We are having a difficult weather week. Sunday was out of the question with rain/snow all day and Tuesday was drizzly. Monday was high but solid overcast through lunch, with a few sunny breaks mid-afternoon. Looking at the forecast they decided to get out for a few runs even though it was past 3PM when they sent the first groups. We suited up, then were told vis was bad but the first groups in the field would stay out to wait and see. It eventually cleared a bit more so they sent the rest of us out.
We were in the 3rd group and left about 5:45PM and weren’t skiing until after 6. There was still mostly high overcast and fairly flat light. First drop point was at Barney’s about 4,800 feet.
There was about 9 inches new snow but very dense. First run skiing was a bit tentative figuring it out.
Lower down the new snow was wetter. With big skis we were staying on the surface and it was easy to gather a lot of not necessarily welcome speed. I thought the snow was probably easier on the 2 snowboarders in our group, Heath from Iowa and Tyler from Arizona. Sue is from Whitefish and is writing a book about her work with avalanche dogs. She made shorter turns than I was doing and looked more in control. Coming from Whitefish the in and out visibility was no big deal to her. Liz has benefited from more powder experience this season and was skiing deliberately but continuously and only crashed once late on the last run in bad light.
Looking back up we were dropped in the saddle to looker’s left of the rocky peak.
We saw one group come through the chutes between those rocks.
Here’s Liz in front of our guide Duncan at the second drop.
South sheer face of Pontoon Peak in far left background.
PNH skis off the other side of that.
Liz with glaciers across the valley.
The second run had the best visibility with some good powder turns up high. The lower section rolled up on a wave-like feature to carve some turns, and the final pitch was facing the evening sun to make the higher speed more comfortable. Heath let this section rip and unfortunately fell and tweaked a knee. He’s getting around OK today and will borrow a knee brace when we go out again.
The third run was alongside the second one. Light was worse so the nearby tracks helped with orientation. The upper section was smooth and consistent but we were more conservative lower down with more difficult light.
We finished just before 8PM with 7,500 vertical.
People at dinner were happy to get out but some were chomping at the bit for steep Alaska terrain. I think the guides wanted to get a look at everyone’s skiing even though the day was constrained by time and visibility to fairly mellow runs.
We chatted some with Kristin Ulmer, who is on her 25th Alaska heli trip. She favors Cordova and Valdez for the sticky maritime snowpack that enables skiing up to 55 degree slopes. The newer operations in Haines have it too, but there have been some accidents there the past couple of years. She says Chugach Powder Guides has drier snow and better powder but less stability for skiing super steep terrain. FYI Kristen was cat skiing at Mustang for the first time about a month ago and was as impressed by it as I am.
We were in the 3rd group and left about 5:45PM and weren’t skiing until after 6. There was still mostly high overcast and fairly flat light. First drop point was at Barney’s about 4,800 feet.
There was about 9 inches new snow but very dense. First run skiing was a bit tentative figuring it out.
Lower down the new snow was wetter. With big skis we were staying on the surface and it was easy to gather a lot of not necessarily welcome speed. I thought the snow was probably easier on the 2 snowboarders in our group, Heath from Iowa and Tyler from Arizona. Sue is from Whitefish and is writing a book about her work with avalanche dogs. She made shorter turns than I was doing and looked more in control. Coming from Whitefish the in and out visibility was no big deal to her. Liz has benefited from more powder experience this season and was skiing deliberately but continuously and only crashed once late on the last run in bad light.
Looking back up we were dropped in the saddle to looker’s left of the rocky peak.
We saw one group come through the chutes between those rocks.
Here’s Liz in front of our guide Duncan at the second drop.
South sheer face of Pontoon Peak in far left background.
PNH skis off the other side of that.
Liz with glaciers across the valley.
The second run had the best visibility with some good powder turns up high. The lower section rolled up on a wave-like feature to carve some turns, and the final pitch was facing the evening sun to make the higher speed more comfortable. Heath let this section rip and unfortunately fell and tweaked a knee. He’s getting around OK today and will borrow a knee brace when we go out again.
The third run was alongside the second one. Light was worse so the nearby tracks helped with orientation. The upper section was smooth and consistent but we were more conservative lower down with more difficult light.
We finished just before 8PM with 7,500 vertical.
People at dinner were happy to get out but some were chomping at the bit for steep Alaska terrain. I think the guides wanted to get a look at everyone’s skiing even though the day was constrained by time and visibility to fairly mellow runs.
We chatted some with Kristin Ulmer, who is on her 25th Alaska heli trip. She favors Cordova and Valdez for the sticky maritime snowpack that enables skiing up to 55 degree slopes. The newer operations in Haines have it too, but there have been some accidents there the past couple of years. She says Chugach Powder Guides has drier snow and better powder but less stability for skiing super steep terrain. FYI Kristen was cat skiing at Mustang for the first time about a month ago and was as impressed by it as I am.