Tenderfoot Ski - 1.7.2024

The winter has been stormy so far. Actually, the last year has been stormy. No, that's not quite right either. The last year and a half has been stormy. Its been a practice in getting away from the usual haunts and getting creative.

Last weekend brought another storm, on top of another storm with sea level rain, on top of now buried surface hoar. We wanted somewhere with some contrast, a smaller load on the BSH, and a new adventure. With those factors in mind, we headed past Turnagain to Summit Lake. Japanese Trees was an option, but it seemed like that side of the pass might have seen more wind, and a little more vertical would be nice. 

We settled for Tenderfoot on the east side of Summit Lake. Pulling into the cramped excuse for a parking lot, we squeezed into the last spot between the six cars that were already there. Geared up and sliding out of the parking lot, we skinned past the old rope tow, and into the forest. Bodies wiggly from a week of  office time quickly brought us to the top of the ridge. We skied down the wind swept alpine ridge then dropped south towards Tenderfoot Creek.


The settled pow from the last storm cycle was creamy and smooth. Nyssa:


Skinning up for the second lap, we looked north towards Turnagain Arm and south towards Moose Pass where fingers of snow from the incoming storm were already creeping through the gaps in the Kenai Mountains. With the incised terrain trap of the creek, we were all hesitant to be the first ones to drop from higher on the ridge. As we approached the top, a group of boarders dropped in above us. We were stoked to clean up their leftovers.

Manitoba Mountain Ski - 11.17.2013

This winter is not off to a good start, but its not off to a bad start either. "Odd" is the best way to put it. Back in mid-September, East Anchorage saw plummeting temperatures and 15 cm of new snow. The eternal optimist inside of me was convinced: this was an early start to what was going to be an epic winter. We then spent the next month running on dry trails, with weather so warm I often found myself running shirtless in my shorts. Of course, nothing to complain about. Then it started raining; I figured this was another positive - rain would definitely prevent depth hoar formation. Then, last Saturday we drove 2 hours each way following beta that turned out to be significantly shallower than the puddles we drove through on the way. But, we saw a new place, so another successful adventure. Finally, on Sunday, a storm funneling up the Cook Inlet brought 30 cm of snow to Turnagain and well over a meter of snow to the Talkeetnas. I figured we were set, a great start towards bridging the depth hoar at Hatcher. Then it rained at Hatcher. First World problems.

Things were not looking promising for the weekend. I managed to contract some sort of stomach plague on Thursday; while crawling back and forth from the bed to to toilet I had plenty of time to contemplate not only the philly cheesesteak I had regrettably eaten, but also where to go skiing.

The debate continued well into Saturday morning before Owen, Alex, and I finally headed south towards Summit Lake's Manitoba Mountain.

Owen was nice enough to play guide and we were soon through the alders with our goal in sight.


The nice thing about bringing Alex along is that you can guarantee that he will have more energy than you. "I can break trail for awhile" - how about from now on?


Reaching the ridgeline, the north winds, funneling air straight from the arctic, reminded us we were alive, and just how fast it's possible to rip your skins off and get ready to ski.

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