Backcountry Skiing..Your Winter Window Into The Chugach.
Specifically went for better pit data today. Continued whomping, inconclusive pit test, lack of natural activity with oddly….abundant skier triggered events all add up to red flags. Skied up onto Worthington Glacier as an ideal place for a pit as the snowpack is undisturbed by wind and drifting which is compounding these variable and unique conditions. With a perfect test […]
Read more
Excellent touring conditions in the Pass today with parties spread out and enjoying some solstice sun. Avalanche conditions were dominated by remote triggers by not only our party but another on lower Harveys Ditch on Little Odessey. Another sled remote-trigger is visible just over the Pass along the roadside. Here’s the important stuff followed by a few touring pics as […]
Read more
SKI – VERY GOOD with 6-8″ new over old-snow making for nice powder skiing in the north Odessey Arena. Skied laps from mid-mountain in Schoolbus today on BD Converts giving the new gear a shakedown. Catcher’s Mitt would be a good call. As we enter the solstice season, the windows for decent light are narrowed to a few hours a […]
Read more
Kind of a sad day as I retired my Black Dimond Drift skis which served me well over the last seasons of my guiding life. Our monogamous relationship is rare in these times, but we over came all sorts of difficulties, from weather to sastrugi. But nothing was better than the skin track we set which at times were frankly […]
Read more
Route and pit picture from this am. Flurries in the forecast.
Read more
While Valdez remains on pace for it’s driest year in history, we are also experiencing ansnowless November with 1.8″ of rain. Freezing rain has occurred which is rare for Valdez. In most years, November is very snowy, but can give way to a brutal snow drought in December. The other thing missing from winter is a wind event. The reasons […]
Read moreSomewhere on Blueberry Hill today, BT addresses his bike.
Read more