Pioneer Peak Ski - 3.30.2018

Note: updated below the original post to include an evening lap on the north face in March 2022 with Tony, and again on a magical late summer day with Nyssa in August 2024.

Over the last two days Brian and Sam had both skied Pioneer, and it was about to get a refresh - it was time to go get it. Only two small problems: I didn't have ice tools, and Alex had a project due at work. Easily remedied. I went to REI and Alex called in sick with a bad case of powder fever.

Pioneer's giant north face towering over Palmer.

The next morning found us driving back and forth on the Old Glenn looking for the north face trailhead. After a few laps of the road we'd located the appropriate thicket and were skinning into the alders. Within 500 vertical feet we'd reached the avy debris and were soon climbing mellow ice.


I was pleased how much better my ice tools performed than my finger nails and running shoes. Kind of like being a cyborg.

Montana Peak Ski - 4.7.2018

Saturday morning on Buffalo Mine Road started memorably with a standoff against an angry moose. We wanted access to Moose Creek, the gatekeeper wanted to resume sleeping in the middle of the road; and a charge and trampling seemed imminent. Could we reverse faster than it could charge? Was jettisoning the sled over the bank into alder hell worth it? Who was more stubborn?  Eventually the moose relented, curled up to sleep on the shoulder, and...

Photo: Seth Kiester

...we were rewarded with more trail finding through the alders.

Photo: Seth Kiester

Eventually the brush cleared, the snowpack deepened, and we chased wolverine tracks up the valley as ptarmigan exploded out of the bushes around us. The cirques, bowls, and couloirs of the Moose Creek were filled with the tracks of heli skiers hiding from the winds that had crushed the Chugach for weeks. At the head of the valley we parked the sleds and skinned towards the southeast face of Montana Peak.

Photo: Seth Kiester