S Couloir

Last week Bryan proposed the idea of heading out to the S Couloir on Ptarmigan Peak. It seemed like the stability and weather was going to be good, and that there was going to be enough snow. I hadn't ever felt like I could ski the S Couloir because it was a big steep don't fall line. But this winter I have been getting out and skiing a lot and I've been feeling really confident on my skis. Despite that I still borrowed a friend's whippet (a ski pole with an ice axe on the top for self arresting) so that if I fell I wouldn't go sliding over the cliffs at the bottom.

So last Saturday Bryan, Ian, Danielle and I meet up at the Glenn Alps trail head and skied up Powerline Pass to the North face of Ptarmigan Peak. After driving across Anchorage to one of the most popular trail heads and skiing for 75 minutes to the base of the S Couloir we were blown away to find out that we were the first ones to go out there to ski since the last snow fall; the couloir was completely untracked. As it turned out the powder was perfectly consistant from the top to the bottom. It was some of the best skiing I've had this season, and definitely the best run I've ever done.

To top everything off Bryan, Ian and I went back to their place, carried the couch out onto the deck and lounged on the deck drinking Coronas and eating halibut fajitas. It was the perfect spring day.

Secret Stash

After a dry spell in my BC skiing, I was pretty stoked to get out for three days this weekend. Although temperatures have been hanging around -10 F at the ridge tops, the hardy few that have been getting out there have been treated to empty slopes. On Saturday I got out with Jeff, and Ian for a day at Lipps where we only saw one other group of two. The skiing was pretty good considering we haven't had snow for a little while.

On Sunday I got out with Rob for an epic day! We got an early start and skied 4 laps, totaling 6,600 vertical feet of skiing. 5,500 feet of that was nice powder! We were even able to get back to Anchorage by 5pm so that I could work up my first video from my GoPro.



I went back out today to the secret stash that Rob and I hit up on Sunday and did three more laps with Karl, Jeff, and Andy. After a 10 lap, 14,000 foot weekend in the back country I'm worked. Time to recover for the next weekend.

November Skiing

Well it took a little while longer than I had hoped to get these out because I wasn't super stoked with the photos. The light was pretty flat this day I had a hard time getting anything other than grey. In the afternoon as the clouds started to break, I started to get some dramatic skies and low angle light. I've got a few landscapes that I've yet to work on. Anyways, after a bit of editing, and a little break, here a few few photos from early November. The skiing was great for two weeks.... and then the rain came.

We'll see what's in store for the weekend. Unless I start hearing good reports about the ski conditions I think Karl and I are going to head out and go ice climbing on Saturday.

Stay safe, be careful, and have fun!

As the back country season is getting under way remember to brush up on your avalanche safety and first aid skills. Nothing could ruin an awesome powder day than better than watching your best friend get swept away and not know how to handle it, or getting buried yourself. Get out there with your friends and practice using your equipment. Unfortunately, I missed out on some good ol' beacon practice being stuck in Petersburg last weekend. I'll just have to organize one myself. Anyone game?

I have always been nervous and anxious in the back country. I never really went up unless I went with someone that knows more than I do or I went to places that I knew really well, under conditions that I understood. Nothing really drove home the safety concern as watching someone get buried. Thankfully I didn't have to do this first hand; someone posted a helmet-cam video of themselves getting buried and dug up. It is a very powerful video, and is definitively worth watching if you are even considering going out in avalanche country.



Since watching the video I have been reading as much as I can on snow science and avalanche safety. I couldn't imagine getting buried. It seems like one of the scariest things ever. Please, stay safe, be careful and have fun out there.

For avalanche conditions in Turnagain Pass check out the Friends of the Chugach website. They have web cams, weather stations, accident reports, and (as the season gets underway) seven day a week avalanche advisories. A friend of mine told me that his Dad sat him down and hand him read all of the avalanche accident reports before heading out in the back country. Recently, as I have found this information, I have been reading them and learning a lot. Take the time and check them out yourself. It is nice to learn what conditions and judgment calls led to the accident; learn from other people's mistakes and try not to let the same thing happen to you.

If you need to refresh on your avalanche safety, or learn up on it, you can visit the Alaska Avalanche School. They have classes and courses throughout the winter.

And now for our feature presentation.....Snowyaking

A "Snowyaking" Movie Review

"Snowyaking" features Jason and Paul in their first grand adventure. The movie starts out at their apartment. Within minutes of meeting up, the two of them devise a plan to do the first winter descent of a small tributary of Rabbit Creek. In no time Paul and Jason have their boats and gear loaded up in the truck and blast into the mountains.

The movie continues with their slog into the headwaters of the creek. The real action begins when the two of them start the first descent. The trepid duo soon find out that kayaks are very fast on the snow and for all intensive purposes can not be controlled. The first drop easily skips the snowyakers over small rocks and tussocks and sends them speeding into a patch of willows. Paul's first attempt ends after landing sideways and barrel rolling down the mountain. Jason fairs much better by crashing into a patch of willows. They soon learn that their only option for stopping is to crash into the willows. The best way to do that is to spin backwards and let the backpack take all of the impact.

The rest of the movie consists of the two adventurers advancing through the rest of the drops to the truck. At one point during the film they run into some skiers. The skiers really seem out of their element in the film. Who would think of skinning up a mountain in the winter and skiing down in a controlled fashion with mettle edged skis?

Screen shots

Paul rocking the atomic hat on the way up.

Jason slogging up the mountain.

Paul's first attempt.

Trying to turn.....

and ending up in an unintentional back "surf"


Off and away

Jason, ready for battle.

Jason, on the move.

Assuming the position

The usual end of things. Note the twisted pack.

Loaded up and ready to cruise.

(No actors, kayaks, or paddles were broken or injured in the making of this film. DO NOT try this at home! The stunts in this movie were performed by incredibly bored individuals, decked out in BMX armor, lifejackets, elbow pads, and helmets for protection, that had no clue what they were getting into. There is no actual film.)

Some people go to church....

and others go to the backcountry!

There is something truely special about skiing in the mountains. I felt especially gifted last Sunday when Zach, Jason, Karl and I went skiing out at Tin Can in Turnagain Pass.

The avalanche hazard was pretty high that day and most people were going skiing out at Alyeska. Turnagain Pass got dumped on the last couple days and there was a lot of unsettled snow. The plan was to ski the low angle slopes and trees. I was a little nervus about the conditions; but I was going with some really experience skiers and climbers. Zach is a guide for Mountain Trip and is soon off to Argentina to guide on Aconcagua and Jason is a long time climber and skier with a lot of experience. Between the four of us I felt that we could make some smart decisions.

While driving down to the pass we hit real thick blizard conditions along Turnagain Arm. We stopped in Girdwood for a little while to let things settle down before heading up to the pass. Thankfully by the time we got to the pass, things had settled down and it was starting to look like a blue bird day.

The skin up was amazing! The trees were loaded with snow and the sun was just coming up over the mountains. It didn't feel like I was in Alaska any more. I was completely overwhelmed.

Jason had the perfect quote for the day,"Boys, it gets better than this; but not much." It certainly couldn't get much better than being outside with three friends on such a fabulous day. I was so thankfull I wasn't in India at the time. I could definetally feel that there was something out there keeping me from India so that I could be there that day. I felt much more of a connection that day than any time that I had spent in a church. There is something to be said about the power and majesty of the mountains.

Jason and the trees somewhere under all that snow.

Jason.

Karl

Zach

Sunburst in the morning.

Karl, Zach and Jason skinning up.

Wow!

Karl and Zach with the top in sight.

Knee deep skin track!

Karl

Karl, Zach and Jason (left to right) on the top

Sunburst, right before the last run.

Thanksgiving

Sadly I wasn't able to make it up to Fairbanks for Thanksgiving this year. Instead I spent the day skiing from my cabin in the mountains to the east of Anchorage. Jason, Cassie and I got an early start and set the skin track up the mountain. Unfortunately everyone else decided not to use it and skin right up the best line. Oh well, I guess they just had to deal with a skin track that gets skied out.

The snow was pretty decent up there. There was six inches to a foot of new on top of hard pack in the chute. We decided to stick to the lower angle terrain and out of the rocks due to the avalanche hazards.

All in all it was a great way to get out and share some powder with friends before gorging on excellent food!

Cassie skinning up

Cassie

Jason with Cassie in the background

Jason

Jason practicing his dry tooling technique in his "manskos".

Ice and Snow!

On the first and second of the month Cassi and I headed out for a grand adventure north of town. The plan was to head out to the Matanuska Glacier for some ice climbing then head over to Hatchers for some tele skiing. After attending a wild Halloween party, we got off to a slow start on the first and didn't make it out to the Mat until 4:00, just in time to watch the alpine glow on the Talkeetna and Chugiak Mountains as we climbed.

The climbing on the glacier was a little harder than I remembered it to be. The ice was much harder and colder than when I went climbing in July with Brian. On top of that the twilight made it hard to see where the best placements were. Anyways, no excuses, it was crazy awesome!

The next morning we met friends at Hatcher Pass for some tele skiing. We had quite the mix of people out there. Between the eight of us we had everyone from complete beginners to some awesome AT skiers trying tele for the first time. It was the prefect set up for a great day! By the end of the day the snow was pretty tracked up between the eight of us and ton of other people that were out there. If you're heading out to the Hatcher's area for skiing you'll have to work for some fresh tracks.

Cassi hiking into the glacier

Talkeetna Mountains at sunset.

The Matanuska Glacier and Chugiach Mountains at sunset.

Where we climbed on the Mat.

Jason and Adele skinning up to April Bowl

The view from Hatchers

Andrew on the top of the ridge.

Cassi and Brant celebrating an awesome weekend!

OIA!!

WOW!! Life IS good! Only in Alaska, especially Anchorage. Today was one of those days where you are just jazzed on life, and you can't possibly see how anyone could have any more fun.

This evening Karl and I busted out to Peak 3 for some freshies after school. April has been really good this year; we have been getting dumped on. Today we got a good eight inches of snow in town. I just had to get out after my test this afternoon. Karl and I left the car at 7:15 (PM mind you, OIA) and and started skinning up Peak 3. There was at least a foot and a half of new snow up there! Thankfully someone had already busted out a skin track up the mountain. On the down side this guy wasn't the smartest peanut in the turd. His skin track was straight up, not very forgiving for those with bad skins. On top of that he was out by himself on a day with A LOT of fresh snow. I watched him ski a stupid line through some rocks, setting off a small avalanche (or a large sluff, however you want to look at it). After watching that Karl and I decided to stop where we were and ski down the more gentle portion of the slope. After consulting with Lars and Kristina (who we ran into out there) we decided to ski the skier's right side of the bowl, which is less prone to sliding. WOW! It was pretty epic skiing. The snow was waist deep (granted we were tele skiing and we were squatting down a little). Lars was saying it was the most snow he had ever skied on Peak 3. Sadly the batteries ran out on my camera ran out at the top and I couldn't get pictures of Karl skiing down. But I'm planning on heading out tomorrow morning and getting a few runs in before class at 1.

Karl skinning up just as the light was getting sweet.

Wow! Anchorage is awesome!

The view from where we started down. Shortly after I took this picture an eagle flew over head. It was really cool!! Too bad my battery died (those darn dramatic batteries always dieing on us).

Karl

Made it up. Hurry for the white stuff.

And off into the sunset.