Skookum Glacier Skiing - 3.18.2017

Updated 4.30.2020 to include another great day.
Early last week, model run after model run showed a small Wednesday night storm headed for the North Gulf Coast. The question was: would it make it inland? In town on Wednesday night there were a few thin clouds - maybe the storm hadn't made it across the Prince William Sound? Then the rumors of a refresh started trickling in from CPG and the Skookum.

By, the time we were halfway up the Skookum on Saturday our sleds were leaving trenches - the sleeper storm was real. We picked a long and fat north-facing couloir to start with. Across the way we were dreaming about a sinuous chute off the southeast face of Byron:

Photo: Alex Geilich

Dropping in, we slashed the huge cones of slough sitting in the line.

Photo: Alex Geilich

Seth:

Byron Peak Skiing - 2.4.2017

Updated 3.21.2020 to include another great day.

Portage is sick: as storms collide with the huge mountains jutting out of the ocean they lift and dump ridiculous amounts of snow. Then, the snow pours back off the peaks as glaciers. The problem with the proximity to the ocean is the wind it often brings.

So, after finding stable, deep, and perfect powder on Wolverine, we knew it was time to focus on the Portage zone.

At the parking lot it was 3 degrees, but by the time we could look back down on the lake we were above the inversion. Once on the glacier we roped up and Alex took the lead as we snaked to the climbers left of the lower icefall. People often approach Bryon by ascending the east ridge from the lake, we decided against this due to obvious wind loading.


Past the severe cracking and associated slow travel, we were able to move faster. Even by early February its crazy how much snow has accumulated around Portage, we crossed snow bridges that were 10 feet thick!

Milk Raven Jewel Glacier Ski Tour - 10.31.2015

The usual approach to skiing on big glaciers is to wait until spring when a winter of heavy snowfall has blanketed the crevasses, moulins, and bergschrunds. Or, you can go in the fall when the holes and cracks are still visible.

Pulling into the dark Crow Creek parking lot we found light snow falling on Zack and Khalial as they waited for us. As we hiked up the trail with our skis on our backs the stars twinkled above. Hopefully it was clearing, daybreak seemed to confirm this.


Turning away from the Crow Pass trail, we followed a faint path towards the saddle between Barnes and Jewel mountains. It didn't take long to get back into the soup.


At the saddle we popped out of the fog and into softly lit world of early winter. Walking through the strange basin formed by the old lateral moraine of the Milk Glacier we crossed the fresh tracks of mountain goats that must have just dissolved away into the fog.

Little Switzerland Ski Trip - April 2015

It was a Friday afternoon in April, I was sitting at my desk, twiddling with a database, and contemplating how my life needed more adventure. A text came in from Amy: we’re bailing on the Whale’s Tail Traverse, want to go to Little Switzerland on Sunday?

The Colony Glacier.

I met Amy once while skiing Turnagain Pass the previous week. I’d never met Susan or Mary. Was this crazy? I had not been paying attention to the Alaska Range weather and needed to ask around. A text came back from Joe: "The snowpack should be fat and stable. Go”

Looking down from the Munchkin.

By Saturday morning I’d decided. After a call to my boss for clearance, I started to pack. Malcolm ran me thru a glacier travel refresher. I stopped by Alex and Robert’s to borrow a few pieces of gear.

Home sweet home.

Kanuti Picture Project

Updated 8.28.2015 - At 1.64 million acres Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge is about the size of Delaware; it provides crucial habitat for bird, mammal, and fish species. Kanuti has no designated trails, campsites, or public use cabins within its boundaries. Its huge and untouched; places like this are why we live here.

If there is enough light to work and enough water to measure, we work in Kanuti nearly every month. Like the Prince William Sound Picture Project, this post is made up of unique and memorable moments that stand out.

I lost my camera last September in Kanuti, this is one of the last pictures I took with it. In July my coworker Jasper found it. I'm looking forward to taking it back up there next month.


The Jack White Range is a subrange of the Brooks Range. That's just about all I could find about these mountains. This sort of unknown makes Alaska special.

Floatplanes bound for Bettles used to land on a straightaway of the Koyukuk River. But then, as they tend to do, the river meandered. A floatplane lake was constructed to replace the lost "airport".