Nathan's Occasional Blog

Wow, this is a great article.  Must read.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/318403_parkpilot04.html?source=rss

The first two runs of the day went well. Small ice crystals fell, threatening to morph into full-fledged snowflakes, but visibility was still decent.

Anthony Reece was at the controls of his Hughes 500D helicopter, a 165-foot-long cable and hook dangling from the orange-and-white belly. The helicopter soared up the drainage just south of the Skagit River, the deep shoosh-shoosh-shoosh of the blades reverberating off the saturated slopes.