Girls Mountain Ski - Feb 2015

Valdez is always a memorable experience. It was my first Alaska ski experience: RVs, avalanches, and flaming snowmobiles. This trip was equally exciting. It started with a Wednesday moonlight run along the Turnagain Arm trail. There were supposed to be headlamps, but one was left on Kilimanjaro and another was dead, which slowed the arrival at the Brown Bear.

 By 4:30 the next morning I was up, then Max and I drove north to meet Josh in Eagle River.

What are we forgetting?

I'm sure his neighbors loved waking to the sounds of 2 stroke engines and his baying hound. Along the way, both of our sleds came very close to falling off the trailer. In fact, mine did come part way off. Somehow we made it to Thompson Pass.


At the pass we found an alarming raincrust that came very close to destroying our sleds.

Goodhope Creek Ski - 3.14.2015

Skiing in Alaska is hard. There's a reason that film companies come here, get shut down for a month, then barely squeeze out a few good days. Meanwhile, they trigger big, scary, and dangerous avalanches.

Dreamy zones around the Pinnacle and Fairangel Valleys.

No helicopter, a full time job, and low interest in Russian Roulette via avalanche makes it even more of a challenge.

Leaving the sleds behind.

And it makes it even more fun.

Still assessing stability, we picked a short line to start.

October Bowl Ski - 4.3.2013

After getting shut down in Whittier the previous day by this bank of clouds, Matt, Nick and I headed out last Tuesday to check out Hatcher Pass. 


Based on a reconnaissance mission from a few weeks ago, we headed west on the sled to a steep and featured bowl above Summit Lake. Nick scouts the zone from below; Alaska necessities: radios and binoculars.

Photo: Matt Cameron

Nick enjoying the beautiful skin from the bottom of the zone:

Photo: Matt Cameron

Deeper - 1.20.2013

After a great line on Gothic the day before, we headed out Kebler Pass last Sunday in search of good snow.

A dry week and rotting snow meant we drove past many of the usual zones in our search for good snow. 12 miles down, 5 miles to go:


Needless to say, the hour long sled access was worth it:


Matt getting ready to drop in:


Nick:


Matt:


Hey Mike! there's a cliff over there, better check it out!

Photo: Nick Matisse


Photo: Nick Matisse

Yep, that was a flat landing:

Photo: Nick Matisse

Matt:

Photo: Nick Matisse

Matt enters the white room:


After a few laps, the sun disappeared behind the ridgeline, and we headed farther out for a little sledding. And...in true snowmobile fashion, Matt's starter immediately died.

Photo: Nick Matisse

Before limping back to the trailhead we made sure to check out the snow quality:

Photo: Nick Matisse

Mike:

Photo: Nick Matisse

Nick:


Nick:


too many peaks to name...


Marcellina Mountain:


Raggeds Wilderness:


A great day in a new zone! Can't wait to get back when the snow is a little deeper and more stable! Thanks to Nick for the great pics!

Slate River Ski - 12.22.2012

After a three week hiatus from skiing, Sam and I headed down to Crested Butte late last night. As I'm still a bit limited by a shoulder separation, Sam was nice enough to humor me with some meadow skipping. A late start brought us to the Slate River Trailhead, apparently the rest of the world had the same idea:

Jumping on the sled, we headed for some mellow glades that I've seen before, but always just driven by. Again, everyone else seemed to have had the same idea, there were already about 10 sleds at the bottom of the skin track when we pulled up. Regardless, the skin track was quiet and everyone we saw was glad to be out sharing the beauty of the mountains. Mineral Point and Purple Mountain:

Sam with Gothic behind:

Sam ripping on teles:

more telewhacking:

stoked to be out:


what a beautiful world it is!


A little different and more mellow day than some, but really, any day spent outside with friends is a great day, isn't it?

Looking Back: Winter 2011 - 2012 Review

I'm sure as hell itching for ski season, so I figured its about time to post up my best stoke from last winter in Colorado and Alaska.

Even with minimal snow, last season was so so so FUN, here's to another memory filled season with friends new and old!

The touring season got off to a bit of a late start, but by the beginning of November Saint Mary's had a creamy coat of new snow:


A week later our early season zones were filling in:


Yep, that was fun!


Around the middle of November I moved down to Crested Butte for the winter. Things were a bit firm:


But, on November 19th, two inches in town meant snorkeling up high:




Not to say that the snow was building up around town:


Even the Front Range had some fun skiing:


December brought small pillows and more pow:




Colorado dried out for a while, but exploring new zones meant life was good:


By January, even the northern mountains were beginning to look like winter:


In early January we went to Wolf Creek Pass, it hadn't snowed in three weeks, it was awesome:








Wolf Creek Pass was so good that we went back...which got off to a bit of a rough start after Nick's sled died:


9 miles from the trailhead...


Our luck quickly improved:


Nick and I practiced our tandem pow slaying:


Then it started snowing, and the avy danger shot up, so we built little jumps:


and medium sized ones:




and big ones:


Did more exploring:






Started the long road of learning how to sled:




Brett came to visit:








Not to say there wasn't skiing to be had:




In March the snowpack started to stabilize, more touring was had:


It also felt quite a bit like spring:


So...Josh skied Red Lady in about 3 turns:


Adam was nice enough to show us around:


More warm temps...and curious sledding conditions...


...brought a full on corn cycle:




...and smiles all around:


In April, Nick and I were lucky enough to go to Alaska. We left summer behind in CO:


Rented an RV in Anchorage and headed to Valdez:


Where we were treated to a day of epic flat light:


Followed by bluebird:


And more bluebird:


Sadly, we had to return the RV. Happily, Hatcher Pass was awesome:


Hatcher stayed good for days:




We weren't the only ones enjoying the weather:


Eventually, we headed back to CO, where it was still summer:


Met up with the usual suspects:








And skied some spring lines:












Unfortunately, my external hard drive was stolen at the beginning of the summer, and my main hard drive died shortly after. So, no season edit this season, but boy am I thankful for all the amazing memories that remain!

What a year! I feel so thankful to be part of such an amazing community of skiers, photographers, and amazing friends. I love you all!