Explorer Ski - 4.12.2022

With spines, bowls, chutes, alders, and crevasses, Explorer Peak is a snow globe of skiing in southcentral AK. The problem is that its right next to Whittier, starts at sea level, gets a lot of sun, and is a huge terrain trap. A complete day there requires conditions that rarely line up: calm coastal gap winds, a low rain line, manageable solar affect, and stable avalanche conditions across a range of elevation bands and aspects - things that rarely line up. 

When we saw pix of Bob, Sam, and Emily ripping pow from the summit of the peak we knew to head that way - thanks for the hint guys! Fresh off the plane from Kodiak fieldwork, Nyssa picked me up at the airport at 8 AM and we raced south on the Seward Highway to give the snow globe a good swirl and shake.

We parked past the salmon ponds on the shoulder of the Portage Road, clawed up the icy snowbank, followed crust skier tracks thru the woods (where don't those guy's go?), and skinned into the gully. Getting buried in an avalanche at the bottom of a ravine would always be bad, but getting stuffed into a crevasse here would be an added bummer.


There was another group ascending via a different route and we passed them as we climbed higher in the basin. They weren't close, but Alaska is a small town and we figured we'd probably know em. At the col below the summit cone we peered over the edge into the Skookum Glacier then started the booter to the top. The Skookum gorge, with Carpathian as its crown jewel, is big country that seems out of place on the Kenai Peninsula. It would fit in better in the Alaska Range or the High Chugach.

We made quick work of Bob's bomber booter from the previous day and a few minutes later were standing on the peak looking east towards Middle Glacier Peak, Byron, and Carpathian.


There are still a few peaks and many many lines around here that we haven't had a chance to ski yet - good thing life is long. We made mental notes on the hit list while we sat in the sun eating lunch and watching a solo skier make their way up Middle Glacier. I wondered who it was. Maybe Dane?

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:

Isthmus Peak Ski - March 2020

Jutting like a giant tooth of ice into the sky above the the Spencer Glacier, Isthmus is seared into the mind of every Turnagain skier. And, like every Turnagain skier who likes a slog, I've been dreaming about Isthmus. The challenge of Isthmus is its allure: its 20 miles from the trailhead, a giant wind tunnel, and in the middle of a rainforest of snow.

Last week Nyssa saw the upcoming break in the winds, and realized it was time for Isthmus. Hard snow conditions would make the approach manageable and stability was good. Firm skiing conditions were simply the cost of entry.

After parking at the quiet visitor center we cruised across the firm crust of the frozen lake.


Once past Portage Glacier, we took a hard right south and followed the lateral gully onto the river of ice.


Free for the constraints of a rope, travel was fast on the windbuffed and smooth lower glacier. Just short of the icefall, we turned left up a tributary and for a pass to the Burns Glacier.

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!