Wow! I still can’t believe where I am; surrounded by glaciers and mountains that are more magnificent than any I’ve seen in years. Spectacular ski lines shine in every direction.
Powder Cloud in Alaska, can you spot the ski pole? (Click to enlarge)
Skiing back to camp after exploring around on our first day, with an incredible mountain behind. I believe it is called the White Fang. Fitting name. The tentative plan for tomorrow is to ski the northeast face on the other side.
After waiting for several rainy days in a half-built garage in Haines (it had a roof at least), we finally encountered good weather. Wednesday we arrived early at Fly Drake’s hanger and scrambled to pack up the plane. We were excited since no other ski groups had landed in Glacier Bay this year.
Drake taking off in a cloud of powder. The snow was so deep that he augered in up to the body of the plane when he landed. I was surprised that he was able to take off. That plane is powerful!
The flight was nothing short of stunning. Two days later I’m still processing it. After a long reconnaissance flight, we found an outstanding zone to camp. The area is just outside of the heli-skiing permit area, relatively close to town, making logistics easier and cheaper. It’s also at a relatively high elevation, important in this below average Alaskan year. We are camped on a big valley glacier, surrounded by peaks, spines, and more glaciers.
Morning of our second day. The spine wall ahead, our "AK spine 101" classroom, was the objective for the day.
After landing, we quickly set up part of our camp and then headed out to ski. Being dropped into a completely new area, our goal was to explore the area and evaluate the unfamiliar snowpack. We made our way up to a ridge above camp, dug a few pits and cut a cornice. The snow was incredible! Very stable, with a consistent gradient from blower powder to stable coastal snow a few feet down.
After we landed, we toured above camp. The views were incredible. Camp is below us, out of site in the huge glacier below.
The rest of the day and the next we skied several marvelous runs. The skiing has been superb, and a completely new experience. I’ve learned an immense amount in the last few days about skiing, avalanche safety, and myself. I’d better go to bed, so I’ll let the photos tell the rest of the story.
Here are the photos in chronological order. You can mess with the order for the post if you want. Choose whatever order you want for the cover photo as well.
Walking the ridge out to the first turns of the trip. We found a perfect north facing slope to do some belayed ski cuts and snow pits, and then it yielded incredible turns.
After a heinous 60+ degree powder bootpack, Coop enjoys the view on top of the spine wall. Verts and Ascent Plates were essential for the bootpack.
The top of the run rolled to well over 60 degrees (I measured). We decided a belayed ski cut was a wise choice for the first participant.
The wall. You can barely see me skiing on the skier's left of the main spine. An absolutely incredible run!
(Editor’s note, we heard the boys got one more day of good weather and skied something nice and big. More coming.)
Louie Dawson earned his Bachelor Degree in Industrial Design from Western Washington University in 2014. When he’s not skiing Mount Baker or somewhere equally as snowy, he’s thinking about new products to make ski mountaineering more fun and safe.
