New year, new snow? I hope so.

     So the ski season has continued its lethargic coming and has still not gathered enough steam to be full-on yet.  Turnagain Pass continues to be wet and windy, same for Girdwood.  Last I checked most places were still hike-to, or a dicey ski out if you could tolerate wind/rain.  Alyeska is shipping people up the mountain on the tram so they can ride the upper portions because the lower mountain doesn't have enough snow.  The Chugach Front Range just picked up ~7" at upper elevations, enough to start something but will likely be decimated by wind before any more precip comes our way.  I could stay positive and say "maybe next year" or "with the new year", but it is next year and a new year.
     I've spent the past three days at Hatcher Pass since they picked up ~10" New Years' Eve day.  Notoriously rocky and mixed with a burst of wind only leaves it marginally better than Turnagain, that margin being sunshine and drier snow.  There are still plenty of rocks and tundra out there: my skis look like they had a rough season in the Front Range, though I haven't skied the FR more than once.
     Prior to a recent warm-and-wet spell in A-town the XC skiing was good enough to hold me over, but now I don't know, I don't dare find out.  I signed up for the Tour of Anchorage, the local urban XC ski race in the spring, so we'll see how training goes and if they have enough snow for the full length this year.  Right now Hatcher seems to be the only respectable option for AT and XC.
     Just so you all know I'm not a pessimist, but this is how "winter" in Michigan died: it started to disappear and people were head-scratching wondering where all the snow is.  That record snowfall not too long ago was natures' last push before winter in AK died.  I didn't invest in any ski equipment this year and would much welcome a reason to regret it.

Santa skis free Chistmas Eve.  Alyeska is still charging $50+ to ski half their vertical on a strip of ice.

Hello Hatcher.  H-bomb delivers the most sunshine around, making it a personal favorite.

Look at that mane.  I chopped it off because it's snowball-in-the-fur season.  She loves the snow and ski days.  When my winter gear rustles in the mornings she diligently eats her breakfast.

Trail breaking up for first tracks on Friendship pass.  Good powder was had.

     The video below is from an outing to Arctic Valley just to see what's up there.  BONEY, and what wasn't thin was prone to avalanches as seen by the slide triggered by skier #3 down the run.

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 Hatcher nap followed by sun up high.

     So I headed to Hatcher to play at night with my new stove that supports winter conditions.  I headed up from the Mint TH to a possible low-angle ski run and parked it in the valley.  I was fortunate to get an early start and had camp set up by around 3pm.  I took Lucy with.  The primary objective was camping with skiing being a bonus.  I headed up, but it was too deep for Lucy on a fresh skin track and visibility was poor with the heavy snowfall so I turned it shortly after, not willing to gamble in unfamiliar terrain.  Nope.  No skiing.
     After a quick dinner I found myself falling asleep so I hopped in my bag and went to bed early thinking I would sleep until morning like last time (~15hrs), wake up and ski with better lighting, it was already getting dark and snowing pretty good.  Nope.  I woke up wide awake at 9:30PM, my body thinking I had just napped and would be up working a night shift.  The snow had stopped but clouds had not cleared enough for the full moon to light up the night. 
     I wasn't up for trying to sleep for another 12hrs, no skiing to be had in darkness, I packed up and skied it out which was the most pleasant ski-out yet:  a warm gentle breeze, downhill all the way, a fresh dusting, a pink city-lit sky and the only sound was the swish of me travelling on the snow.

     I had to get out and ski since I didn't last night.  I headed up early to Arctic Valley with the pleasant surprise of untracked road and sun up high.  I honestly chuckled as I was basking in it and looking down at socked-in Anchorage.  Conditions were still thin with tundra and rock poking through, or where it was deep enough it was dust-on-windboard.  Tally another core shot for me.  Never the less I skied a few good laps and called it a day after bonking from lack of food and water.  I might return tomorrow before work.

     I was at the peak of Gordon Lyon before the wind picked up, and skiing solo I thought I had picked a safe run with a low slope angle.  Nope. I pointed the planks one notch too soon.  Four turns in things went soft below me.  I saw a white-lightning crack split out to my left and I put it all together and immediately realized the gravity of the situation.  I tried to stop, that didn't work, I fell back and was riding the mass like I fell out of a white-water raft.  I knew I was screwed and it was all on me.  I could feel the bed and tried to dig in but the flow was too strong and was pushing me down and deeper.  I knew I had to get out or get buried at the gully bottom.   I saw I was somewhat close to the edge and could sort of steer with the flow so I tried, and successfully rode the back-seat of my skis out to the edge.  I watched the avalanche complete itself and sat in silence for a few minutes thinking about how close I just came.  Lucy was lagging on the ridge so she wasn't in it.  A few minutes before starting the run I had decided I best go a few notches lower for whatever reason, and glad I did as it was less of a terrain trap than my initial plan. 





Sun and wind rid the sky of clouds and fog. 

The end result: sun up high and clouds down low.

A raindbow, in JANUARY!

Indian investigation

     So I wanted to explore some less popular terrain, specifically the western slopes of bird ridge or south-east slopes of avalanche. Given the shorter days I planned an overnighter to allow for more time and options. After a night shift and a short nap, Lucy and I headed to the TH and took the Indian Pass trail.

     Conditions were skin-able, crusty and thin down low with slightly more snow as I gained elevation. It appeared someone had already made the traverse to/from arctic. I was looking for access to the western bird ridge slopes without going up the traditional bird ridge route. No-go for now, too many alders and insufficient snow.

     Not to be discouraged I whipped out backup plan #1 and continued up toward the pass to have a look at the Avalanche slopes. They seemed thin but I picked out a possible line as night was approaching and set up camp nearby. The solitude was nice, it was calm with a thin layer of clouds have he moon a hazy look but there was enough light to cast faint shadows. I busted out my new stove and made a light dinner and filled my water bottles. To bed I went....6pm, but I was running on 4 hrs. 

     The next morning I ate a small breakfast and packed up, skinned to the base and headed up. After about 500ft I ran into hard avy debris. With alders boxing me into the slide path, whoompfing, and the slope angle increasing I turned it. The ski down was pleasant.  

     On to backup plan #2....I would investigate a route up to power line pass and check out other Avalance aspects, but after spotting for awhile I could see no route through the alders.  I decided to call it and head out. I didn't see the need to force it or investigate more until more snow would allow.

     The ski out was relatively smooth as a dusting of snow eased the harsh crusty-ness and lubricated the skins for a good slide down. 

Things I forgot that would have been nice:

Spare pair if dry socks

Pee bag
Thermos

While sitting in a parking lot I watched a raven bury some food item for later. I continue to find these birds more and more interesting, I assumed they were the eat-it-now type.  Another thing I love about them is their congregating near the peaks.  I often witness unique flying behavior such as flips an spirals here.  One place to witness this is mentioned in Alaska Jack's blog.

 

Happy Birthday to me.

 



Looking up past the alders and low clouds to Avalanche peak.  I would have loved to be up there.

the elusive lucy



Driving along The Arm never fails with stunning views.

 

 

a short peak 2 outing

     So after we got 4-6" but it all blew around and drifted up in the mountains.  We went out yesterday for a short 1-lap tour with super unimpressive conditions: punchy/slabby/drifted/variable snow, winds 30-60, flat light.  It was still good to get out though.  Today we figured that the gullies of peak 2 and its' leeward aspect would be decent.  We toured up on thin/icy/ground or drifted/punchy/deep.  Temps were warmer today and I was cooking until we got high enough for some wind.
     We popped above the cloud layer to reveal fair lighting and a gentle breeze: perfect skinning and skiing weather.  The snow was not as good as I had hoped, decent in the absolute leeward aspect but punchy/slabby almost everywhere else.  Pickings were slim for lines so we stuck to the middle and skied it out to the car.  Perhaps another good snow will help out but we still hit a few rocks just below the surface, the good news is no loss of p-tex.

Below are two shots of the small slide that I triggered, as it is moving.  crown about 6-10", leeward windloaded sloper, convex rollover.  Much like the last one. 

 

my first video/editing film: http://youtu.be/YuBJXjPj12k

100%

 

 



magnum again

     So Magnum today.  Again.  Didn't feel like dealing with the crowds of sunburst and tincan and after a recent first-time visit I thought I would revisit to become more familiar.  Good news of the day: good company, fresh 2-3 at TH and 4-6+ depending on aspect up high, partly to mostly sunny (no flat light), first tracks all around with no one else, balmy temps near 30.  The fresh 2-3 was enough to make that icy crust below it pleasantly ski-able.  Bad news: balmy temps near 30 caused me to sweat a lot (I'm in trouble come spring), exposed to my first avalanche.

     We headed up and skied a warm-up lap followed by a steeper longer run and called it a day.  On the way down to the car we skied over a rollover that was wind loaded and soft slab and it let loose.  Fortunately it was shallow debris, in low consequence terrain, and only part of it ran all the way to the valley floor.  The dogs were swept a little way but got out fine, no one was buried or carried. 

 

     A ski day like today with the sun out and no flat light is so invigorating for myself, it fuels my tired legs up the hill and the stoke of the run makes me repeat.  The fresh, smooth, blankets of powder with skin-tracks running up and ski tracks running down are my self-expression in the backcountry, a leave-no-trace graffiti that is more graceful and eloquent than obnoxious.  At least that's how I see it.   I heard a quote from a skier in the backcountry film festival this evening say he was 'exploring self through the medium of skiing.'  and the backcountry style of this is the best and only way to thoroughly do so.