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Will passenger drones change BC skiing?

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iLLbiLLy
Posts: 2865 - Karma: 2,631
There's been a lot of recent hype around new "drones" (quadcopters) that are capable of carrying a human passenger.

https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/805077/EHANG184--world--39-s-first-Autonomous-Aerial-Vehicle

It's easy to see what a game changer this could be (for better or worse) as a mode of backcountry transportation. Fly the drone to the top of a peak and then set auto-pilot to meet you back at the bottom. Basicly like your own personal heli service. Brave new world were living in...
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Jan 7 2016 3:39PM
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Jaybrtn
Posts: 375 - Karma: 643
With the amount of variables involved in mountain/high altitude flying, I personally would want a human at the controls. At this point in drone/autopilot technology at least. Maybe in the future, who knows. Cool idea for sure though.

What happens when there is an electrical error within the AI system and it falls out of the sky
Jan 7 2016 3:46PM
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iLLbiLLy
Posts: 2865 - Karma: 2,631
JaybrtnWith the amount of variables involved in mountain/high altitude flying, I personally would want a human at the controls. At this point in drone/autopilot technology at least. Maybe in the future, who knows. Cool idea for sure though.

What happens when there is an electrical error within the AI system and it falls out of the sky


Ya, obviously it's not quite there yet. But, the quadcopter industry is progressing at a breakneck pace so who know what will happen in 5-10 years. I definitely think the passenger would need to be responsible for flying to the top, but the drone could handle getting back down (worse case at least no one dies if it fucks up).

Maybe they'll add an emergency parachute system or something for catastrophic failures.
Jan 7 2016 4:06PM
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Alvaro
Posts: 323 - Karma: 2,066
those drones look like a good solution for traffic jams in cities, maybe in 50 years that technology will advanced enough for heliskiing.
this is still the coolest way to get up a mountain in a relatively cheap way tho

https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/805100/GoPro--Alaskan-Airdrop-with-Xavier-De-Le-Rue
Jan 7 2016 4:25PM
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Jaybrtn
Posts: 375 - Karma: 643
iLLbiLLyYa, obviously it's not quite there yet. But, the quadcopter industry is progressing at a breakneck pace so who know what will happen in 5-10 years. I definitely think the passenger would need to be responsible for flying to the top, but the drone could handle getting back down (worse case at least no one dies if it fucks up).

Maybe they'll add an emergency parachute system or something for catastrophic failures.


What would be more likely is the passenger in charge of flying it up would have to be a licensed pilot in that category of aircraft, not just joe schmo who happened to have the money to buy one. But then again, who knows what kind of technology will be available in the future.

It's a sick idea, but I think we're a long way off, especially when there are passengers involved and when the FAA moves like molasses to begin with.
Jan 7 2016 4:28PM
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Jaybrtn
Posts: 375 - Karma: 643
Alvarothose drones look like a good solution for traffic jams in cities, maybe in 50 years that technology will advanced enough for heliskiing.
this is still the coolest way to get up a mountain in a relatively cheap way tho

https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/805100/GoPro--Alaskan-Airdrop-with-Xavier-De-Le-Rue


Dope AF
Jan 7 2016 4:40PM
1 0
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The_Mitch
Posts: 68 - Karma: 151
I think the autonomy will eliminate a lot of the human error. The only time Google and tesla's autonomous vehicles have crashed is because of an error of another driver. I just hope they plan on making bigger cockpits. I will not fit in that thing haha
Jan 7 2016 5:52PM
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iLLbiLLy
Posts: 2865 - Karma: 2,631
Alvarothose drones look like a good solution for traffic jams in cities, maybe in 50 years that technology will advanced enough for heliskiing.
this is still the coolest way to get up a mountain in a relatively cheap way tho

https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/805100/GoPro--Alaskan-Airdrop-with-Xavier-De-Le-Rue


I think the technology will be there way quicker than 50 years (probably closer to 5). I think the regulation and legality will be more of a blocking issue.
Jan 7 2016 7:15PM
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Caze
Posts: 37 - Karma: 195
Honestly, this probably will be long in the future, these would have a hard time operating at such thin air where most back country skiing takes place. I don't think it would have an effect.
Jan 7 2016 8:17PM
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iLLbiLLy
Posts: 2865 - Karma: 2,631
ChristianBHonestly, this probably will be long in the future, these would have a hard time operating at such thin air where most back country skiing takes place. I don't think it would have an effect.


With the exception of colorado, I'd say most backcountry terrain is below 10,000 ft (at least in the US).

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure most the heli-ski operations in alaska (valdese, haines) operate in areas below 6000 ft.

I know from experience that smaller quadcopters are fine around 10k feet. Of course you lose some performance but I'm not sure it would be a deal breaker.
Jan 7 2016 9:17PM
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HAMNATION
Posts: 814 - Karma: 1,720
NO but you can buy a sic sled for like 4 g's
Jan 7 2016 9:20PM
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iLLbiLLy
Posts: 2865 - Karma: 2,631
HAMNATIONNO but you can buy a sic sled for like 4 g's


Take it from someone who has two "sic" sleds...

1: 4k isn't going to get you anything that sick. You'll be lucky to find an 09/10 RMK/Summit 800 with under 2.5k miles in good shape. And then, you'll probably blow the top end within 500 miles and need to drop another 1.5k into it.

2: You'll buy it for skiing and then realize that it's actually REALLY hard to double up on top of anything worth skiing. By the time you're actually good enough to do so, you'll be having too much fun joyriding the son of bitch to actually want to ski.
Jan 7 2016 10:04PM
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Casey
Posts: 7847 - Karma: 24,309
It reminds me of that section of Art of Flight where they got in that big argument with the Heli pilot about wherever they were trying to go. It seems like a lot of people will likely die if it were just up to Jerry and the Boys where they want to ski.
Jan 7 2016 10:32PM
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Caze
Posts: 37 - Karma: 195
iLLbiLLyWith the exception of colorado, I'd say most backcountry terrain is below 10,000 ft (at least in the US).

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure most the heli-ski operations in alaska (valdese, haines) operate in areas below 6000 ft.

I know from experience that smaller quadcopters are fine around 10k feet. Of course you lose some performance but I'm not sure it would be a deal breaker.


Yeah, but I think it being either a quad or double copter its rotors are not as powerful as a normal heli. Personally doubt this kind of technology is anywhere near in the future.
Jan 7 2016 10:35PM
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HAMNATION
Posts: 814 - Karma: 1,720
iLLbiLLyTake it from someone who has two "sic" sleds...

1: 4k isn't going to get you anything that sick. You'll be lucky to find an 09/10 RMK/Summit 800 with under 2.5k miles in good shape. And then, you'll probably blow the top end within 500 miles and need to drop another 1.5k into it.

2: You'll buy it for skiing and then realize that it's actually REALLY hard to double up on top of anything worth skiing. By the time you're actually good enough to do so, you'll be having too much fun joyriding the son of bitch to actually want to ski.


You can get a decent skidoo for under 5 g's if you look. and if you ride Canadian you can actually ride some dope lines at places like Montezuma.

If you just want to shuttle runs even an 02/04 670 will work for some things if your not just going out sled-necking.
Jan 7 2016 11:39PM
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