Heliboarding in Russia

Here's some photos, of variable quality. Maybe a write-up will follow
if I get a spare hour or two:

www.champ.org.uk/boards/images/Russia%202005

--
Champ

On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 16:57:06 GMT, Champ allegedly
wrote:

Here's some photos, of variable quality. Maybe a write-up will follow
if I get a spare hour or two:

www.champ.org.uk/boards/images/Russia%202005

Ah, I might beat you to it... my write up is almost done. Seeing your
pics makes me wish I had taken my still camera as well.

- Dave.

--
The only powder to get high on, falls from the sky.
http://www.vpas.org/ - Snowboarding the worlds pow pow -
Securing your e-mail

The Snowboard FAQ lives here - http://rssFAQ.org/

On 28 Feb 2005 08:51:06 GMT, Switters wrote:

On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 16:57:06 GMT, Champ allegedly
wrote:

Here's some photos, of variable quality. Maybe a write-up will follow
if I get a spare hour or two:

www.champ.org.uk/boards/images/Russia%202005

Ah, I might beat you to it... my write up is almost done. Seeing your
pics makes me wish I had taken my still camera as well.

But, if you'd been taking stills, you'd have done less video. This
way, we get the best of both worlds.

If you do get the write up done soon, I'll fill in the day you were
ill. Which was the best day, btw...
--
Champ

On Mon, 28 Feb 2005 10:19:55 GMT, Champ allegedly
wrote:

But, if you'd been taking stills, you'd have done less video. This
way, we get the best of both worlds.

If you do get the write up done soon, I'll fill in the day you were
ill. Which was the best day, btw...

sobs

- Dave.

--
The only powder to get high on, falls from the sky.
http://www.vpas.org/ - Snowboarding the worlds pow pow -
Securing your e-mail

The Snowboard FAQ lives here - http://rssFAQ.org/

Which one is you?

"040" seems to be a knee with the heli in the background. I'll get a
translation for 072 when a coworker gets in.

Any interesting passport stories?

Dean

On Mon, 28 Feb 2005 08:04:02 -0600, Dean wrote:

Which one is you?

http://www.champ.org.uk/boards/image...ssia%20002.jpg

"040" seems to be a knee with the heli in the background.

Yea, well - what that photo was *attempting* to show was the fact that
the heli didn't even land for that drop off - it just hovered *next*
to the ridge, and you stepped off, like getting off a train onto a
platform. Hence the fact that the rear wheels of the heli are
obscured by snow. But it's a crap photo.

The heli pilots were excellent. Anyone who tells you that big helis
can't access extreme terrain is talking ******** - most of the time
the heli didn't actually land, it just put it's nose wheel against the
slope, and kept the rest of the machine flying while everyone got out.
I never tired of it :-)

I'll get a translation for 072 when a coworker gets in.

Phonetically, the first word spells "Metropolitan" :-) It's at the
Arbat station (Arbatskaya - "APbatCKAR"). That photo should be in the
Moscow sub-folder with the others:
http://www.champ.org.uk/boards/image...cow/index.html


Any interesting passport stories?

Passport control/immigration in Russian was considerably more pleasant
and easier than in the USA. Nobody wanted my ****ing fingerprints,
for starters...
--
Champ

On Mon, 28 Feb 2005 17:33:22 GMT, Neal Champion
allegedly wrote:

Any interesting passport stories?

Passport control/immigration in Russian was considerably more pleasant
and easier than in the USA. Nobody wanted my ****ing fingerprints,
for starters...

ROTFL.

When we landed in Moscow it literally took 45 minutes to clear
immigration, collect baggage and get through customs.

Leaving is a little more involved, with numerous x-ray machines and the
old chore of removing one's foot wear, which is a pain if you've got
boots with lots of lacing. In fact the only problem was the plethora of
kids running around the airport that had been in Moscow on a school
trip.


PS Champ, what's happened to your posting name?

Neal Champion wrote:




Any interesting passport stories?


Passport control/immigration in Russian was considerably more pleasant
and easier than in the USA. Nobody wanted my ****ing fingerprints,
for starters...

What ? You got printed going into the states ? Maybe you should leave
the kilo of coke at home next time eh ? :P

Si

On Tue, 1 Mar 2005 10:17:46 +0000 (UTC), Si
wrote:

Neal Champion wrote:




Any interesting passport stories?


Passport control/immigration in Russian was considerably more pleasant
and easier than in the USA. Nobody wanted my ****ing fingerprints,
for starters...

What ? You got printed going into the states ? Maybe you should leave
the kilo of coke at home next time eh ? :P

Flew in on boxing day, and it seems to be standard procedure now - the
latest edict from the Dept of Homeland Security[1], no doubt. But,
they didn't find the coke, so no worries :-)

[1] is it just me that thinks this sounds like something from 1984?
--
Champ

On 28 Feb 2005 17:57:00 GMT, Switters wrote:

PS Champ, what's happened to your posting name?

I pretended to be someone else for one post yesterday, and didn't
reset it properly.
--
Champ