Getting Back to Alaska...

My return greeted me with high pressure, clear skies and sub-zero temperatures.  B-real and I headed south to sniff out some softer snow.  The last storm rolled through nearly 2 weeks ago.  With longterm instabilities, we made the slog out to Eddies for a couple of runs.

It was -8F at the truck when we left, and at the bottom of Ingram Creek the temps read -15F on my thermometer.  With the cold temps and moisture source, we witnessed some of the largest hoar frost crystals i've ever seen.  They were the size of potato chips.

It was so cold that I didn't take any pictures of our ski runs.  I was too busy trying to get my hands and feet to stay warm.  Our skins didn't even stick to our skis on the second run, so we only made it about half way up.  Eddie's was pretty tracked up, but we managed to find some nice soft snow on the lower elevation flanks.  Tyler slogs it back out to the road

Pausing for the ever-so-famous "end of tour group shot i'm freezing so lets hurry up".  Like the beard?

But this never gets old.  Redoubt Volcano taken from the Seward Highway.

Oh yeah, the only cars in the parking lot were Toyota Tundra's.  Seems the only folks who can hack the cold were Tundra drivers....go figure.