Backcountry Skiing..Your Winter Window Into The Chugach.
It is hard to explain years later the frightful events of an avalanche on the first ascent of SnowDome. When something like this happens to a skier, it can be hard to pick up the skins again, regain some confidence and get back out there doing it again. I think for all us ever involved in an incident know it […]
Read more
Temperatures to 18F through the Pass have made for icy approaches which give way quickly to good skiing with a few inches of aging, textured snow above 3000 feet. A few poseys out today in Schoolbus and Catchers Mitt with mostly sunny skies and calm winds. At upper elevations in exposed terrain expect to find some ice spots around rocks, […]
Read more
SKI – GOOD on 2″ of wet fresh snow over a solid base. Very little drifting. North aspects are by far the best as the Odessey Arena should be good for the next few days. Catchers Mitt will be sunniest. Skied Harvey’s Ditch on Little Odessey today and was real nice. AVALANCHE – LOW with some minor wet sluffing at […]
Read more
SKI – VERY GOOD Picked at Schoolbus this morning finding nice, but slightly damp new snow to 8″ over the weathered October layer to mid-mountain. Didn’t go into upper elevations where winds were moving snow. Cloudy conditions ruled with road fog and slightly easterly with mild temps. AVALANCHE – MODERATE No recent activity was noted. Stability was typical of new […]
Read more
Beautiful day and some more powder skiing with Valdezean Bonnie Cudnohufsky along. Both old schoolers, her on dyna-mites and such. After yesterday’s adventure some calmer terrain prevailed heading up to Catchers Mitt and finding excellent powder on the lowers and plenty of “flagging” off peaks from mostly northerlies. Bonnie breaks. Did my first pit of the season. Looks can be […]
Read more
Chased JPond up the right vertical of the H (helifree?) Couloir on the northwest side of Odessey Peak. My 5th powder day this month and getting after some of the only skiing in the northern hemisphere. But this is not unusual for the Valdez Chugach. There are a few lines that seem to set up earlier than most with very […]
Read moreTransitioning to a summer full of human-powered activities from road cycling to triathlons, day hikes and backbacking in Alaska. This weekend has 5 Valdez women, including Tabitha, in the Gold Nugget Triathlon in Anchorage and I’ll have a report up on Sunday. Good luck gals! Fortunate enough today to capture some pretty dramatic video after I climbed the hillside to […]
Read more