AKBC on Aspect Journal
One of the pictures from our December avalanche class is featured on the opening page of this month’s Aspect Journal! Check it out.
Lines to ski, stories to tell.
Snowshoer killed near Flattop
ADN is reporting today that a snowshoer was killed in Boy Scout Gully on Flattop Mountain here in Anchorage.
Flattop is one of the most frequently climbed peaks in Alaska and affords easy access to great views and good excercise. Unfortunately, it is also in the foothills of the Chugach, which are notorious for dangerous avalanche conditions in low snow years such as this one. Flattop has seen its share of avalanche accidents — I remember in highschool my friends set a slide off in the same area while snowboarding. They were thankfully unharmed but it was a good reminder that up here, wilderness (and the dangers associated with it), is always right next to you.
Alyeska
After three weekends in the backcountry, it was nice to do some lift-serviced skiing again. Andrea and I spent the morning at Alyeska with Daniel and Jon. After so much time in untracked, low-angle snow, it was nice to get some steeps again but the tracks! Ugh, you really get spoiled in the backcountry. Actually, probably the best runs of the day were on the piste — the groomers laid out some nice corduroy that stayed grippy and fast all day.
Alaska Supreme Court Justice Bob Eastaugh had a law clerks’ ski race that afternoon so we headed to Chair 3 to bash some gates just as the wind was picking up at the top.
Thanks to Jon Bolton for the pics, more to follow.
Sunny Day on the Middle Fork
Today was our first day on our new (to us) backcountry skis. (We both found great used skis on the Anchorage craigslist site – www.craigslist.com). We decided to try them out on the Middle Fork trail which starts at the Prospect Heights parking lot, loops up toward Willowa lakes around to Glen Alps, and then back down the Powerline trail. It was cold, but clear (see the sun shining in the photos below!) and the snow was plenty sticky. Always a great day to be a skier!
Happy Trails to Hillary
It is with a sad heart we say goodbye to one of our favorite backcountry partners, Hillary Prugh, who is leaving Alaska this Saturday night for Bozeman, Montana to begin her career as a real-live lawyer.
Our first backcountry excursions this season to Hatcher’s Pass were with Hillary and Andrea and I took the Avy. 1 class earlier this winter with her. In such a short time, we packed in alot of great memories.
I can honestly say Hillary is one of the best alpine skiers I have ever seen strap on tele gear. And when she finally got her skins cut (last week) on her AT boards, she ripped. Above is a picture of Andrea, Hillary and uh, me, at Hatcher pass in mid-November.
Hillary, we will miss turning with you the rest of this season and we are looking forward to one more sub-zero mission to Turnagain this weekend! Keep your smile big and we will visit in Montana soon!
Turnagain in the Sun
We had a rare treat two weeks ago – a clear January day at Turnagain. Andrea, Rich, and I (and four dogs) did three runs down Tincan in knee-deep fluff. We weren’t the first ones on the mountain but there was plenty of untracked if you looked for it and the sun felt SO GOOD. We met up with Hillary, Chester, and Brian for our final run down through the trees.
Last weekend, we returned to the same spot only to be greeted by near whiteout conditions. We stayed on the lower mountain in the trees and kept the camera in the pack.
This last week has been frigid in Anchorage; the mercury has not gotten above 5 in the last five days. We are heading to Turnagain tomorrow, hopefully to ski Sunburst. Although it is supposed to stay cold (Portage has been recording 17 below), we can at least count on a blue bird day and dry snow.
Spencer Loop – Tour Trail
A picture from our ski with Larry, Sandra, and Teeny last weekend – did the Spencer Loop and the Tour of Anchorage trail to the Lagoon. The total ski was about 3 hours, the TOA is getting close! 
Delgadillo Visit – Dog Mushing and Skiing
Andrea’s parents, Joe and Vickie, came to visit last weekend with Andrea’s brother, Mike, and his fiancee, Kristen. We headed out to Willow to go dog sledding with Vern Halter. Vern is a long-time Iditarod musher (best placing 3rd) and his kennel was a professional, well-run outfit. We sledded for about 2 hours; with the temp. hovering around zero, it was about all we could take. The rest of the weekend we x-c skied around Anchorage, hitting the Coastal Trail and the Tour of Anchorage trail.
Turnagain New Year’s Weekend
A few pictures from our ski up Tincan in Turnagain Pass over the New Year’s weekend. A storm was moving in as we climbed higher; the snow got lighter, the light more flat, and the big flakes kept coming down. Unfortunately, by the time we skinned above treeline, visibility was so bad we had to stay close to the skin track. The ski was finished off with the typical Turnagain tree climb through the willows and alders. The next day we were treated to 12″ of fresh snow at Alyeska.
AKBC 
