i want to ski bold peak

Bold peak ski:
     The idea of skiing a non-technical peak with potentially more vert than the great Pioneer was enticing to me.  Not only that, but I couldn't find any info on skiing it.  As I have learned, no internet information doesn't mean it hasn't been done.  Many folks have done cool things and not mentioned it to anyone, especially up here in Alaska.  Nonetheless, I wanted to try it.
     Given the avy potential, I didn't feel safe skiing it alone.  Last season I let it pass un-skied and it plagued me.  With a dramatic shift in short-term life-trajectory, I felt convicted to get it done.  Fortunately, Hardcore Harvey was down for the objective.
     Spring conditions can be hard to predict, especially if you consider elevations ranging from ~1300' to ~7500'(Bold peak) deeper in the Chugach State Park.  There wasn't much internet info on Bold for April so it was indeed a gamble of respectable size considering our approach was human-powered AND in a low-snow year.

     We biked in with our gear in tow.  As we did, a posse of ATV-riding skiers passed us saying, "seeya at the hut!".  As it turned out, they were likely doing the Eklutna Traverse, but part of me thought they would be crowding our route up Bold.  We camped that evening at the East Fork split with the skies sputtering a rain/snow mix.  Hardcore packed the gourmet as usual.
       An early-ish start had us hiking to the base......and climbing Stiver's Gully on talus as far as we could see.  Fortunatly we found a continuous snowpatch within ~800' of the river-bottom and began to skin (or boot, depending on preference) up the traditional hiking route.  We were lucky to have perfect weather.  As for wildlife, we saw goats and bear tracks while continuing up.  The conditions were crusty from the freeze-thaw temperature patterns.  It would make for good corn later if it warmed up enough.  After the fixed-rope section we started to see the dust-on-crust from last nights' precip and enjoyed soft skinning up to the summit-ridge.  The ridge section is in the sun and we had some difficulty with ice/rotten snow combinations as it was a high-elevation, south-facing face.  And it's so hot in the sun: cooker.

     Baked and fried, we reached the summit and were awarded with the views that Bold peak offers: Eklutna lake, Chugach mountains, Eklutna Traverse, and glaciers galore.  After oogling at the NW face potential of Bold, we skied from the summit back down (bucket-list check) on icy-conditions.  Not shortly after, we found sun-softened snow, merging to dry dust in the gully shadows.  We skied to the fixed-rope section and skied the LOOKER's/Ascender's left gully, or SKIER's right low route, totally avoiding the fixed-rope section with ease and keeping the skis on.  As someone who is fearful of heights, I strongly recommend taking lookers' left gully in the winter/spring.  This will spare you fixed-rope spice and give you a preview of the skiable route down with boot-able conditions.

     We skied down on suprisingly pleasant corn to our skin-up point and descended to the river valley from there.  I estimate we got 5000' of vert as iphone GPS can't read accurately in the gully.   After reaching basecamp, we bike out under more AK spring conditions.

     More vert than Pioneer?  Perhaps not this time.  Answering a burning question and accomplishing an objective?  Well worth it.

since it's been awhile....photoblogentry

     So since it's been awhile and the skiing (for me) stopped, here are a few pics from the transitional season:

Lucy-dog. The one and only.

View from the top. Hatcher Pass, Fairangel area

Same

When it's snow like the 1st 3 pics up high, it's like this down low.

Lucy-dog and a Turnagain Pass view.

The goods being got on a low-snow spring.

Girdwood is still pretty cool.

Portage Valley views

Williwaw Lakes trail run

Flattop-2-3-4-Flaketop traverse with (almost formerly) Ptarmigan Tarn in the background

Hidden Lake on a Summer day.

2nd Packraft of the season.

ER Nature center trail run

Far North Bicentennial trail run, STA Gorge Trail

Deep Lake on the Williwaw Lake trail run, end of May

Williwaw Lakes from Deep Lake

Gull Rock Trail views while mountain biking

That largest snowline is ~3000ft of skiable vert, FYI, and worth it.

Kinkaid singletrack mountain biking on my favorite trail(for obvious reasons)

NOT IN AK.  Hollywood Beach, FL, sunrise.

PWS! National Geographic!

Same.

Center Ridge to Placer: ski and float

     So when you come to the realization that both skiing and rafting are great means of backcountry travel, ideas start forming of places to go using these means.  We were inspired by a trip report from the Endure Fun Blog, but wanted to add a skiing twist.  This idea had been floating;) around and needed to be addressed.  However, due to the precise timing needed related to conditions of weather/snow/scheduling, it remained on the to-do list.

The route by land.  If snow coverage were better I would drop down to the Placer near that tiny lake on the bench.

Views from Center Ridge

     Things like this bring the Shawshank Redemption quote to mind, "Get busy living, or get busy dying."  So we decided to give it a go with less-than-optimal weather/snow.  It was raining in Girdwood, sprinkling and 40 at the Center Ridge TH with obscured summits to the East.  The snow was wet and sloppy.  We toured back Center ridge, crossed an impressive slide-path, and up to the pass that would drop us into the Center Creek drainage.
     The snow got slightly drier as we skinned higher, the lighting didn't improve much, but it did cool down and the precipitation was snow and not rain.  We encountered a corniced pass, which was expected, but had some difficulty getting over/around it.  Once on top, we realized it was not several cornices, but one large cornice along the entire pass with mini(but massive) cornice protrusions.  We were still alive.

The white box at higher elevations

Yikes.

Ahh, the ski down with a view.  It doesn't get much better.

     We skied down the upper elevations in a white box, but lighting improved as we descended and snow quality worsened due to the warming temps.  We skied down to Center creek headwaters and skinned(very short) up to the next pass that would drop us down to the Placer River.  Views of Center Creek drainage and Placer/Spencer area were incredible from up high and the ski lines back there are massive.  We had some wet-snow slide conditions to manage but made it without too much difficulty.  By now the weather was primo: sunshine with scattered clouds, a slight breeze and warm.
     To this point it took us 6 hours.  We skied/bushwhacked/hiked down to the Placer, filled the boats and floated out.  The float took us just about 4 hours.  It was nice to take in the views while resting the legs and enjoy it without the rush of darkness coming.  We only saw birds and beavers, no other wildlife.
     I would like to try this route earlier in the season, at the earliest chance the Placer is free of ice enough to float: get info from someone with a plane.  This would make getting down there from the pass much easier with better snow coverage/consistency at the lower elevations.  I would not like to try this route once things start to grow.

Down the Placer

Spencer Glacier, Placer River.

Center Ridge to Placer 4-2015 from chugach ress on Vimeo.

just some random winter/spring videos

Today's timelapses: just for fun from chugach ress on Vimeo.

tincan day from chugach ress on Vimeo.

SPRING!

     So April rolls around and bam, normal spring precipitation starts to occur.  Just when I thought it was over and had began shifting my mind's eye to things not snow-dependent.  Just after a winter-long drought of snow with arguably meager snowfall and character-developing ski conditions.  The renewable spirit has been centered around Turnagain Pass and quite localized, but I only need one mountain.  Snow to the road, ski to the car, sunshine days, precisely-timed sucker-holes, it's all working out now.  I hope my fellow/local backcountry enthusiasts(human-powered) find this spring as refreshing as I have.

We hit 2 primo days of Tincan sucker-holes up high.  This is just right when the snow down low is heavy mashed potatoes but up high is dry.

Valdez, Part II

     So weather was holding, back I went, it paid off.  More northern lights, good weather, good snow, good lines, good ski folks.  This must have been the tipping point because I now see why people live there.  Here is my compilation video, although I have been having GoPro issues so good footage is limited, but you should get the idea.

One view from the top.

Line of the day to peak 6856, not Billy Mitchell as I was told.

Accessing lines by frozen river is easy, aesthetic.

Valdez, the only check on this season's list

     So expecting a normal ski-season I had allotted time off work in March and April for spring ski trips to reap the rewards of the previous investments(vert banked, snow accumulation, more daylight, etc).  I was thinking local stuff like big tours in Turnagain Pass, prolonged traverses such as Eklutna and Bomber, Front Range lesser-skied-regions, and my list went on.  Well, March is here and you know how the season has been going, so I headed to Valdez.
     Notorious for massive amounts of snow, steeps and vertical, Valdez is arguably the dream destination for any skier.  Think Doug Coombs and Dean Cummings, think heli-ski HQ, think TGR, etc.  Now, I live in AK, just a short road-trip away from all this and I still haven't been and therefore, I must, it would be criminal not to.
     I headed out there to meet up with a buddy who just established residence there but had been frequenting the location for some time on the North side of the Pass.  We skied mellow stuff day 1 as a good introduction and warm-up in prime weather.  The prime weather continued so day 2 was the stuff dreams are made of.  Day 3 was somewhere in between, yet an excellent sample of what the area offers.  I'll keep it short, but if you're in AK and like to ski, Valdez is a must.  I would advise checking in with a local.  See pics below, videos and follow-up post to come(time permitting) as I have elected for a second visit on the latter portion of my time off.

Driving out I saw the best northern lights display ever.  I burned up more than an hour outside of GlenAllen mouth-gaping the best display I've seen yet.

Entering skiers' heaven.

 The view from Iguana Back's approach on the North side of Thompson Pass

Pristine.

I earned a new respect for booters and verts after this one.

The only limitation is the size of your gas tank.

The line of the trip.  Spicy but addictive.

Can't top the views.