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.

Green Mountain Backcountry Adventures

I miss the fabulous tree skiing of the east coast.  I recently spent 30 days in Upstate New York visiting the family, and was rewarded with a ski trip in Northern Vermont to ski the steeps of the East.  Long time ski partner Pat Cuffe and I spent 3 days skiing in the Green Mountains.  After a lift served mandatory penance at Killington, we headed north to unchartered territory (for us) in the Jay State Forest.

The night of our arrival greeted us with 8" of low density blower powder.  All the groomers were boilerplate, but the trees held the goods.  Skiing runs like "Timbuktu", "Andre's Paradise" and "Beaver Pond Glade", we stuck to the glade skiing all day long - making the brutal ride up the chair facing 60mph wind gusts worth it.  After a burger and brew at the Tram Haus Lodge, we got after it the next day with some Jay Peak side country.  Not before some medication for my knees....800mg Motrin and all the whiskey my stomach could handle.

We broke trail from Jay Peak to Big Jay, on an illegally cut trail by the Jay Peak Resort crew in 1998.  But this makes the access relatively easy via the 1 mile trail to the wooded plateau summit of Big Jay.  The drifted soft snow wasn't a challenge and the views were epic, with both Mount Washington in New Hampshire and Mount Marcy in New York visible on our ascent.

I've skied with Pat for nearly 20 years.  And I think this single run down the east face of Big Jay was the pinnacle our our ski pursuits.  From skiing across the street from his house in Chadwicks, New York to dropping the "nipple-deep" powdery riches of Vermont's Yellow Birch and White Pine gladed runs - this one certainly comes out on top.  Just minutes before dropping into the white room...

I couldn't possibly explain how good the skiing was, so I put together a small video.  This tour can be found in David Goodman's eastern backcountry bible, Best Backcountry Skiing in the Northeast: 50 Classic Ski Tours in New England and New York.

Front Range Adventures

After the "Thanksgiving Hurricane", we finally got some fresh snow in the Anchorage Bowl.  By the snotel counts, about 11 inches fell on the Hillside, and about 6 inches up our way in Eagle River.

We got a late start after the feast on Thursday, and headed local up to Hiland Road.  I had thoughts of hitting up the standard run to North Bowl, but it was nice to get some turns in the sunlight.  We headed up Harp just in time for sunset.

Marc laboring away at the essence of this blog.....The Uptrack.

Gayle was nice enough to be the "Pro-Pho" and graciously took some pictures of our descent.  This is one of my favorite runs on this side of the road.  Not too steep, but protected from the wind and usually holds good cold smoke.

Both Marc and I had our virgin run with our new ski setup's.  Here is Marc cashing in his hard work with the Icelantic Nomad's. 

I got a killer deal on the K2 Coomback's (thanks Luc and www.telemarkdown.com).  And I loved every turn...

After a resort day on Saturday with Meg, where I skied with every snowboarder from Anchorage on the "East Coast Ice", Tyler (AKA. B-real) and I headed out for some turns on the front side.

Big mistake.

I thought the 11 inches of snow, and the recent 5 inches of snow would have helped.  We found some windswept snow up high on Peak 3, and nothing but rocks underneath.  Needless to say, we trashed our new boards.  Now the brand new Coomback's are in desperate need of some shop time with the base welder.

We linked about 10 turns, and then lots o' rocks.  Not to include the frustrating climb and descent through the Alders.  I don't recall Peak 3 being so hard to get in/out of.....

Tyler making his way through the shooting gallery on his new setup of Icelantic Nomad's.  Copy Cat...

The skiers reward.  Specially imported Utica Club brewski's.  Nothing goes better with skiing than an "Uncle Charlie's".

LB is on the injured reserve today.  She got pretty scraped up on the breakable rain crust, as did all the dogs I saw out skiing on Friday.

Where's my Dad?

The Raina and Peeking Amphitheater

The Front Range goods are just that...good.  We've had a decent spring/summer snowpack, so it's couloir season (also know as cooler season, or coolie season).

Local Anchortown friends Matt, Agnes, Marc and Gayle headed close to home to explore what the North Fork Eagle River Valley had to offer.  And I must say, it had lots to offer - sunshine, warm temps, corn snow...and Coolers!!

The group headed up Falling Water Creek.

Mission essential snacks.

Making our way to "Couloirland"

Said couloir's on the lookers right.  We skied the main couloir off of Raina's NE face.  We certainly scoped out the N couloir, but it looked pretty burly.

So about now the group is split.  Gayle took a much mellower route that overlooked Ram Valley, and Matt and Agnes basked in the spring sun, took a nap, and ate some bon-bon's.  Meanwhile, Marc and I booted the 2000' NE couloir.

Marc earnin' it.

Bootin' the coolie.

It was all ice axe's and crampons for this boot pack.  Marc and I finally made it to the top, after a dicey top-out on the cornice.  I must say, we were tattered.  We shoved some food down our throats, drank some water....oh wait i'm out of water.  That's what you get after 6 hours of climbing.

Polar Bear (center).  Notice the large crown face.  This slide down to glacial ice about two weeks ago.

This is the view from 6500'.  These pictures never do these runs justice. (Denali, Sultana, and Beguya in the distance)

The entrance was surprisingly steep...lets play guess the slope angle!

Enjoying the jump turns.

Marc taking advantage of the late May corn harvest.

So now it was time to gather the stragglers.  Matt and Agnes (both with fresh legs), set off on a sprint only to see corn snow rooster tails in their path.  We linked up with Gayle, and made the long run to the toe of the moraine.

We stopped and marveled at Raina's N couloir.  Matt was wishing he got the shot.

Agnes in awe.

The North Couloir of Raina Peak in all her splendid glory.  Definitely on the "to-do" list.

We finally transitioned back to sneakers, well some of us, and headed down the valley.

Making our way back, with Eagle Peak in the background.  Interesting note, this peak got skied a couple of times this year.

We finally made it back to the Delta Tango in about 9 and a half hours time, not a bad days work.  I grabbed Meg and LB, and we all enjoyed beers and dinner at Marc and Gayle's.

This is where our travels took us today.  ~10 miles round trip???

I also got a Spot for my b-day.  If yer lucky, yer on my email list.  If yer not, too bad soooo sad.

May in AK: Pastoral Peak and the Grandaddy Couloir

Well its been an awesome run of high pressure to welcome the month of May.  So good, that I had to bag work the first two days of this week and go skiing.  I didn't have much going on, so local photographer Matt Hage and I had plans to ski Mount Alpenglow after returning from Girdwood on Sunday.

Conversation in the car:
#2: "Hey what are you doing tomorrow?"
#1: "Nothing....why?"
#2: "Lets ski that [pointing to the large north face of Alpenglow]"

This run taunts every backcountry skier on their way to TPass.

But mother nature and the Six Mile Creek had their vote.  We got turned back here:

We brought hip waders and sunscreen.  But we forgot the packrafts.

So we headed to Turnagain as the backup plan, and toured up Taylor Creek in hopes of skiing Pastoral Peak....a run i've been wanting to ski for a long time now.

Matt making his way up Taylor Creek.

We got to the pass, and these were the sights.

I left #1 at the pass with some boot issues, and I pressed forward.  I made it up to summit in just over an hour to find powder preservation.

While on the summit taking in the views, I noticed this obvious couloir on the adjacent ridge - the Grandaddy Couloir.

Conditions, weather, and snow stability were so good that I had to go after it again today!

I got an early start, and was climbing by 0930.  I toured up Bertha Creek and made the pilgrimage in about 3 hours, taking my time.  I ran into a guy yesterday who was going to ski a line essentially on the northern side of Pastoral that drops further into Lyon Creek.  Here they are on the top.  They had plans to continue on and ski the Grandaddy...good on them.

The view from the top was terrific.  Carpathian is the obvious peak in the center.

Looking down the Lipps ridge.  The cooler is below.

The B-I-G P-O-P-P-A on the approach.

This way back home.

The entrance to this chute was hairy.  There was a massive cornice, and I didn't feel like dropping it with me on top.  Mandatory air was not in my vocab for the day.  I skirted around the skiers right and entered from the side.  It was boot-top powder goodness!  It got a little punchy and scrapy down low, but it was powdery the entire run.

All in a days work.

Another look, riding the sepia bandwagon.

And the parting shot...

My legs are smoked, blisters on my feet, i'm sunburned and dehydrated.  And now I have to go back to work.  Here's the trip route:

Note: no Yellow Labradors were harmed in the aforementioned powder pursuit.

Swiss Bowl

Its back to my old stomping grounds.  After a morning of Eagle River being socked in, overcast skies, and snow (that's right, May 1st and its still snowing), I headed to the South Fork for some spring turns.  I received reports of an isothermic snowpack in the SoFo, but I certainly didn't find that on the shady northies.

The backyard.

After a short hike, I found myself at the bottom of Swiss Bowl, a run I usually do this time of year.  But it seemed that the peak was just socked in with low hanging clouds.  I continued to climb, and found myself on the top of the ridge.  I wanted to ski this line, from upper right to lower left.  Notice the lower flanks of Eagle Peak in the sun (Note:  future ski destination)

Just my luck.  As I reached the summit of Peak 4219, it started snowing and heavy thick clouds blew in.  After a bite to eat, I was forced to ski in the soup.  This area got a freeze last night, so there was no collapsing underfoot.  The skiing was heinous.  I did survival turns down most of the run.  The snow was almost boilerplate, with a dusting on top, and very grabby.

Skiing solo.  The lower valley of the South Fork, Eagle River.  (Note: future packraft destination)

I was able to ski all the way back to the parking lot.  I couldn't do that a year ago....cuz Mount Redoubt had a vote on last year's spring skiing season.

Swiss Bowl on the right, and my run in the center.

I heard of a skier triggered slide on Hiland Road this past week.  Temps reached 60 F this past week.  Shown below is an area that slid on Superbowl Sunday, caused by some F-15 pilots.  This avy slid all the way to some dude's house.  This run is called "Leighow".

Q: How do you know there's a fighter pilot at your party?
A: He'll tell you...

ok, one more...

Q: What's the difference between God and Fighter Pilot's?
A: God doesn't think he's a Fighter Pilot...

Lobita all loaded up.

And the finer things in life.  Thank you Alaskan Brewery.