Sunday, September 9, 2007

Heli-hiking, ruining the environment you're supposedly enjoying

Leave it to elitist snob newspaper The New York Times to publish one of the most anti-environmental and hypocritical travel stories about heli-hiking. This new sport is inspired by heli-skiing, where skiers who aren't content with regular ski runs, get helicoptered to the untouched powder of the back country in order to "tear it up."

Heli-hiking is for people who want to pay exorbitant fees (excerpt from article: "You also don’t have to be rich: not counting the airfare, I paid $2,400 for my trip," says writer Joe Nocera. Not sure how much the NYTimes pays him, but last time I checked, $2,400 for a joyride up a mountain wasn't just change lying around in my pocket...) to be helicoptered to the top of a mountain because they are too out of shape to actually hike up it from the bottom. These are probably the same type of rich out-of-shape idiots who go up Mount Everest and expect that their wealth will protect them from death.

In any case, enjoying nature is one thing, but to actually go out of your way to take a carbon spewing helicopter to the top of a mountain to claim you are hiking is absolutely ridiculous. Thanks Joe for having another one of those environmentally irresponsible articles all in the name of fun. And to think that you actually felt sore muscles by going hiking which is a physically exerting sport, that's absolutely amazing.

Read the full article: Five-star wilderness

1 comment:

  1. Except Joe isn't really ruining the environment is he? Just like youre not saving it by critisizing Joe. Where do you get of telling peolpe to not take helicopter rides for fun ? Go Joe is what I say.

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