Ceilings unlimited

A report of the advantages of helicopter travel as a means of reaching remote snow courses by snow surveyors of the Department of Water Resources, California is presented. With the advancement of helicopter design and construction this mode of over-snow vehicle is being used extensively and sufficient data has been accumulated to attack the problem from an economic standpoint, as compared to foot travel and over-snow surface vehicles. The saving s of time such as measuring 10 snow survey courses in one day as compared with 10 back breaking days by foot travel. Of course advantage must be taken of weather for flying. There seems to be no way to evaluate safety as both means of travel have their own safety hazards, and manpower fatigue falls into this same category. Large savings are made in eliminating overnight cabins, construction and maintenance. the speed with which data can be transmitted to the forecasting office has some consideration.