Thin White Line - Avalanche Peak

After residing in Anchorage for three years now, I've observed a few subsets of backcountry skiers. The largest group gravitates South to Turnagain Pass for all the huge line powder goodness that zone provides. When the weather is clear and the snow fresh it is unrivalled. A slightly smaller group will head North to Hatcher Pass where slightly smaller scaled and often rockier chute skiing can be found. These two groups often blend as weather systems in South Central AK tend to favor one area or the other.

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The Rapture

The V Couloir, Prospector Mountain, GTNPWinter continues to be a non-starter for 2015 in Alaska. Ice climbing and obsessing over the condition of my ski quiver has done little to placate my need for fresh snow and fun skiing. Of all the places south of AK, the Tetons have faired the best in terms of snow pack. So, it was with this in mind I scheduled a two-week vacation and headed to my favorite ski range. I also decided to have a look in the central mountains of British Columbia and I scheduled the second week as a hut trip in the Selkirks.

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Dave Rosenbarger 1976-2015

Goddamn it's been a tough few months for the ski alpinism community. We've lost some of our best and my heroes keep falling. Today, Dave Rosenbarger died high above the Hellbroner on the Italian side of Mont Blanc near Chamonix.

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Couloir du Capucin

The approach to the Col du Tacul, dead aheadIt’s great to have game partners and my friend Pat is at least that and quite capable and fit, too. He’s between guiding gigs right now and eager to get out above Chamonix to ski and climb anything. We had some friends ski a line from the Col du Tacul and said it was fun so we headed off there.

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The Cosmique Double

Below the Midi, Cosmique hut dead ahead.I’ve been in Chamonix just a touch over a month now and I’m feeling more settled. I’ve met more of the locals and have been out skiing with some of them. It’s been super fun having access to local knowledge. Chamonix is completely intimidating until you figure some of this stuff out. That happens a lot faster with some inside info.

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