Category: Backcountry News

I will be attending the Northwest Avalanche Center Snow and Avalanche Workshop in Seattle at the University of Washington on November 8th. The speakers list presents an excellent opportunity to hear from experts in the field including Mike Hattrip, Pascal Haegeli and Martin Volken. I’ll file a report when I get back on what I learned from a workshop focused […]

Really interesting last weekend on my annual Worthington Glacier Terminus survey. Every fall I walk the terminus of the middle moraine built of ice-slickened rock as the glacier continues it’s unrelenting melt. It’s quite profound loosing a 100 yards a year of ice nearly 3 stories high. I have placed rock tarns marking the retreat over the years on this […]

A quick glance at my skinning logs show October 15th as the normal first ski day in Thompson Pass. I used to get first tracks(and last!) all the time, but now it’s rare with so many skiers living in and around Valdez. Sometimes it comes earlier, like a memorable day powder skiing on the Loveland on October 4, 2013. As […]

Seems like there is renewed interest in Valdez peak bagging this summer. Though many of the summits around Valdez were first climbed in the early 80’s by the aggressive “Peak-a-Week Club”, winter interest soon left the peaks a paradise for winter ascents and ski descents. Of course the main reason we don’t see many summer summits is access. Lack of […]

The Department of Natural Resources has denied two(2) Land Use Permit applications by Black Ops submitted last spring  One permit would have allowed Black Ops use of a portion of the old Valdez Heli-Camp site at Mile 18.  In the decision the Department noted potential conflicts with Alaska Snowboard Guides who have a permit for the site issued in 2014. […]

Mt Dimond gets spelled wrong as often as it is skied.  From movie credits to ski industry advertising they just can’t seem to get it right.  But it’s a simple mistake as with other editing errors in Alaska’s rich ski mountaineering history which bares some humor and correction. Donald Orth’s Dictionary of Alaska Place Names is the epitome of books on […]