Tuesday, October 28, 2014
My first time Milking it
So the novelty of early-season skiing is wearing off. With no new snow, Jewel getting old and being tracked-out, Snowbird too far for a day-trip and my motivation to try and ski dwindling, the idea of Milk glacier was proposed. Milk is another well-known but less frequented early-season ski destination. I had never been but had been eyeing it from the top of Jewel glacier as well as researching it from others' blogs such as Mr. Finleys' and AK Jacks' for the route/access. The weather looked promising and my goal for this season is to do more new stuff. With Hardcore Harvey on-board it was a go.
I feel so productive this time of year, leaving before sunrise and all (0920). The views driving up the arm are unique to AK and a sweet sunrise bodes well for a good day to ski. The Crow Pass trailhead was lonely; a potentially good sign. Skinning is far superior to hiking and with thin but sufficient snow cover, we skinned all the way to the Barnes-Jewel pass where the rockiness was too intense and we booted it down to the toe of the glacier.
The Milk glacier scenery is far more dramatic than Jewel glacier, with many large crevasses, decent vertical relief of nearby mountains, excellent sun-exposure/lighting, and views overlooking the Raven glacier and surrounding peaks. It still amazes me how close such world-class terrain/skiing is so close to home that this is a day-trip. I was quite impressed and savored the perfect fall ski-day. As mentioned, there hadn't been snow in some time but there was still very good powder to be had up there.
We ate lunch, took in the views, lapped the goods a few times and headed out without seeing another soul all day. The descent was less than pleasant given the thin covering of snow: it's tempting to ski because it covers most rocks, but death to the ski bases from the talus beneath and hiking on that stuff in ski boots is awkward. We did sustain some damage on the way out, opting for ease and speed over ski base preservation.
Yup.
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We reached the pass and the sun crested over the mountains minutes later. Primo.
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View of the Milk glacier from the top of Jewel glacier.
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Not bad for lunch-time views.
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Can't get this one right-side-up.
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I feel so productive this time of year, leaving before sunrise and all (0920). The views driving up the arm are unique to AK and a sweet sunrise bodes well for a good day to ski. The Crow Pass trailhead was lonely; a potentially good sign. Skinning is far superior to hiking and with thin but sufficient snow cover, we skinned all the way to the Barnes-Jewel pass where the rockiness was too intense and we booted it down to the toe of the glacier.
The Milk glacier scenery is far more dramatic than Jewel glacier, with many large crevasses, decent vertical relief of nearby mountains, excellent sun-exposure/lighting, and views overlooking the Raven glacier and surrounding peaks. It still amazes me how close such world-class terrain/skiing is so close to home that this is a day-trip. I was quite impressed and savored the perfect fall ski-day. As mentioned, there hadn't been snow in some time but there was still very good powder to be had up there.
We ate lunch, took in the views, lapped the goods a few times and headed out without seeing another soul all day. The descent was less than pleasant given the thin covering of snow: it's tempting to ski because it covers most rocks, but death to the ski bases from the talus beneath and hiking on that stuff in ski boots is awkward. We did sustain some damage on the way out, opting for ease and speed over ski base preservation.
Yup.
We reached the pass and the sun crested over the mountains minutes later. Primo.
View of the Milk glacier from the top of Jewel glacier.
Not bad for lunch-time views.
Can't get this one right-side-up.
Glad you skied the milk! It's a pretty place.
ReplyDeleteJack