Sometimes he hops out of his pilot’s seat and kicks them over, sometimes he just “toes-in” his helicopter and uses his skids to make them crumble. Whatever method is called for, Tommy the helicopter pilot is on a mission to return the backcountry to its natural state and smash every single cairn he can spot through the windshield of his MD 500 Series helicopter while cruising around the mountains.
Creating cairns, manmade rock stacks, is an ancient method of establishing waypoints for backcountry navigation that dates back thousands of years. These days stacking rocks in the backcountry has gotten away from its traditional purpose and has become somewhat of an internet trend with folks making elaborate ascetically pleasing rock structures to photograph and share to their social media. The more remote the surroundings and the painstakingly designed the stack, the more likes you get. Its a vicious cycle for folks who don’t want to be reminded of civilization when escaping to into rugged natural beauty and Tommy the helicopter pilot is using his aircraft to demolish loads of cairns in a hard to reach places in a matter of minutes that would take someone of foot untold hours/days to flatten.
In his latest video, Tommy highlights a recent flight where he took down 32 rock stacks in just 30 minutes. Incredibly efficient, wildly effective.
While you may be under the impression that hiking around wilderness areas and stacking a few rocks to take a picture for your Instagram is a harmless activity, we want to be clear that it is not a victimless crime.
Beyond the obvious navigational hazards of purely ornamental rock stacking, there are environmental impacts as well. Any time a rock is removed from its embedded location insects, aquatic macroinvertebrates, fish, and animals can be forced from their hiding places and homes.
Additionally moving around rocks to fulfill your dreams of the ultimate Instagram picture may also generate faster rates of erosion.
Finally there is the Leave No Trace framework of minimum impact practices for anyone visiting the outdoors. While you might not be leaving behind trash when stacking rocks, you are diminishing natural beauty and inserting a pesky human reminder that you have been there.
Cheers to Tommy for his ace piloting skills and his mission to remove these blights on otherwise uninterrupted natural landscapes. Well done!
