Valdez Ski Report March 28, 2015 – 1st Nominee Rotorhead of the Year

Wonderful day on the Pass with an early start finishing off Schoolbus which skied good and stable and  “done by one”.  Followed by others looking for the fresh turns with 4-5″ of less dense new snow with altitude.

Bound to happen, but I was taken aback seeing Black Ops tracking up Loveland Basin first thing on a sunny Saturday morning with numerous clients.  What really confounds me is the  endless abundance of powder as far as one could see, and they chose Loveland. Not sure if the guide or company is aware of how nice that area is for locals. It provides easy acesss and great skiing wether your on skins or doing shuttle runs with sleds and boards.   It is not ethical for a “commercial” heliski operation to use a popular “public” recreation area in the Pass. It displaces common routes locals use all winter. Give us a break.   By noon, as locals began arriving on the Pass, many where disappointed to see a local stash of untracked on a nice Saturday a lll tracked up by heliskiers to save the company a few bucks by not having to operate elsewhere.  Thumbs down to Black Ops, their guides and their clients who don’t have a clue.   If you flew with Black Ops today ask them about it and tell them you don’t wanna be skiing runs popular with locals because it is simply unethical to do so considering the money you are spending.

 

Meanwhile John and Michelle Cullen(locals) tour up my skin track set earlier in the day to Schoolbus.