Chugach Lemonade

Vista Peak, left of center and Mt. Magnificent, right of centerNope. Still not snowing up here in Alaska. The rain has stopped and the sun is shining. At least it's cold. What snow is left is staying put...for now. Most locals say they can't remember a skiers' winter this grim. Many have given up and have taken the mountain bikes out. The Nordic trail grooming crew is trying to work magic turning water ice into skiable snow. So far, it's working. For ski mountaineers, we're not going down without a fight. The coverage is there, if not the quality. You just have to be willing to walk to it. This past weekend, Mat (Anchorage Avalanche Center) and I did just that.

We took an optimistic, "glass is half full" point of view seeing the blue skies and cold temps as an opportunity to go high and make turns. I'm feeling anxious with my trip to Chamonix looming a month a way and a possible entry into the Pierra Menta, the Tour de France of skimo racing. I need some volume to race my skis for 4 days straight. I also don't want to let my partner down. I was determined to get a beat down one way or another.

Eagle River Zone

While it was tempting to chase known entities, Mat suggested we go some place new for me. So, we headed out to Eagle River and up to Mt. Magnificent and Vista Peak. It's a cool zone with tons of potential. No access issues to battle here. Lots of hikers any weekend. The trail is frozen solid right now and I started off in ski boots and Katoola Microspikes. We quickly gained the ridgeline and started off to our first objective, the north face of Mt. Magnificent. This would give us a cool run down to the base of Vista Peak which we ended up skiing by two different aspects. All three lines were over 1,500' and we were clearly experiencing the "Alaska Effect" where objects and lines are bigger than one's initial impression. 

Nearing the top of Mt. MagnificentWe cruised the ridgeline on ice, snow, tundra and rock. It was easy walking. I'd rather skin this time of year but there was no point. We gained some powder snow along a ridgeline before the summit and it started to feel like winter again. I was happy as a clam kicking steps up the narrow ridgeline to the top. Mat enjoying some softness....for now.The north face held a continuous line next to a slide path the ran to the base of Vista. After some wonderfully soft snow near the top we quickly got into the meat of the line which was about 1,300' of bullet proof, "slide for life" refrozen joy. My carbon fiber Dynafit Cho Oyu skis (LOVE THEM!) made a most deafening racket on the unforgiving surface. Still, it was smooth, fast edging and we were at the base of Vista in no time.

The line on MagnificentOur intention was the obvious West Face, a feature we can see from the road. But my eyes were instantly drawn to the couloir on the south aspect which I felt was a more elegant line with its narrow, rocky chokes along its length. Being greedy bastards, we figured we'd ski both.

South couloir on VistaWith crampons again we were quickly back in the sun and down to t-shirts for the 2,300' climb to the summit of Vista. You'd tap that, wouldn't you?We hit a small patch of sugar near some rocks but the rest was refrozen supportable crust. From the summit, we turned our attention to the softness awaiting us on the west face for the first dozen turns. This was pure bliss, of course. Another 1,200 feet of no-fall boiler plate brought us to a logical turn around. We opted for some dry tundra for the first bit of the hike up but not before I actually SAT DOWN (gasp!) for a quick GU break. Yep. Once a year we sit. Today was the day.Mat commented he hadn't seen that move before and I admitted to wanting to take advantage of the sun, warm earth and the fact that we were actually skiing.

A little over an hour later we were back on top anticipating the longest run of the day. The snow was softer at the top having been in the sun all day. We tip toed through the upper rotten choke but found fun skiing in the lower one. The apron was the familiar granite counter top but the lower angle coaxed me to let the Choddies run. Those skis can seriously hold an edge.Vista Peak

The usual AK shananigans on the exit. Yuck!We were dreading the out down the creek bed but were able to piece together the snow patches through the alders with minimal shwacking. The final bit back to the saddle was on foot and then crampons down to the car. All told, 6:20 and 7,700'

Ptarmigan and The Wedge

Mat and I were both tired from Saturday's effort so we didn't rush into our plans Sunday. We both admitted to wanting to stay close to home. I'd been wanting to see what the North face of Ptarmigan was like this winter and we could ski across the valley to the Wedge if we were motivated.

Heaven help us.Powerline Road was the great unknown from Glen Alps trail head. We spoke of bikes with studs and other alternatives. Since I don't have studs, skis were it. We skated on some of the most heinous surface to ever see touring skis. A combo of water ice, gravel patches and Chihuahua eating refrozen snow shoe post holes were all we had for an hour on the approach. Painful and soul sucking. I was hating Alaska right then.

B&D ski crampons at workBut soon we were under Ptarmigan and my spirits picked up considerably. I was psyched to be going up. The surface was hard, as usual, but we were hopeful that the top was soft. As we climbed I wondered how secure I'd feel on 35 degree boiler plate. It got soft just as we hoped and we forgot about the lower section for awhile. Alpine selfie. Nice booting up high. We enjoyed perfect booting going up and pleasant turns for the first 500' going down. We had to seriously focus for the middle section where a fall onto your hip would prove costly and unstoppable. The bottom section, while still hard as rock, was super fun and fast with sharp edges.

We booted down the moraine at the bottom and were quickly on snow skinning toward The Wedge. As we moved off the apron into the couloir the snow got surprisingly soft.The Wedge from Ptarmigan

The White Line on Avalanche looking fatI was elated at how good the booting was and anticipated the best run of the New Year, perhaps. We topped out on a new summit for me, took some pictures and then retreated across the water ice laden summit plateau to the edge of the wide feeder bowl above the couloir. We marveled at our good fortune enjoying easy turns back down to the valley floor. The out wasn't too bad as we pieced together the snow patches back to Powerline. 4:50 and 5,100'. 

Comments

[Jordan Bancroft]

Hey Brian-

Jordan Bancroft here...Met you a few months ago at the scrub sink at AK Regional, I was with Tom Buckmeier. I cover Mitek Sports Medicine. Stumbled across your blog as I just am getting into AT and have been reading up on stuff... Legit shit you have going on here man. Thoroughly enjoy reading your posts. I hope to run into you in the near future again at Regional and pick your brain. Keep killin it in your randospandex.

[Bill B]

Hey Brian
Good to see you are able to get out.
Heck, we are hoping to get enough snow to ski a paved road.
Thank you again for another great blog.

[Gustaf]

I'll cheer you up with some good news from Chamonix, it's snowing quite a lot this week!

[Brian]

Thanks, Bill. Seems like I'm gonna have to go to the Alps to get some fresh. Works for me.

Hope you noticed the crampons in action. Great to be skinning instead of walking up that hard stuff.

[Brian]

Gustav,

I know. How great is that? I was getting worried that I'd missed the boat over there but it seems our fortunes are changing. Thanks for the report.