PERRY BACKUS
Hanging upside down 300 feet above the ground from the skids of a helicopter isnât for the light-hearted.
âThatâs a lot of metal hanging in the air right over you,â said 27-year-old Karl Maes. âYou get a little shot of adrenaline every time. It may not look like it from the ground, but the helicopter is teetering about while youâre hanging there.â It s exhilarating, he said.
Maes was one of a three-member crew who had just rappelled down past towering ponderosa pines to a small patch of bare ground along the edge of one of the Ruffatto Ranchâs fields along Bass Creek Road north of Stevensville.