Skiing

North and east of Girdwood there are 5 prominent peaks that cap the Glacier Valley skyline. Sometimes referred to as the Skyline Peaks the peaks are (from south to north): Notch Mountain (3087’), A1 (4900’), Mystery Mountain (5300’), Pipet Peak (6000’) and Yudi Peak (6540’). From a climbers / skiers perspective they range from 3 […]  [ Read More ]

This is a tale of two Tails: the Whale’s Tail – which is the ridge between the Ruth Glacier and Tokositna Glacier and features a classic ski trip where one traverses the Tokosha Mountains (Tokosha is a Tanaina word meaning “the place where there are no trees”) with breathtaking views of glaciers beneath your feet, […]  [ Read More ]

Spring 1898 – Portage Glacier In the last vestiges of the 19th century America’s westward expansion, coupled with President McKinley’s embrace of expansionism, compelled the US to once again expand beyond established borders.  Alaska was purchased in 1867, Hawaii was annexed in 1898 and that same year the United States mobilized to war with Spain […]  [ Read More ]

January 2021, Tincan Creek Temps were in the single digits when we started out, moisture from our breath condensing around glasses and hats and the crunch of the snow startling in the still morning air. We skied in large puffy jackets, heads down, not talking – concentrating on flexing the fingers that took too long […]  [ Read More ]

In late April 2019, Todd Kelsey, Joe Chmielowski and I skied from the Eagle Glacier to the Nature Center (ERNC). It was a great ski trip through familiar terrain that felt foreign when covered in snow.  All together it was 50 miles of travel (38 miles on skis) with 11K of elevation gain/loss. We took […]  [ Read More ]

November 2019 Update In November 2019 DNR approved this permit. You can read the entire permit here and an ADN article about the approval here. It should come at no surprise that DNR permitted this.  DNR has a history of siding with motorized users and commercial operations in the Mat-Su area.  During the Knik River […]  [ Read More ]

EDIT 8/30/2020 As of late summer 2020 legal access to Ram Valley is once again closed.  An influx of visitors were causing parking issues and the land owners blocked off access at the road with a sign saying that 57 visitors had come at one day. This closure shouldn’t come as a surprise.  Due to […]  [ Read More ]

These photos are from a 5-day ski mountaineering trip on the Finch and Eagle glaciers in the Western Chugach / Chugach State Park. This exact Chugach State Park trip has been done by a few other parties so logistics have been dialed in which makes for easy planning. Basically, you charter an Alpine Air helicopter drop to the Chugach State Park boundary (no landings allowed in the park) on the Finch Glacier and then work your way back via the Finch / Eagle col to MCA hut on the Eagle (Rosie’s Roost) and then out to Crow Pass via either Raven Headwall or Goat Ridge.  [ Read More ]

A spectacular peak from all directions, Rook Mountain lies North and 2000' above Raven Glacier. There is no easy route to the summit which makes it a worthy objective that you must plan for in terms of weather, conditions and route. It's a mountain I've been staring at for 10+ years waiting for the right combination of good snow conditions and solid partners and I've spent many a day walking or skiing past, looking up and waiting.  [ Read More ]

After months of none of the above the magic combination of sun, snow and stability finally settled over Southcentral Alaska. A mid January storm deposited enough snow to finally ski from the road. The storm was followed by high pressure and cold which was finally followed by a warming trend that made long days feasible […]  [ Read More ]