled a parachute and slid thousands of feet on his butt.


http://www.everesthistory.com/1950-1975.htm
1970: Japanese Ski Expedition. Climbing along with the SW Face expedition, Yuichiro Miura skis from the South Col to the bottom of the Lhotse Face on May 6. Reaching speeds of 100 mph (160 kph), Miura slows himself with a parachute but loses control after hitting some rocks. He slides unconscious about 600 feet (200 meters) down the icy slopes, and fortunately stops just short of a huge crevasse.


The video is for sale too:
http://www.sendmemovies.com/p-50106-the-man-who-skied-down-everest-1975-dvd.aspx
 
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