WINTERSPORTS -- A Hayden man's extreme skiing video has won an online competition for viewer votes this week, launching him and two freeriding buddies from the training grounds of Schweitzer Mountain Resort to the slopes of New Zealand's Mount Cook for the World Heli Challenge in September.

Essex Prescott and members of Team Vacation -- Dylan Siggers and Leo Zukerman -- received the most online votes in the World Heli Challenge Call Up competition, according to a just-posted media release.

The extreme skiers and filmmakers used a good dose of humor along with helicopters to drop in powder hounds pounding steep radical slopes. 

Team Vacation has qualified to compete with one other team in the World Heli Challenge — a nine-day, freeride competition including heli-accessed freeriding for up to two days, during which each team will edit a 5-minute video that will be promoted and seen around the world.

Each team will be assigned a professional action photographer to document their extreme skiing challenge and create a portfolio for the Canon Shootout, sponsored by Canon, Inc.

If Team Vacation wins the World Heli Challenge, they will receive more than $8,000 along with camera gear and other prizes.