It does exist, for a limited time only

view of W. side of SFER with a front range peaks backdrop

     So I have always wanted to do a New Year's Eve ski but have always been working/had plans/etc.  Not planning it, I realized I had accomplished this goal upon returning to the car today.  The plan was to ski from the South Fork Eagle River Valley, either head up Hunter pass and shoot some ptarmigan or get some good vertical on the east side. 
     We got an earlier start as weather called for clear skies in the AM though they quickly turned cloudy with flat lighting.  Neither of us had skied any of the bowls other than off Harp, and some of them looked like they still had snow.  I believe the area is called 3 bowls.  Access was questionable: we utilized the pull-off on the left just before the turn to cross the river heading down to the South Fork Trailhead.  My maps show an access point here but there was a no trespassing sign on the north end of the lot. 
     We followed the wind-blown remnants of another skin track to the saddle below the summit and skied fair to decent wind-affected snow: soft but a little variable, shallow in some spots but with tundra underneath we were able to conserve our p-tex.  We stopped at the convergence of the bowls and returned up the left-middle ridge.  This gave us a great view of the incoming weather front, winter sun-soaked Denali poking out above the dark blue clouds, the barren front-range slopes and an up-close examination of the snow crystals pelting our eyeballs(15-20mph winds).  There is also an eerily similar "east" north bowl on this side of the valley. 
     This was a surprisingly good run.  The gully we skied was mostly sheltered, the cow's parsnip flowers gave us refuge from the flat light and we skied a run with more vertical than the legs could endure.  Snow was soft and consistent.  I am still pleasantly surprised at the pleasant conditions we found.  I didn't think they existed in the local mountains at this point. 
     Though the days are short they still have the amazing views and sky unique to this place.  One of my favorite is the sunrise/set on the arm during winter as seen on The Uptrack blog.

The snow made skinning slippery.  Mr. 3puffies made it look easy.

this was the front moving our way



manitoba summit

A wifey has managed to venture into the backcountry on skis....I'll keep you posted



summit lake view from manitoba

so cold, so close (but not enough)

     So clear skies are predicted and I finally have some time off work again.  We just got 12+inches throughout the area.  12+" of  really light-and-fluffy on top of nothing.  It has been so warm that I forgot what cold was until I went out the past two days.  Yesterday was chilly and today was cold, subzero, luckily with no wind.  This makes for nice skinning temps if you can keep the face and hands warm but other than that it gets unpleasant.  Not too cold to keep me from seeking the goods that were not to be found in the front range.
     I went out to Arctic Valley yesterday with modest results.  As previously mentioned it was cold.  Half the time we were in a fog cloud which made for some really nasty vertigo while at the same time we were nicking rocks and tundra.  The other half the time there was a protective base from the previous snowfall, and the lighting was fair.  Summary: we need more snow folks.  Or if I could remember the routes that had consistent snow left on them before this snowfall.
     Then today I figured I would hit up what I thought was the tundra-covered slopes on the powerline side if peak 2-3.  I skinned out Powerline and ascended near the saddle between the two. Things were looking good until about 3/4 of the way up so I skied from there after peeking over to the Canyon road side(looked super thin).  I found out that the Powerline side was just as thin until 75% of the way down.  Yup, 2 core shots.  So not worth it in the skiing sense but not a total loss as the scenery was amazing, I can check off a ski down the Powerline side, exercised Lucy-dog, saw some ptarmigan/moose and put myself that much closer to legitimately needing new skis.  Probably skins too.

Notch(yet)

     So out of desperation, lack of time and the need for sun I headed to Girdwood where webcams showed clear skies up high. I needed to get some vertical under my belt so when the snow flies I can enjoy. After all it is already December. I mindlessly decided to tour up to the CPG hut to assess snow conditions: the cat track is not yet skiable but is skin-able. Up high seems to have enough but I turned it at the hut rather than the peak because I was running out of daylight before I could really ski anything. I think up high would ski well it is just etting there. The view was worth it though, rugged snow-streaked peaks popping out of a cloud-blanketed valley, the Gwood glaciers still visible, the alpenglow and sunset over the arm, ahhhh(like the ahhh after sipping a cold one on a hot day). Refreshing. Near the top I could tell I hadn't been skinning much. We will see what the next few days hold.

 

 

Ress v Res

     So given the minimal snowpack and long period without snow we thought it would be a good idea to snowbike the popular Resurrection Pass trail.  The plan was to bike into Devil's Pass from the North Trailhead and then out the other side in 2 nights/3 days.  I don't have a snowbike so I rented one from APU.  It turns out they rent a great assortment of gear to the public, including snowbikes, at an affordable rate.  We headed down Friday late afternoon and were on the trail by 6pm-ish.
     We found warm temps getting warmer and a trail that was decreasingly traveled the farther we went in.  The goal was Devil's Pass(15mi?) assuming smooth travel.  We made it about 4 miles in and started to push the bikes given the unpacked and increasingly soft snow.  It was here I decided I am not a night-travel person.  All that could be seen was the few feet my headlight could illuminate which takes away the great panoramas.  After sweating and slogging in soft snow we decided to just stash the bikes at a campsite and hike to the nearest cabin.
     Upon arrival to the Caribou Creek cabin we checked maps to confirm our location and re-evaluate our plan for the weekend.  We would indeed turn back given our lack of optimism on the ease-of-travel.  We attempted to start a fire about five times, each time smoke filling the cabin and no fire.  It had to have been the stove and leaky chimney.  Of the few outdoor things I'm good at, fire starting is one, and this thing would not go.  So now I was cold, no fire, no primary objective met, I carried 1 gallon of stove fuel for nothing and weather is bunk on my long stretch off work again........... 
     Sleep helps a lot, so does food and a good sleeping bag.  I felt renewed the next morning with the sun mostly out and a new day.    Temps cooled off during the clear night and it was refreshing to have watched the stars.  The trail was relatively harder packed so when we returned to our bikes we were able to bike most of the way back to the TH.  It was here I discovered how bad my rear felt from the pack and the hard seat.  It was a miserable ride in that sense, but easy as it was mostly downhill and beautiful because we could see the incredible landscape in the daylight.  I will definitely return, maybe this winter but no doubt next summer.