Falls Creek: May 28

DB had been singing the praises of Falls Creek all month. "It's cooler city!" I've been up there the last three weekends!" "I can't believe I've never skied this before!" And on and on. DB has a nose for these things so I decided to give it look.

Tom was in town unexpectedly but lacked ski gear. Well, being part of the Boyz means having more gear than you could ever possibly use. Boots, skins, skis, poles, beacons.... well we can skip the beacons.

Falls Creek is accessed via a small trailhead on the Turnagain Arm just North of Indian. It started steep and dusty and stayed steep and dusty. It wasn't looking good. After about 90 minutes we reached the 1st snow which conveniently happened to be at the bottom of a 2,000' chute. Well, I know this game: boot it, send it. Copy. Booting went quick; Tom seemed overly motivated. Let him go. Great white buffalo.

From the bottom

Looking South down the Seward Highway / Turnagain Arm

Life jackets are recommended for those with rag doll-itis

Addtional options higher in the drainage

The snow was good but getting a bit mushy. Wet surface snow collected and formed streams of "lava" carving out gullies as it trenched out the chute. It picked of some steam and crashed into the rocks in a tight left. Take nothing but pictures....

Tom negiotiating the not-so-cruxy crux

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Falls Creek is yet another Anchorage gem discovered by ol' Prospector Dave. Many options, many teachers.

- Ratso Rizzo