Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/836019
This mesa may look unforgiving, but the views—from both upward salute and downward dog—are spectacular. Your helicopter (and some bubbly) await after your sweat session. Heli-Namaste! PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF MAVERICK HELICOPTERS HOW TO: RISE ABOVE NEED TO GET SOMEWHERE… LIKE A YOGA CLASS? SUMMON YOUR CHOPPER! YOU'RE NOT PRETENTIOUS, YOU'RE PRACTICAL. BY ANDREA BENNETT mesa in Valley of Fire, where, with Gardner's voice over headphones coaching us through a series of poses, we bal- anced over an endless, ancient view. Inaccessible by any other form of travel, it's as modern a perspective shift as you can get, and some would say a bargain. Maverick Aviation Group; 702-261-0007; maverick helicopter.com . Here are some words I hope you find comforting: You are not selling out on festival culture by taking a helicopter to EDC. There comes a time when we can all recognize that a glittery posterior stuck to the seat of a car in thousand-degree Vegas heat is not a neces- sary part of the experience. Likewise, heli-ubering to CES, flying a date to the base of the Grand Canyon, and now, choppering to yoga—are beginning to spell convenience over pretention. This is the seventh year Maverick Helicopters is transporting festivalgoers to EDC, says vice president of marketing Bryan Kroten. "We're moving 400 to 500 people a night," he says. "Anyone can fly there via helicopter. Some groups charter it, but we also offer per-person packages, so you never know who you'll be sitting next to." There are more helicop- ters in the Las Vegas market than anywhere else in the world, he says, which is making helicopter travel in the city a "mainstream" option. With the bulk of its flights taking visitors into the Grand Canyon (a two- hour sunset trip from the Strip that lands for Champagne in the base of the canyon and returns over the city lights is only $574 per person), "to be able to do offshoots like heliyoga is just moderniz- ing the experience," he says. And let's face it: There are some things you can only do by helicopter. On a recent trip with Silent Savasana cofounder Dray Gardner for Maverick's new HeliYoga- Limitless flight, we flew over the Technicolor-hued Rainbow Vistas to land atop a perilous-looking LIVING LAS VEGAS 112 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM