The big sky of Alaska. Photo: Mitch Riley
“You should get in touch with a friend of mine in Alaska, he’s been doing some flying out there.”
When pilots you respect – the pilot emailing was a world record holder – say things like that, it’s time to take a look.
What we discovered when we followed up is amazing. Will Brown, a young XC pilot in the States, has been flying multi-day vol-bivoauc trips through the Alaskan mountains for a couple of years now.
Often alone, sometimes with a friend, he’ll head off into bear country, hack his way up to above the treelike, and take off into the wild.
Days later he’ll arrange a pick-up from a friend in a light plane – they use them like taxis in Alaska – before resting up and planning his next trip.
The 25-year-old son of PWC stalwart Jack Brown, Will has been flying since he was 12.
“The trip I’ve written about here is one of nine vol bivouac trips I did in summer 2014. Some were only overnight. Five were solo. This is what I love doing.”
The full article, written in impeccable style, is in Cross Country 157, Jan/Feb 2015.
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