Kenai Ski Weekend - November 5 and 6

Well, I ditched day 2 on the Alaska Snow Safety Conference to go backcountry skiing by myself. It was just too blue and there was plenty of low density fresh. I tore out of Rage City in cloud. I didn't bother to get the snow off my car; that's what highways are for. I had a Plan A, B, and C. Plan A was a long shot, but even with steeps odds, that horse came in.

I espied a skinner heading up Sunny Side at Turnagain Pass. It was an aggressive skinner but it was efficient. I ran into the group that set the skinner, and they were more than happy to share what conditions to expect up higher. They had kicked off a small wind slab off the SW aspect of Pt. 3340. I promised to keep my angles low.

Pt. 3340

About the time that I gained the ridge, the light went to shit. Oh well. I dropped into the low angle Triangle Bowl at the head of Seattle Creek. Even though the angle was low, the exposure from above was high. Avalanches had released in the prior 24 hours from either side leaving a mess of debris in the gut. I didn't linger.

While I was doing the mess around in Seattle Creek there was some action on the front side. A glide crack had fully released above the skinner taking out about 150' off switchbacks. Other than the nervous bile creeping up into to my mouth leaving an awful acrid taste, the skiing was excellent.

Dang ole' glide!

On Sunday morn, I responded to a flash mob request to Occupy Tenderfoot. Our caravan of 99%ers arrived well caffeinated and anxious to participate in a well thought out movement that is sure to bring about real change.

H★ Claiming Her Spot

KAZ and H★ formed our own mini group and sussed out some alternative areas to occupy. This led us to the north side of Tenderfoot Ridge. A+ snow accompanied our descent towards Butcher Creek. We returned back to Tenderfoot Ridge to reclaim our area, but by this point other protesters were congregating in our zone, but there was plenty of room for all.

The ground still hasn't frozen (3,500') and there was evidence off recent glide fractures in the area. A small wind slab had released on a micro feature (NW facing, 8", 10' wide, ran about 20').

H★ Occupyin'

- U.K.

Mountain Silvertip: 10/18

Just what the Hell is Alaska Day? I wasn't sure, but it was a day off from work. I figured in the absence of structured holiday events, that the best bet would be to treat it like MLK Day.

I loaded the skis and put Anchorage in the rearview. It was cloudy, but forecast called for clearing. The goal was Silvertip. Skiable snow in Summit / Turnagain is at about 1,800'. The Silvertip trailhead is at 600'; there'd be some walking.

There is a gated mining road that gets you through the worst of the brush. Unfortunately, I convinced myself that this was the wrong road and tore off into the woods like an idiot trying to find the "correct" road. 90 minutes later I popped out a ½ mile up the original road. Moron! At least I was back on route. The road quickly peters out into ATV trail and then a small path that puts you at a perennial snow-bridge. Using this and other bridges, you can link meadows on either side of the creek.

Very Convenient

Silvertip Creek splits around the NE Ridge of the peak. I opted to make for the ridge from the mini-confluence. This involved some steep bushwhacking and creative swearing. Progress was slow but eventually I gained the ridge at about 2,000' and immediately started skinning.

The snow was refrozen slush and odds for soft conditions up higher seemed low. Despite expectations, the snow quality drastically improved at 2,500.' A few new inches made for easy travel.

Looking Back towards the Trailhead

Now was the opportunity to make up time that was lost to pointless alder smashing. The NE ridge is low enough angle to avoid any switchbacks, but this makes for a long (albeit safer) approach. The wind kicked up into the 30 mph range around 3,000' and with those few inches available for transport, it was full-on winter.

The Final Push to the Summit

The last 600' vert gets steeper, but fortunately wind had scoured the ridge down to only a few inches giving me that false sense of security that I am so fond of. The views from the summit are outstanding. Silvertip looks down 6-Mile all the way to Indian. Both Summit Lakes are in your lap as is all of Turnagain Pass.

The Ridges of Turnagain County

I quickly transitioned using an advanced technique for folding skins in high winds. Now: to the schuss!!! The ridge held no appeal. The SE Face has been taunting me for years. Today would be the day.

The Top 1,300'

There was a slight wind crust for the 1st few turns, but conditions improved dramatically. The snow wanted to be my friend and with gravity as my weapon, I let 'em run!! Yelps and whoops echoed off the steep walls in front of me. Wind whipped and snow flew and before too long I had descended 2,500' to the creek.

I stayed skier's right of the creek and was able towork the snow down to 1,500.' Once on foot, I linked meadows with minimal shwack'n by staying boater's right. The friendly neighborhood snow-bridges continued to play an important role and I was quickly back on the the mining road heading for home.

Hint: Stay on the mining road for a optimal travel.

- Michael Schultz

Tenderfoot Ridge: 10/16

Sign no more: ski season has arrived on the Kenai Peninsula. Yes, I know people have been skiing Turnagain since late September, but the approaches are diminishing as the snow line slowly creeps towards the roadside.

Our rather large group converged on the Tenderfoot Campground between the Summit Lakes. Despite the lack of snow in the car-park, the approach to Tenderfoot Ridge is benign thanks to some early ski entrepreneurs. Trails cut in the 50's for Summit Lake Ski Hill make for a bush-whack-free climb.

From the Bottom of Summit Lake Ski Hill

Skins went on 400' above the lake. Snow pack grew quickly throughout the ascent (≈24" between 3,000' and 4,000'). Tenderfoot Ridge is a series of false summits tempting you higher and higher. Just 5 mores minutes and we'll top out. Nope! Try again and......... denied.

Not the Top

Numerous glide cracks had opened on steeper slopes with many reaching Butcher and Tenderfoot Creeks. We elected to schuss the mellower slopes of the "front side". Snow was falling but not fast enough to obscure tracks between runs.

The Wise Owl Contemplates another False Summit

Skiing was good and there are enough trees on Tenderfoot to keep the vertigo at bay on those rare flat light days. High density creamy goodness kept the team on top.

Occupy Freshies

- Emmet Otter

Tri-Tip: December 11

Summit continues to deliver. Today Hubert and I decided Tri-Tip would be a the way to go. Summit Lake is now frozen allowing us to short-cut over the ice. This saved about 20 minutes. As usual, H set the skinner from the vehicle to the top. There were some class 4 and 4+ moves, no class 5 this time. After 90 minutes and 3,000 vert I reached the top to find Hubert well rested.

The light was better on South facing, but South facing has been variable in Summit lately, so we opted for the big West Bowl. Good choice. The snow is about 12" deep over the dreaded Thanksgiving Rain Crust. This was enough to make for some quiet schussing.

It was good, and the skies were clearing. So there was really no choice. Back up and near the top we gained the sun. Our line was bathed in a soft pink hue. There wasn't time to linger so back to the lake.

Hubert Catching the Fading Light

Sunset Over Summit Lake

3,000' Vertical from Summit to Lake (Skied Lookers' Right)

Getting to Tri-Tip

Park at the 1st pullout next to Upper Summit Lake (mile 47.5-ish on the Seward Highway)

Cross the lake and head on up

From the top of Tri-Tip there are North, South, and West shots

Choose wisely

Ski it

- The Kingpin

Manitoba: December 5

We've all seen storms hyped. The hype is big. It's gonna dump. It's gonna be epic. It's gonna be this. It's gonna be that. But when dawn breaks, what is the reality? More likely than not, the hype does not live up to reality. Hype sets the bar high and unless its met, you will be disappointed. Hype will turn 12" into a let down. Hype cannot help; it can only hurt. Without hype, there cannot be disappointment.

What made this storm different was that the hype of the storm carried over into the avi forecast. The storm fizzled, but the forecast refused to accept the 3" reality.

So I met some friends and headed for some lower angle terrain. Manitoba has a super-wide 30° South face and some impressive North facing couloirs off the summit. Its perfect for a day when you are unsure of the stability. It was bluebird with about 8" (2 storms worth) of blower with no wind. Stability tests revealed nothing of concern, but the 1/2" hoar frost could make the next storm interesting. The skiing was excellent and the team felt more comfortable on the South Face. Our final lap was bathed in the alpenglow which was really lighting up the hoar frost.

The Summit area has been blowing my socks off lately. The terrain is much bigger than Turnagain and way less people. Everyday puts about 10 new lines on the wish list.

South Face of Manitoba

South Face of Silver Tip

Dresden II: Back to the Projects

Sunset over Summit Lake

To get to Manitoba park at the Mile 48 lot on the East side of the Seward Highway. Skin North along the highway for about 100 yards and follow the fire road into the woods and over the bridge.

- Daniel Elsberg