Pastoral Peak (4,764’), situated at the head of Center, Lyon and Bertha creeks, is the most prominent peak on the non-motorized side of Turnagain Pass area. It is a popular and scenic ski tour with an easy route to the summit and several potential descent routes from the summit and on a sunny stable day one will encounter multiple parties working their way up valley towards the summit. Ascending Pastoral is perhaps my favorite tour in the Turnagain area and I have climbed 20+ times over the past 25 years.
The first recorded ascent of the peak was on January 21, 1967 by Nick Parker, Bob Spurr and Gerry Garland. They approached via the Taylor Creek valley and skied up and over Taylor Pass and ascended an unknown route on the north side. They named the peak “Pastoral” referring to the excellent conditions they had that day. That night they camped near Taylor Pass and skied out the next morning. Upon returning to their car they “were greeted with a most disheartening scene”. The car they had left was “sitting forlornly on the snow, minus tires, wheel and windows, and most everything necessary for travel in auto”. The party had to hitchhike back to Anchorage their trip having been “marred by some unruly tourist” (Nick Parker, Scree, March 1967).
As mentioned earlier – this is a popular ski tour and you’re unlikely to ski it by yourself on a sunny stable day. Due to its popularity there have been a number of near misses on the peak, the most alarming being an avalanche that happened on 12/120/17. Two skiers were approaching the peak when they remotely triggered a large avalanche while skinning below the Northwest face of Pastoral Peak. The skiers were in the direct path of the avalanche and they turned and ran/skied behind a small knoll to avoid being caught. The avalanche had a crown ranging from 5’-12’, was 1500’ wide and ran 1000 vertical feet. The skiers escaped injury by pure luck and it’s a good reminder that the scale of such incidents are often much larger than one can comprehend. The report is something all people interested in this tour should review and the last photo shows that such incidents are not as uncommon as one might think.
Apart from above incident there have been a handful of other reported avalanche incidents including a full burial on the Southeast Face, several soft slab avalanches on the North Face and an early season dry-loose avalanche on Mistress.
Resources
This is a zone that you need to plan for. My rule of thumb is to only visit when it’s sunny with low winds and during prolonged periods of low or moderate avalanche danger. Another rule of thumb I have is to not visit this zone when persistent slab is the main avalanche problem. There is no way to avoid exposing yourself to this problem in these tours, so consider other tours.
- Avalanche Forecast: The current Turnagain forecast is here. If you haven’t been paying daily attention to the forecast you can view archived forecasts here.
- Observations: Browse the current observations to see what people are finding and read location specific archived observations to see what people have encountered in the past.
- Weather: My rule of thumb is to not go to Pastoral unless the winds are calm. I’ve gone out on days when the wind has been steady 20+mph and did not have a good time (I once got frostnip on my toes when the wind howled all day and I kept skiing). To view the weather forecast compare models on Windy.com and note temp and wind speeds on the Sunburst weather station.
- Education: New to the area or backcountry skiing? Take a class at Alaska Avalanche School.
- Guides: If you’re looking for a ski guide for the day contact Nick D’Alessio, Elliot Gaddy or Joe Stock at Alaska Guides Collective or Melanee Stiassny at Sundog. All of them are long time locals and familiar with the Turnagain area.
Approach & Ascent Routes
East Ridge
Rating: Class 2
This the the common route up Pastoral. The route starts at the Sunburst parking lot and goes up and over Taylor Pass. To get from Taylor Pass to the glacier have to traverse below the east face of Goldpan via a slope of shallow snow that is exposed to avalanche danger from above. Sometimes this traverse is an easy ski, sometimes it’s a tiptoe across rocks and sometimes it’s a dash to minimize the risk of wet slides from above. Every now and then it’s a combo of all three. Don’t take the traverse lightly – I once slid across this section on a warm spring morning and turned around to watch a wet slide pour down in-between me and my partner. Once across this section you gain the glacier and follow the lowest angles to eventually gain the East Ridge which you ascend 500’ to the summit. The East Ridge can often be skinned for a couple hundred feet before it steepens and you have to switch to booting. The top is often coated in rime ice and an ice axe or whippet is handy for the final steps to the summit.
South Ridge
Rating: Class 2
This route is accessed via the Pastoral/Grandaddy col at the head of Bertha Creek. Park at the Cornbiscuit lot and tour up valley until you gain the ridge. This ridge is longer than it looks and the route is often icy so you will end up booting much of the 1000’ to gain the summit. This route isn’t as aesthetic as the East Ridge tour but is a good option if you’re looking to link up runs in the Bertha Creek drainage.
West Ridge
Rating: Class 3
This is the long ridge that rises from Bertha Creek. It’s not a winter route as the ridgetops are often faceted and corniced, but it can be traversed in the summer. Access this by hiking up the summer trail that is on the north side of Bertha creek (look for an ATV trail just off the highway next to the creek). Once above treeline aim for the long ridge below Goldpan or alternatively follow the entire Cornbiscuit / Superbowl / Goldpan ridge to Pastoral. This is a brushy wet zone in the summer with very few (human) visitors.
Descent Routes
This is a list of the standard routes plus add-ons which I consider to be part of Pastoral due to location and elevation. The standard routes would be anything you can ski off the top – mainly the North, South and East faces. In addition I’ve included Mistress which is technically the lower Northwest face of Pastoral and the Santa Claus chutes which would be the lower Northeast face of Pastoral.
East Ridge
This is a variation of the standard ascent route. The top is usually pretty bad but you can pick you way through the ice and slip onto the lower angle slopes that are below the ascent route. This is an option if stability on the north side is suspect. You can sideslip the top icy sections and then slide out onto the face and ski below the up track back to the base of the ridge.
North Face Chutes
These are north facing lines that drop right off the summit. There are several that you can choose from. Generally the top 150′ is hard pack but usually the snow improves as you get lower. The middle chute seems to hold the best snow. The skiers left line is often blown to rock half way down (as shown in picture).
Northwest Face
This is the shaded face that drops right off the summit to the glacier. From below it looks deceptively moderate but once you start slipping into the run you quickly realize that the run is 40+ degrees at the top. The top rollover is above a rock band that may or may not be snow-covered. If it’s not covered you must slip between rocks to get out onto the the main face. If the rocks are covered, it means the top is extremely wind loaded.
South Face
These chutes drop off the summit and down to Bertha Creek. The main chute (skiers left) pinches down and the pinch is often blown free of snow or melted out leaving a band of exposed rock. The chute to skiers right is cleaner – but it is steeper and the entrance is harder to determine from the top. These runs are exposed to a lot of wind from Center / Divide creeks plus constant sun so choose your day wisely.
East Face
The East Face drops down to the valley above Center Creek. Generally this route has crummy snow due to sun and constant wind and the only reason one would ski this line is to access Santa Claus or Center Creek. Note that the top is a mixture of exposed rock and rime ice which you can bypass by dropping down the south face for a few hundred feet and traversing in. It is possible to slide onto the East Face from the top of Pastoral Glacier but it requires working your way around cliff bands in suspect snow.
(Grandaddy’s) Mistress
Mistress is the northwest facing chute that is between the West Ridge of Pastoral and East Ridge of Goldpan. It’s steep shaded line that harbors faceted snow and has seen a handful of ugly falls and loose snow avalanches over the years. The run starts at point between Pastoral and Goldpan – the sunlit platform as shown in the photo.
Santa Claus Chutes
These chutes are on the north side of the rocky ridge northeast of Pastoral Glacier. If you look at the photo the top right peak is Pastoral with the East Ridge profiled. The rocky ridge lookers left of Pastoral contains the chutes. Fat Santa is the wide chute on climbers left. Skinny Santa (sometimes referred to as The Chimney) is the narrow chute climbers right of the rocky ridge.
Pastoral Tours
All the above routes can be done as out and back routes with no sidequests – but if you’re heading that far you might as well take the extra effort to turn the day into a longer tour. Below are some notes from 5 of my favorite tours in this zone. Note that once you start adding onto the original tour you’re often venturing onto different slope aspects and elevation zones – so pay extra attention to the forecast discussion in regards to avalanche problems and especially aspect and elevation. For example – a sunny April day will be fine if you’re skiing the North Chutes – but if you’re dropping down to Lyon creek you’ll have to deal with a different snowpack at treeline. Of the routes listed below, each one gets slightly harder and route finding becomes more complex with Mistress and Santa Claus being difficult routes that you’ll want to probe carefully.
Alex Wilson off the summit and down the North Chutes. March 2020.
Pastoral Classic
This is classic out and back tour with side variations to ski the lower bowl and Weather Station run off Sunburst. I have skied this route a dozen plus times in all conditions and never seen to tire of it. Lots of people will do an out an back on Pastoral but few opt to ski the lower bowl below the glacier. That said – while the lower bowl is a fantastic ski getting out of the lower bowl usually entails breaking trail up a terrain trap in crappy snow where you frequently alternate between skinning and booting.
Access this tour via the standard Sunburst / Taylor Pass / East Ridge tour. If you are uncomfortable with skiing off the top leave your skis at the base of the East Ridge and boot up and down the final 500’. If you do opt to ski have a choice between the East Ridge, North Chutes or Northwest Face. I have skied all of these several times and all are enjoyable runs. The East Ridge is really only something you want to ski if you have no other options. The snow tends to be a mixture of ice and wind board and you have to pick your way back and forth to find a viable route. That said – it’s a safe route if avalanche conditions on the north side is suspect. The North Chutes tend to hold decent snow and in periods of sun and stability there will be multiple tracks down them. The top tends to be hard pack but usually you can carve your way down to the softer snow. The Northwest Face is quite a bit steeper with a massive convex roll at the top that you need to negotiate. The roll is steepest at the rock band which also happens to be the shallowest point on the slope. Once past the convexity the slope remains steep for most of the run. If you’re considering this run study the photos from the 2017 accident report to determine if you’re willing to accept this risk.
Once off the top you can detour to the lower slopes by cutting due north and dropping off the glacier and into the lower bowl. This zone is dark and faceted and holds good snow – but you end up below a tight canyon that you need to ascend to regain Taylor Pass. Upon regaining Taylor Pass ascend the Sunburst ridge for 500’ to reach Weather Station run – the south facing gully that dropping to Taylor Creek that starts at the CNFAIC weather station.
Pastoral Classic
Approach: Access via the Sunburst parking lot. Ski up Taylor Creek to the pass and then traverse to Pastoral Glacier.
Route: Ascend via the East Ridge and descend via the best route for your ability. To ski the lower bowl drop north off the glacier into the lower bowl. Assess stability before committing to dropping lower due to the complexity in exiting the lower bowl.
Gear: Skies & avalanche gear. I like to carry a lightweight axe for the East Ridge.
Distance / Time: 11 miles / 5,500′. Total tour takes about 6-8 hrs depending on conditions and side objectives.
Season: I’ve skied this December – April. December is dark and cold and you’ll spend most of your day in the shade. April tends to have dangerous wet slides by late afternoon so exit early.
Yvonne near the top of Pastoral on a perfect Lyon Creek loop day. March 2022.
Lyon Creek Loop
This tour is similar to the Pastoral Classic except that instead of climbing back up to Taylor Pass you continue down valley and drop down to Lyon Creek. Upon reaching the creek, cross to the north side and work your way down valley to the Center Ridge trail and then across the meadows back to the Sunburst lot. Some years you can stay on the south side of Lyon Creek and climb back up to Sunburst via the far northwestern slopes – but this variation tends to be brushy and you’re exposed to avalanche risk from the north side of Sunburst for much of the route.
Another thing to consider is the avalanche risk as you drop from 2,500′- 2,000′ towards Lyon creek. This slope is steep and you need to choose your route wisely as there are several terrain traps that you can find yourself in if you’re not paying attention.
Once at the creek cross as soon as possible because the further downstream you go the steeper the creek walls get. If you choose your route (and day) carefully you can ski the entire way back to the Sunburst lot without skins.
Lyon Creek Loop
Approach: Approach as you would for the East Ridge.
Route: Descend your route of choice then drop the lower bowl. Once at the bottom of the lower bowl contour around to the slopes above the creek that drains Pastoral Glacier. Follow these slopes towards Lyon Creek staying on the treed slope between the creek and the steep terrain trap on skiers right side of the slope. Once down cross Lyon Creek and ski in the valley on the north side of the creek towards the Center Ridge trail.
Gear: Skies & avalanche gear. I like to carry a lightweight axe for the East Ridge.
Time: 12 miles / 4,500′. Takes about 5-7 hrs.
Season: February through early April. Generally coverage is too thin until mid-winter and by mid April afternoon wet slides become a hazard.
Looking down the South Face and towards Grandaddy. February 2025.
South Face Loop
The South Face of Pastoral is a route that I turned around on several times before finally being able to ski it on a decent day. The face sits above the Pastoral / Grandaddy col and is wind blasted anytime a storm moves through the area. Because of this you get a combination of rime ice, wind slab and exposed rock which makes stability suspect and the skiing not so fun. That said – when in condition the tour can be turned into a fun loop with several opportunities for steep fun skiing on multiple aspects as you make your way back to the car.
I skied this route with Joe Chmielowski and Iulian Oved-Evertt in February 2025 during a period of sunny stable weather with decent snow. We toured in via the Sunburst / Taylor Pass and were on the summit by 1pm. We dropped the main chute down the South Face to Bertha Creek. As I’ve noted – this run pinches halfway down which creates a wind funnel that leads to exposed rock. The day we skied it we had a crusty rim ice entrance then decent snow down to just above the pinch. The pinch was solid ice with exposed rock but just below that it turned to powder again.
After that we needed to get home somehow. We skied down valley to the Goldpan drainage then skinned up to gain the Superbowl ridge, traversed up and over Superbowl and then booted to the top of Goldpan. We skied Basketball (the NW facing chute on Goldpan) to Taylor Creek and back to the Sunburst parking.
This was a great loop. Basketball is a steep exciting run, but the top is always wind loaded and I’ll only ski it when I am absolutely certain of stability (watch the opening scene of Turnagain Hardcore 2 for a vid of Miles Rainey triggering a slide on this run). An alternative exit is via Corner Pocket / Magnum which aren’t as steep / wind-loaded and tend to see more traffic.
South Face Loop
Approach: Approach as you would for the East Ridge.
Route: From the top of Pastoral drop south down your route of choice. Note that the standard South Face route can have exposed rock at the choke. Once at the base of Pastoral you have to decide how to get back to the Sunburst parking lot. Your options are to ski our Bertha creek and hitchhike, ascend Goldpan and ski out via Basketball / Taylor Creek or exit via Superbowl or Corner Pocket and the West Face of Magnum.
Gear: Skies & avalanche gear. I like to carry a lightweight axe for the East Ridge.
Time: 11 miles / 6,000′. Takes about 5-7 hrs.
Season: February through late March. By early April the South Face of Pastoral is generally too soft.
Dr. Larson down Mistress. February 2017.
Mistress Loop
Mistress is the northwest facing chute that is between the West Ridge of Pastoral and East Ridge of Goldpan. According to Poacher, Mistress was originally called “Grandaddy’s Mistress” and was named by Viking who, Poacher told me once, “used to ski all those peaks in a single day… Grandaddy, Pastoral, Mistress. They were animals“.
I’ve skied this run a half-dozen times and always enjoy the outing. It’s a nice tour to access the base of the route, a steep climb to gain the top and a committing ski down a steep line. After you ski the actual line you need to climb a couple more passes and ski a couple more runs to get back to your car.
My choice access for Mistress is via a notch accessed from Pastoral Glacier. After traversing from Taylor Pass to the glacier, tour due south towards the col between Pastoral and Goldpan. Once at the base of the notch you have three choices: a short rocky gully on climbers right that deposits you on the ridge but a couple hundred feet below the top of run. You then have to work your way to the top in very deep faceted snow. The middle gully deposits you on top but is often is shallow and you end up booting half in snow and half on rock. The left gully – my preferred route – is the most straight forward but it can contain deep steep snow.
And then down. The run has a convexity at the top and the skier can’t see below it and the spotter can’t see the skier after s/he drops over it. I once dropped over this rollover and skied off a 2′ crown into bed surface. The rest of the run was rock and ice and it was not fun. Other times I’ve fought sluff top to bottom. You can ski cut the top by dropping in on the left and skiing hard right to a stance near the top of the right most climbers gully. There are no safe zones so ski fast and beware of sluff!
After that you have to get out. My preferred route is up to the Cornbiscuit / Superbowl col, down Corner Pocket then up Magnum and down the West Face (Palisades) run to the Sunburst parking lot. This makes for the perfect loop and an excellent day.
Mistress Loop
Approach: Ascend Taylor Pass and traverse to the glacier. Then tour due south to the Pastoral / Goldpan col.
Route: Ascend one of the three gullies to reach the top of the run. My preference is climbers left but it can sometimes be loaded at the top. Once on top ski the run. The run has a large convex roll and spotters won’t be able to see the skier until they reach the valley floor. Once down exit via Corner Pocket and the West Face of Magnum.
Gear: Skies & avalanche gear. Radios are handy since the skier cannot be seen after dropping over the Mistress rollover.
Time: With no sidequests it’s 9 miles / 6,500′. Takes about 6 hrs.
Season: This is a mid-winter run (December through early March). By April it’s too warm.
Tracks down Fat Santa. February 2025.
Pastoral & Santa Claus Tour
The Santa Claus chutes lie on the north side of the the East Buttress of Pastoral – a lobe that branches east at the top of Pastoral Glacier. To ski them requires getting to Pastoral, going beyond and then figuring out a way home. There are two distinct chutes: Skinny Santa Claus / The Chimney is the narrow chute on the western side of the ridge that you can access right from Pastoral Glacier, and Fat Santa Claus which is the wide chute on the eastern side of the ridge.
Skinny Santa / The Chimney is reached by traversing left from the low point of the East Ridge till you get to the start of the lower rocky ridge. The chute is often guarded by a large cornice and requires a committing jump to enter. I have never skied this run but have poked the cornice several times and backed off – but every now and then I’ve heard you can slip it into it when the cornice isn’t too big (Mike Records has a write up of skiing both chutes by first downclimbing into Skinny then skinning up Fat).
Fat Santa is difficult to access and requires either approaching from the bottom via a long tour up Lyon Creek (not recommended), traversing the rocky ridge (definitely not recommended) or approaching from the south after skiing the East Face (not really recommended but more recommended that the other options). I’ve successfully accessed the run by going up and over the ridge and via the East Face. The one time I tried skiing in from Lyon Creek we turned around a few hundred feet from the top of the run due to questionable stability.
When I skied Fat Santa in February 2025 we accessed the run by climbing Pastoral and dropping south for about 400′ and then traversing east to a bench where we could slip out onto the East Face and thus avoid the rocks and rime ice that often coat the top. We skied the East Face then booted up the chute below Bad Santa to gain the run.This option, while safer and technically easier than the ridge, was tiring. The East Ridge was difficult skiing due to poor snow and the boot up Bad Santa was steep and rime ice and rock kept raining down on us. At the top of the run we had already skied 6.5 miles and 5,500′!
And then down! The run has an obvious convex roll at the top and you can’t see a thing. When we skied it in 2008 we dug a pit but in 2025 we jumped right in. I had gotten first tracks in 2008 so Eric tool first tracks in 2025. It’s a steep wonderful run that rolls steeply and then drops steeply for a total of 1000′. We regrouped on the bench then dropped into a chute and skied another 1000′ to the valley floor.
And then home. Except for the sidequests – and if you’re back there you might as tour around some more maybe ski something else cool. Once we skied back to the col at the very head of Lyon Creek for an amazing view of Spencer Glacier. Once we toured up to the base of the eastern lobe that Santa branches off of. Once Eric and I toured up to a bump where we discovered a recently excavated bear den. I ripped my skins like a skimo racer that day and skied away while Eric yelled at me to wait while he struggled with his splitboard.
We exited via Lyon Creek. Everytime I do it I tell myself I won’t do it again and then I find myself side stepping through alders while looking over my shoulders at the places I keep going back to again and again.
Pastoral Santa Claus Tour
Approach: Approach as you would for the East Ridge.
Route: Ascend the East Ridge to the top, then ski partway down the South Face until you can slip onto the East Face. Descend the East Face and then boot up the couloir to gain the top of Fat Santa. Ski the line down to Lyon Creek and then exit via Lyon Creek to Center Ridge and then across the meadows to Sunburst.
Gear: Skies, avalanche gear and a lightweight axe.
Time: 15 miles / 6,700′. 7-9 hours.
Season: December – March. December will likely be bony if you’re looking to ski the East Face. By late March the east facing slopes below Pastoral are usually shedding.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to the people who skied Pastoral with me over the past 25 years. Here’s a list (in no particular order): Yvonne Lamoureux, Todd Kelsey, Eric Souja, Molly Souja, Dan Boccia, Eric Parsons, Bryce Stath, Louis Sass, Bryn Calrk, Jake Gano, Nathan Hebna, Gerrit Verbeek, Kathy Zukor, Rachael Wilson, Alex Wilson, Joe Chmielowski, Iulian Oved-Evertt, Matt Hickey, Todd Fischer, Charlie Finley, Dante Petri, Peter Smith, Trip Kinney, Dave Bass, Sarah Heck. I’m probably missing some people. If I missed you email me a picture so I remember!