Tuesday and Wednesday were overcast with occasional rain, so no flying.
We awoke Thursday to thick low fog but the weather radar was fairly clear. So we were told to be ready by 10:30 or so. The fog lingered so there were delays getting everyone out.
We got out a little before noon and were pleased to see clear skies above the fog.
Aerial view of Cordova Glacier.
All of our skiing today would be on the north facing slopes overlooking the glacier. This was the same area I skied on my first good weather day here 2 years ago. Up high the new snow the snow was similar to that day but the transition to wetter spring snow was around 3,500 feet vs. 3,000 then. By mid-afternoon some of the lower and west facing snow was softening in the sun, but it probably needed a full day or two of clear weather to yield the nearly effortless corn of my second day in 2012.
First run was from Targhetto. Mike, one of PNH’s cooks, was skiing with us today and led the way first.
Our guide Duncan leaves a long trail farther down.
Also skiing with us was Aubrey, who is the nanny for Kevin and Jessica Quinn’s 3 year old daughter Kinley.
Here are Liz, Aubrey and Mike on our second Targhetto run.
We next moved to Bullseye Saddle. Our tracks on its upper section:
Overview of numerous lines from Bullseye Saddle:
Liz waiting for Duncan to give the word by radio to start skiing lower Bullseye.
We took a lunch break overlooking the Cordova Glacier while the pilot refueled, then skied down to it.
For our next 2 runs we moved to White Wolf. View from there to most crevassed section of the Cordova Glacier.
Liz following Duncan’s track down to pickup.
Lower White Wolf
Back on top of White Wolf we see another group above us.
The lower section of White Wolf went into shade ~5:30PM and formed a crust between our 2 runs there. Pickup with icefall in background.
We moved back through our lunch run and finished on Targhetto West. View from top there.
The 2 down days gave Heath’s knee a rest and he was able to snowboard the full day with a brace on it.
Another group landed near us for their final run.
Their pickup
On the lower section here Duncan set a couple of traverses to put us in fall lines direct into the evening sun for a softer surface.
Totals for the day were 9 runs and 14,000 vertical.
Views NW toward Valdez on the flight back to base.
Friday it rained all day. When I booked our flights last summer, I was pleased to get a clean connection home with a non-stop flight leaving Anchorage for LAX at 5:10PM after only a 3 hour layover from the Cordova flight. Last time I arrived or departed Anchorage at midnight and had 9 or 15 hours before/after the Cordova flights.
In retrospect this planning was a mistake. Cordova gets one flight per day in each direction, which also stops in Yakutat and Juneau between Anchorage and Seattle. The northbound flight leaves Cordova at 1:20PM and arrives in Anchorage in less than an hour. The southbound flight leaves at 5PM and arrives in Seattle at 11:30PM after the other 2 Alaska stops. Then you wait in Seattle until 6 or 7AM the next morning to continue home.
It's worth signing up for this travel marathon because people on the late flight can ski on departure day until 2:30PM. Naturally Saturday was the clearest day of the whole week in Cordova. #-o About a third of the people at Points North were on the later flight and got to ski another 4-5 hours. The rest of us used slightly over half of our 4 hours heli time Monday and Thursday and have credits for a future trip.
We awoke Thursday to thick low fog but the weather radar was fairly clear. So we were told to be ready by 10:30 or so. The fog lingered so there were delays getting everyone out.
We got out a little before noon and were pleased to see clear skies above the fog.
Aerial view of Cordova Glacier.
All of our skiing today would be on the north facing slopes overlooking the glacier. This was the same area I skied on my first good weather day here 2 years ago. Up high the new snow the snow was similar to that day but the transition to wetter spring snow was around 3,500 feet vs. 3,000 then. By mid-afternoon some of the lower and west facing snow was softening in the sun, but it probably needed a full day or two of clear weather to yield the nearly effortless corn of my second day in 2012.
First run was from Targhetto. Mike, one of PNH’s cooks, was skiing with us today and led the way first.
Our guide Duncan leaves a long trail farther down.
Also skiing with us was Aubrey, who is the nanny for Kevin and Jessica Quinn’s 3 year old daughter Kinley.
Here are Liz, Aubrey and Mike on our second Targhetto run.
We next moved to Bullseye Saddle. Our tracks on its upper section:
Overview of numerous lines from Bullseye Saddle:
Liz waiting for Duncan to give the word by radio to start skiing lower Bullseye.
We took a lunch break overlooking the Cordova Glacier while the pilot refueled, then skied down to it.
For our next 2 runs we moved to White Wolf. View from there to most crevassed section of the Cordova Glacier.
Liz following Duncan’s track down to pickup.
Lower White Wolf
Back on top of White Wolf we see another group above us.
The lower section of White Wolf went into shade ~5:30PM and formed a crust between our 2 runs there. Pickup with icefall in background.
We moved back through our lunch run and finished on Targhetto West. View from top there.
The 2 down days gave Heath’s knee a rest and he was able to snowboard the full day with a brace on it.
Another group landed near us for their final run.
Their pickup
On the lower section here Duncan set a couple of traverses to put us in fall lines direct into the evening sun for a softer surface.
Totals for the day were 9 runs and 14,000 vertical.
Views NW toward Valdez on the flight back to base.
Friday it rained all day. When I booked our flights last summer, I was pleased to get a clean connection home with a non-stop flight leaving Anchorage for LAX at 5:10PM after only a 3 hour layover from the Cordova flight. Last time I arrived or departed Anchorage at midnight and had 9 or 15 hours before/after the Cordova flights.
In retrospect this planning was a mistake. Cordova gets one flight per day in each direction, which also stops in Yakutat and Juneau between Anchorage and Seattle. The northbound flight leaves Cordova at 1:20PM and arrives in Anchorage in less than an hour. The southbound flight leaves at 5PM and arrives in Seattle at 11:30PM after the other 2 Alaska stops. Then you wait in Seattle until 6 or 7AM the next morning to continue home.
It's worth signing up for this travel marathon because people on the late flight can ski on departure day until 2:30PM. Naturally Saturday was the clearest day of the whole week in Cordova. #-o About a third of the people at Points North were on the later flight and got to ski another 4-5 hours. The rest of us used slightly over half of our 4 hours heli time Monday and Thursday and have credits for a future trip.
