East Killiak Peak Ski - 3.26.2019

After an extended period of stormy weather, we were looking for a "moderate" objective to get our noses into the snowpack. After some back and forth about what moderate means, we settled on East Killiak. Like so many other memories, the day started on Prudhoe Bay Road.

We hiked up the access trail, switched to skins, and were soon following the familiar route up the Ram Glacier. On the way, we passed under the sharkey north face of Cumulus and the stacked massif of Raina:


Under the huge amphitheater at the top of the glacier we curved left to Bombardment Pass. Hard to think of other lines that pair as nicely as Korohusk's dogleg and pinner.


The descent from Bombardment Pass is straightforward, but we managed a confused route down loose moraine covered in a dusting of snow and seeps of water ice. Tumbling down scree makes for stronger memories. Peters Peak:

Mount Pleasant Ski - 3.12.2016

Updated 3.6.2019 to include another great day in Peters Creek. 

I picked Ethan up at the airport on Friday night at 10, by 7 the next morning we were headed for Eagle River. Getting the Eagle River giants is hard: snowpack information is limited, days are big, consequences are high, and you are dealing with a dryer, cooler and hence, less stable snowpack than many of our go-to areas.


But, we'd been working our way into the zones over the last month, and with the help of the Anchorage Avalanche Center, Alex and I were optimistic about deep stability. Plus, there was a nice refresh of snow from the previous week.

Snacktime on the glacier. 

Nearing the head of the valley we left the lobes of intertwined rock and ice and started up the long south gully of Pleasant. Here's Alex forgetting that other people might like to do switchbacks instead of going straight up. However, straight is more efficient.

Mount Rumble Ski - 5.5.2017

Skiing Rumble is following the footsteps of Alaskan skiing giants: Okonek, Stock, Thrasher, Brunton, Shlosar, to name a few. Its been skied by a variety of routes and lengths of time. Each based on a preference for slogging, comfort, or sheer brute strength. Last Friday, after getting a favorable report (thanks Scott and Peter), Alex, Andy, and I were ready to give it a go.

As we've waited for a weather, stability, and schedule window, we've tossed around ideas of reasonable ways to ski Rumble. We settled on entering Peters Creek via the X Couloir, then egressing via Raina. With a low snow year we stayed in our running shoes until we were on the Falling Water rock glacier. Across the way were lots of good memories of linkups on Raina. The fat chute connects nicely with Mount Pleasant, the X, and, well, Rumble.


At 9:30 we dropped into the X. Andy skiing towards moraine flow lobes in the valley below:


Somehow I had forgotten just how aesthetic the X is. Perhaps the good memories was drowned out by our previous epic here.