Backcountry Skiing..Your Winter Window Into The Chugach.
SKI – Looks like we are going to get some significant snowfall over 10″ on Thompson Pass through Friday, setting thing up for some nice conditions building over a hard base. This storm should quickly soften the challenging ski conditions over the past week. While the lower elevations are in poor shape, the snowpack above 2000′ is near normal […]
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SKI- Wind hardened and eroded surfaces dominate Thompson Pass as moderate winds followed moderate snowfall to bring in the New Year and sunny skies. TB and I were able to tour to Moonlight Pass and back to 24-Mile today. But before some ski beta it was very disheartening to see this past memory of bigotry and hatred flying […]
Read moreValdez, AK (Snow News Network). Two Valdez residents barely escaped from a roofalanche on Tuesday evening around 9 p.m. Mike “Moe” Moose (32) and Sap Bear (31) were riding their brightly decorated bike around the streets of Valdez, tandem, to celebrate the holidays. While riding up onto a porch, they were struck by the avalanche, cascading off the roof of […]
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A HIGH avalanche warning is warranted from Dec 30 0600 through Jan 1 1200. At this time a slow moving system is moving into Valdez and modeled to bring 1.6″ WE at elevations above 2000′ where the persistent weak layer is present. With winds predominantly southerly, expect highest risk on north aspects and cross-loading on west and east aspects. There […]
Read moreNice weekend comes to an end in Thompson Pass as skinners were out in good numbers. Also noticeable are quite a large number of human-triggered slides along the front range too numerous to list here, so the hazard I mentioned in the last report has been confirmed by unskilled and skilled “testers”. Should get 10″ or more of “upside down” […]
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SKI – Excellent powder conditions most everywhere away from gaps, ridges and passes as cold temps have dried things out on the surface. Toured up North Loveland along 27-Mile Icefall to beneath Tones Temple where winds were beginning to mess up the powder. AVY – Brisk winds from the north were flagging peaks along the Chugach divide at Thompson Pass […]
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Throughout my backcountry ski life, a number of safety devices have come along that one should have when traveling in avalanche terrain. A problem I’ve seen with some of these devices is that, at times, they give people too much confidence that they can survive riding a 100 mph avalanche to safety. Common terrain features such as cliffs, cornices, trees […]
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