part 2




     So after an amazing day out in Turnagain pass "Loving to Ski" and another day off, I had to go back.  I took the dogs and showed up at work for an early morning meeting I thought I had, but didn't, then headed to the pass on another perfect day.  Winds were more calm than the previous day and there was just a hint of occasional clouds blowing through.
     This time I started from the Center Ridge parking lot with the intention of gaining Center Ridge and dropping into the Lyon Creek drainage and then skinning up toward the south-east slopes.  Given that it was a solo exploration day I rock a little more loosely when I am by myself: more time, more flexibility and potential for finding what's good but also what's bad without any pressure.  Off the bat, I found the bad(ish) by getting on the xc ski trail that parallels the highway and skinning for about a mile before deciding it was not taking me where I need to go and a creek crossing to correct it was not going to be on my agenda.  I turned around and got on the correct trail.

     Being on the correct trail, that follows the ridge splitting Lyon and Tincan creeks, I was anticipating a long slog on squirrely Nordy-made trails paved partially by snowshoes and sleds.  This was partially the case, but it was redeemed by the amazing views and winter wonderland-like scenery of trees, rolling terrain, and untracked snow with plenty of knolls for stop-and-gawk moments.



     Center Ridge is a tour I would recommend even to AT folks despite the lack of vertical, it's just gorgeous.  Then I dropped down into Lyon creek for a brief bit before heading up the south-east slopes.  It was a low-angle ascent, but were the snow a little better it would be a fun and mellow ski  filled with rollers, small ski-able drainages, and impressive views.  The upper slopes below  the col had sweet light powder, this turned into irregularly patterned windboard and powder until the lower slopes that were unaffected by wind which were all powder again.  By then it was afternoon and I was in for a perceivably hot skin up and out of the Lyon creek and back down Center Ridge to a point skiable to the road.  I noticed one party climbing Kickstep only because their voices carried so well despite being a whole mountain and valley away.  It's crazy-big out here. 

 



     While down there in Lyon creek I ran into a guy, I'll call him Redbob, who seemed to be in his 50s.  He was non-chalantly practicing his goofy-stance for snowboarding.  Given the time of morning it was apparent he had spent the evening out there so I quizzed him on conditions and what-not.  He is retired, lives in Anchortown but spends much of his winter at one of his 4-5 snow-caves throughout good riding terrain, including the past 3 days.  I liked how he was doing his own thing out there and loving every minute of it.  He had custom-made mittens, a fleece that looked like it was older than I, all the appropriate sunny mountain weather protection I should have had on, and other gear that looked as seasoned as he.  If I had more time I would have loved to stick around and see what he was about.  He didn't bust out a resume of wicked trips or summits or tell me what awesome stuff he had been up to or his latest gadget/gear purchase that was too expensive.  He was just loving to be in the mountains and that was good enough.  He was still lapping the lower slopes, putting lines down almost every gully when I descended through.  He pointed me toward his shelter so I could check it out for my own shelter-building reference and went back to riding.  Maybe I will be that lucky some day. Way to go Redbob, living the dream.



 

 The footage from the past 2 days: https://vimeo.com/89770469

 

 





I'm loving to ski!

     So I heard Turnagain was good and I trusted the forecasters in their prediction of sunshine. It paid off. Daylight is no longer a limiting factor, now it is energy and in a few weeks it will be snow.  My ski peeps were all working or out of town.  Solo it would be.

     I headed down with the goal of checking out something beyond the first clean slopes. I went up the valley with sunburst on my left and popped over that saddle. Pastoral was the goal.  The terrain was pleasantly untracked relative to stuff I had passed: wide open, sun-bathed, snow-blanketed rolling slopes had my eyes wide and my anticipation growing.  It was a great skin as well, knowing it would be almost all downhill to the car, all he work was done up front.  I had even picked out my line in the sunburst bowl.  Despite the heat I was lovin' the sunshine.

     I knew I would not be skiing from the summit with an ideal line, more likely a ridge to low-angle stuff, but a summit view on a clear day like this would be food for the soul.  The top was rimey and icy but boot-able, I would have preferred my whippet but spaced on that.  After seeing all I could see(the summit afforded me my best views of the area yet) I skied a few mellow lines back in the area and then skied my sunburst run to the car. The dogs were tired and so were my legs, but not too tired to return tomorrow............



view of pastoral and the approach



pretty much skied the shadow-line in that lower bowl. 

summit view

Lucy triggered and rode this one. 



before

After

the stuff dreams are made of

 

     So a break from work finally aligned with snow falling throughout the region.  Day 1 I headed to Turnagain Pass.  After trying it a few days earlier and finding heavy, wet snow and avy conditions too uncomfortable for slopes steep enough for speed I was skeptical about outcomes.   We passed the Tincan lot and continued to Fresno.  The lower slopes have a relatively safe angle and with alders still poking through they made for good visibility.  It was also a few degrees cooler yielding consistent snow that was more dry than wet.  Ascending immediately from the road is a perk of this slope.  The snow was still on the moist side but not wet.  It was drier as we ascended and we were pleasantly rewarded with fun conditions for a few laps. Skepticism denied. Fresno is now on my radar.


 

      Day 2 was the morning after a spring dumping for Anchorage.  27" on the south Atown hillside is what I heard. I love it when the forecasters become hindcasters in the favor of lots of snow.  First it was 2-5", then when it reached 6" it was 6-10" and finally 6-11". They must have given up then because I saw no changes after that and we got consistently more all over.  Needless to say, my thirst for Front Range Deep had grown so strong I did the unconventional attempt of a pre-dawn start, which would have worked if I didn't get stuck behind 4 snowplows.  Either way, Canyon Road had been plowed and I made to the TH stoked for first tracks.

     Stoke was quickly muted by the work of trailbreaking in 27": too deep to get my tips up and out of which means I was lifting snow on top of my skis.  I made it a few meters shy of the Peak 3 cliff band, too tired to finish it off and too eager just to get some downhill powder in.  I figured whoever showed up next could top it out, and two insanely fluffly laps later some Anchorage Avalanche Center folks did just that.  

     The rest is history.  The snow was deep and blower, the sky cleared and the wind was calm.  I went until I couldn't do it justice, and it was so worth it.  I now know why people have spray skirts and skis wider than 115mm.  It was great seeing all the people out and having enough powder to go around.  Peak 3 was tracked by the end of the day with nice, distinguished, sexy lines. 

     A short visit to Peak 2 later in the day also revealed a member of Team Corndog getting fabulous first tracks, even as late as 2pm......only in Alaska.

    

the classic peak 3 view, never gets old

yeah, it was that deep.  Don't worry, no skin tracks were damaged in the taking of this photo or the riding of this slope other than my dog taking a leak on it.

 

      Day 3: Despite my legs being good for nothing, my cold at it's 2nd day of havoc to my body, my left forearm developing a knot from sliding my pole through the snow rather than over I managed to get a "one-and-done" on Peak 4.  The winds had increased a little up high and an additional 3-4" fell.  Not enough to register on the avy radar, but noticeable.  The sun was trying to burn the clouds off but by mid-day had lost the battle.  I traversed from Peak 3 back to Peak 4 and skied the 'tweeners down and out.  It was a peaceful, zen-like outing and a great way to start the day.  The sun produced a encompassing glow, the snow dusted the alders enough to make it feel like winter again, the valley floor was dream-like in its silence and solitude.    

 

grim.......





 

     So I will try not to dwell on it, and get it all out right now.  WE NEED MORE SNOW! MY GOODNESS!

 

     So since my return from Maui I had been mostly XC skiing in prep for the Tour of Anchorage(TOA).  It is Anchorage's major XC ski race and draws well over 1000 people.  I signed up for the 50K and though not in as good of shape as last year, I was still excited because it is a fun race on mostly 'home trails'.  At bib-pickup they informed us due to low snow the race would be shortened.....to 26k.  It turned out to be fun but my heart was not in it, I had really wanted the challenge of the 50k.  In addition, I had an unusually low blood sugar episode lasting from end of the major hills for about 3 miles, initially mistaking it for nervousness of racing.  In addition I got creamed off one of the downhill corners by a Back-seat-Betty.



A beautiful day for a race with exceptional conditions despite the shorter course
 

 

     Sarah and I decided on such a nice day to head out Portage way for a scenic drive, check out the lake, and maybe even crust ski.  The lake was ice and skates would have been best but we spaced on that.  We headed out to the Placer area to see if crust skiing might work there.  We were pleasantly surprised that it did.  With calm and clear weather we skated around the drainage where we could.  It was enough to enjoy but we couldn't get too far up between thickening alders and thinning crust.  Alaska is just gorgeous.

 

 

     My next day off my determination to backcountry ski, my stubbornness, and my non-acceptance of the lack of snow drove me to what I hoped was a good run.  I could see it(KGK) had snow from town so I started at the Basher TH and was able to start skinning sooner than expected as the trail was packed.  After sliding over just as much grass, alder, roots, and rock as over snow I managed to escape to solid snowpack after booting only a few hundred feet.  Then I saw shadows of tracks in the upper bowl and down the middle.  Another blow to my already feeble winter soul. 

     I had come all this way for this line so I skied it anyway, the tracks having less effect than I thought.  Up high it was deeper and softer than expected, but that quickly ended with a crusty carve of a run to the bottom.  I need to get more downhill in, the legs burned.  The KGK is pleasantly over 1 mile long with ~1800ft vertical depending on where you decide to start/stop and even in the worst conditions it still seems to ski consistently.  The Other lines pictured I decided to save for more pleasant conditions, but briefly contemplated the Kanchee dog-leg.

 

 

     That night brought 4 inches of dust to the crust.  Not out by Eagle River though, as I regretfully headed out there to discover.  I needed all 4 of it so I headed to peak 3.  Being a weekday I new my chances were decent.  I also knew it would be thin.  The slopes had the snow I sought and were mostly void of people, so I skied mine with just 1 or 2 others single-lapping by.  It was flat light, but I felt satisfied getting some soft-ish snow under the skis and was greeted with the sunset seen below on my way down from the TH.  By the way, this pic was around 1830, longer days are here.

 

 

 

     Though I wasn't that impressed with the conditions yesterday and the cloudy skies I woke to, my bias toward backcountry led me to briefly check out Peak 2 and put XC on hold.  Frequently overlooked for the taller Peak 3 by many including myself, Peak 2 offers great snow and lines with a more mellow vibe.  If you can brave the dangerously thin and icy conditions of the approach and exit, the upper bowl was skiing quite nicely.  The crust beneath the dust was more tame than the well-used Peak 3.  Icing on the cake was the sunshine and great views of the Front Range while the majority of Anchortown was socked in.