May Powder

Lot's of tracks beyond. Nearly nothing where I was going.Much to the displeasure of most of the Anchorage populace, winter is holding on to the bitter end this year. With each passing storm and my subsequent celebration at work, my fellow employees simply tell me to piss off.

This past week saw a wet cold front move through and drop significant snowfall in the hills. It even got more wonderful when temps dropped and it started to stick in town. That really pissed people off. I blamed it on me taking my snow tires off my car. Hooray!

After 3 days of drizzly weather and eventual snowfall in town, Sunday promised to be clear and, indeed, it was. I was a little leery, initially. The combination of significant snow up high and a warm spring sun could set us up for rapidly changing ski conditions. I resisted the temptation to go out Saturday as the skies lifted.

I wasn’t in big hurry Sunday, either. But the temps didn’t rise as quickly as I thought they would in spite of the cloudless ski. I thought about a bike ride. But I had a new camera and preferred to test it out in mountains. So, at the crack of around 2:30pm I loaded up and headed to a popular trailhead.

The parking lot was pretty full. No surprise. The adjacent ski area, now closed, was getting hammered by the crowd. But I was heading to points further west and north. Still, the number of skinners and booters headed my way led me to believe that I would be getting sloppy seconds on my favorite lines.

After about 40 minutes of climbing I topped out on the well-traveled skinner and looked over the other side. Not a track. Whaaaat? The masses simply turned around and headed down the mellow, sun-lit slopes to the parking lot. Maybe it was sketchy to the north.

Really? Not a track?I was alone so I had to be careful. I didn’t even have my phone. I ripped skins and carefully dropped in. It’s steep-ish at the top, 35 degrees, perfect for a big event. I know they happen on this slope. But the storm track blew up this grade so it wasn’t loaded. There was also minimal wind effect, no slab, and just 5 inches of lovely powder on a firm crust.

I made some cautious turns, one at a time, seeing what would move. Zip. Nothing. I giggled and let it run. Sure, I looked over my shoulder a few times but as the slope eased so did my mind. It got a little grabby on the more sun-affect lower aspects but it was still all mine and I ran it out. As I got to the flats I noticed a solitary track coming down to the south of my run and the subsequent up track heading back up. Closer inspection suggested this individual came down last night. One and done. Perfect.2,000 feet of powdered joy.

I donned skins and headed up. I was eyeing a buttress we like to hit that has some little, technical chutes that demand your attention. Figured I could farm those for the afternoon. And, indeed, I did. I made four laps on the backside, hitting little features and cruising the bottom powder runs. As the sun came around during my four-hour stay, the slopes warmed and what was unconsolidated powder slowly became a somewhat wet slab.

Several options of interesting skiing through these rocks.With the steep terrain at the top being narrow, I felt I could manage this change easily. Some aggressive jump turns effectively cut the slope loose on the last two runs, clearing the way for fun, edgy turns on the nearly 50 degree rollover out of the rocks. Nice.

A cool corridor, only 175cm wide.

Each time I was able to farm the more north-facing edges of gullies and had powder nearly to the bottom. After my final climb, shaded slopes on the way to the car had refrozen with a nasty crust but I was able to swing around and found sun-softened, untracked snow all the way to the car. Silly. It’s nearly June. Really?Harvest complete

Gear

I’ve been testing some new skis the last few outings. A late-season compulsion had be buying a pair of Sportiva GTRs. I wanted a longer, possibly early-rise, maybe slightly wider alternative to my go-to Dynafit Broad Peak. These were it, for sure. My new ride, fitted with the sweet B&D Ski Gear crampons. The shit, for sure!At 178cm, 82mm at the waist and 1479 grams with Plum Race 165 bindings, they rip on corn and crud and handled the powder better than my Broad Peaks. And on that that 50 degree firmness I mentioned they held fine with no hint of tip washout as sometimes happens with more forgiving planks.

On this day, I decided to see how the GTRs faired with my race boots. The Dynafit EVO is a silly light skimo boot that tours like a running shoe. Even aggressive turns on firm snow went well with this combo. Not a bad option for spring fun.  

Comments

[Chugach Lover]

Gear whore!

What about those alpine starts you speak so fondly of!? 2:30pm on a sunny day with fresh snow in May, and you were worried about skiing Saturday!!!

There were good face shots to be had both days. Glad you got out to enjoy it for at least one.

Figured those were your tracks coming out of the Nike when I was driving back from SoFo late Sunday...who else but Randoman! Thanks for not identifying locales w/place names!

You're sooo coming around to the Chugach!

[Brian]

Ummm, Lover, alpine starts are not needed for powder laps 40 minutes from the car. Those days are coming with appropriate objectives in mind. Stay tuned.... Early bird gets the worm first.