Summer Come Early

It's hard to believe that winter is official over (at least in California). Our ski mountain has shut down, there is no snow around the house, and people are actually sunning themselves around the lake. Very hard to believe that it's just the end of April. Though it was a bad winter at home, with all my travel I managed to make the most of it and came out with a pretty stellar season, with about 45 days on snow, 32 of them full on powder days. Although it's sad that we had such a dismal winter in Tahoe, the prospect of an extended summer is definitely exciting as it's by far the best season in Tahoe.

With temps in the high 70's I took the pup for some nice t-shirt and shorts clad walks, got all the deck furniture out and was able to spend Sunday on the Yuba with my dad, getting his new boat wet. It was in the low 90's that day and it definitely felt more like peak-summer than early spring. Boat rowed amazingly well, and we weren't able to pass a single person without them commenting on the rig. It really is more of a piece of art than a fishing boat. I'm definitely looking forward to spending some time on it this summer and fall.

To keep the nautical theme, I headed down to SF to catch up with dave to pitch in for an evening sail. Light winds, with warm temps on the bay made for a relaxing evening.

Dad on his first float in Driftwood (he's not calling her that yet, but we'll see if it sticks)

Quite a pretty boat, indeed 

Spent a little time in the fishing seat, but dad was the winner with two fish for the day

No shortage of chores to do around the house to clean 'er up for Summer

Shirley Canyon waterfall – snow is definitely melting into the creeks early this year

Underway and heading across the bay

Quiet day on the bay with a spectacular view of the bridge

Full sails on the Catalina 27

Sun sets as we creep our way back into Sausalito

San Juan Stopover

Over the years I had heard a lot of good things about the San Juan Islands up in Northern Washington. I think it first started with rave reviews of a cultish summer camp called Four Winds, but the praise continued with pretty much anyone who had ever visited the small island chain that boarders Canada. The islands are only accessed by ferry (or fixed wing plane), and it just so happens that the ferry terminal to bump out to them was in the neighboring town of Bellingham, which is the port I arrived at coming South from Alaska. After a four day relaxing slow boat cruise what do you need? Yep, that's right – a few relaxing days on some sleepy islands.

My mom flew up and met me in Bellingham, and we shot out to Orcas Island for a few days of relaxing with a little activity and sightseeing. We made our base on the Southeast side of the East Sound in Rosario, which was conveniently located next to Moran State Park – also just a few minutes from the quaint town of Eastsound. Some highlights of the trip included a whale watching excursion in the islands to the Northwest of Orcas (no whales unfortunately), a nice hike or two in Moran State Park, an amazingly tasty brunch at hippy dippy Doe Bay (actually great food as a whole on the island), and the constant stunning bay views from our hilltop pad. For us Californians, the islands are not close or easy to get to, but definitely are worth a visit.

We've arrived and unload Silvia on at the ferry terminal on Orcas Island

A look at Rosario Resort from the beach

Not a bad view from our suite-apartment above the bay at Rosario

Interesting things on our beach walk

Wood warped from the sun and the sea

Local art in the town of Eastsound

Orca on the brain here on Orcas Island

Some huge Sea Lions on the point of Echo Island

Patos Island lighthouse

Mom on the lookout for some marine wildlife 

No whales but lots of big critters

Me scanning for the big mammals

Sunrise views from my bedroom window

Lone meditator over at Doe Bay

Cascade Falls on our hike in Moran State Park

Mom & Me at the falls

Some dramatic scenery on our hike past Mountain Lake

More drama on Orcas

View South of the San Juans from Mt. Constitution

We had a whale of a time on Orcas Island

Slow Boat South

On my return trip from Alaska, I opted to take the ferry South through the Inside Passage, and skip the drive back through Canada. The Cassiar Highway, which is less interior and more mountainous than the ALCAN (which is the road I came up on), definitely intrigued me, but I’ll leave that long drive for the next big Alaska adventure – preferably to be done with a passenger.

The ferry ride takes roughly 4 days aboard the MV The Columbia, The Alaskan Marine Highway System’s largest vessel. It can carry more than 120 cars, with a handful of them being large RV’s and truck trailers. It’s definitely more of a ship  at 420' than what I consider a ferry to be. The first day or so we went through incredibly narrow straights where you were literally a stones throw from land on either side of the ship, stopping at a handful of the ‘coastal’ towns along Alaska's Inside Passage. Though we had some snow, rain and lots of fog, it was a beautiful cruise South. By the second day we were in much wider and at times rougher (read more fun) water.

They call it the poor mans cruise, but with the cost of loading Silvia, it didn’t feel so inexpensive. For an additional fee you can get a stateroom, which is essentially a bunk room, but for no cost you are allowed to sleep out in any of the public areas, such as the theater, viewing decks and solarium – it’s not too busy overall, but in the evenings there are bodies sleeping everywhere. In addition, you are allowed to pitch a tent in two specific areas on the boat, which is the approach I went with. My little tent is home for four nights as we weave our way South to Canada, past Vancouver, eventually arriving (1,800 miles later) in Bellingham, Friday morning.

While I’m not roughing it in any way, it’s kind of cool to have the throwback to how people used to travel, where it took days not hours, and there are no cell phones or internet to occupy your time. Much of the day is spent just looking out at the passing water and landscape.

The MV Columbia on its way to port in Haines

Looks more like a cruise ship than a ferry to me

Silvia deep down the line ready for the 1,800 mile ferry ride

Home, sweet home on the back deck of the MV Columbia

Treated to a beautiful sunset as we head out of port

Final views of the town, Haines

Very calm and narrow waters on our first morning aboard the ship

Light precip as we enter some narrows

Lunch with concealed contraband beer

Passing boats in the northern straights

Rolling hills, small islands, and open ocean out Salisbury Sound

Quick 5 hour stop in Ketchikan – former red light distract 

Dramatic scenery on the final evening on the ship

Movie night in my little chateau

Not a bad view to wake up to on morning #4

Rain finally quits as we wind down the travel South passing Vancouver Island 

Heli in Haines

In 2008, I took my first trip up to Alaska with hopes of skiing some of the best mountains on earth. Unfortunately in my first AK trip I learned the hard lesson of skiing up this way – just because you put yourself here doesn’t mean you’re going to get it. That week I skied two runs in seven days. Weather in Alaska is unpredictable and comes in often. If the pilots can’t see, the birds can’t fly and you are down for the day. It was a hard trip to stomach but it taught me a good lesson – what getting yourself up here really does, is gives you just a shot at the goods. Nothing is guaranteed. On my second trip in 2010 I approached it with more of a zen attitude and ended up getting three really fantastic days. This go around, I’m opening my window and giving it a full three weeks. There will be a lot of sitting around waiting, but in the end, I’ll hopefully have a decent shot at getting some open windows of sun, and get to have some time in the massive, steep AK peaks.

Day 1:

Birds down. Woke up this morning to heave snowfall – it’s just dumping outside, with several inches of fresh since it started snowing in the middle of the night. Forecast is saying that it will hammer today into tomorrow morning. Got out for a tour today just to move around and enjoy the snow. We got two kind of manky runs in and the sun popped so we hurried back to base and were on alert for a short big before the weather socked back in. I would assume down tomorrow and hoping to fly Wednesday.

If it's not gonna be blue, this is the next best thing to wake up to  – fresh snow at the house

After our second run touring – the face above me looks like it got pretty skied but I just kicked most of it off in some superficial slide action

Loading up quickly to get back to base under the blue sky

My first view of the surrounding mountains – stoke is high to get out in the bird

More stunning views of the peaks just across the road

Our local gas stop & beer stop

The fabled plywood palace (35 mile house) on the Haines Highway

My diggs in the plywood palace – I think I need some christmas lights to really round out the dorm room feel

Day 2:

Down day with a tease. We woke up to clouds and fluries this AM, but there was promise of some break in the weather by afternoon so I stayed close to base to see how it all shook out. Patches of blue were all around by 2PM, and after a lot of hurry up and waiting, we finally fired the chopper up around 3:30, and headed out to take a look in the zone. Clouds were still around and prevented good LZ's so we called it a day and headed in without ever touching down. I packed it in and went fishing for the late afternoon – didn't see anything or catch anything but was fun just to get in the river and cast a bit. Just drove back from town and the moon is huge in the sky and there are millions of stars showing. Unless something moves in, in the middle of the night, I think we are good to get out tomorrow.

Lots of excitement when folks think it might happen

Out for a recon flight – the blue is trying to pop through but the clouds make it impossible to land

Backup plan of fishing 'aint all that bad

In town in the evening and things are looking like they are clearing

Day 3:

AM: Stayed clear through the night and we are rallying to get to base to get out today. First day since the storm so I anticipate working our way slowly to the zones, but also think it could be a big day. Excited & nervous & excited.

PM: Got out for a 'full' day in the zone. Just incredible weather and beautiful mountains. The blue sky cooperated but stability did not so the day was mellow, well, quite mellow, very mellow... You get the point. It's hard to come this far to get the goods only to ski low angle pow. Hopefully today will be the intro day to the operation – they will get to know me, my legs will get to warm up, and we will soon get to ski some real stuff. There are some pretty deep unstable layers so it's just hard to say what will happen, but it's looking like it could stay clear for at least another day or two. Fingers crossed (I feel like I write that every day...).

Early AM look out the window and things definitely have a positive look

A look across the valley at some of the terrain that is possible here

A look across a different valley at some of the terrain the Nike team is getting on – good question... why aren't we getting on that...

A view down hill at the roll over

Back on my feet and speeding to beat my sluff after a little bobble in the rocks

And back up at the two lines (right) that I got to get a few fun turns on

view back towards the zone from the plywood palace – actually quite stunning if you can look past the 'fridge in the yard...

Day 4:

Got out for a pretty good day. Nothing too huge, but with the current sketchy snowpack I think we went about as big as was possible for a non-film group. We got on some much steeper terrain, and having built some confidence with my guide yesterday, he was able to put me in some more interesting and fitting spots. I also was able to go first a handful of times. We worked our way around, as the second group behind the lead guide which afforded us some much better terrain, but we also had to share the heli with the Nike team who are up here filming, so things were a bit slower than desired. 

The day ended a bit short with a bit of a scare on our fifth and final run on a slope called Indy 500. We were the third group in there, and I was the first of our group to go – big sweeping AK turns all the way from to to bottom. It was definitely the fastest I've gone yet on the trip down the probably 2,500 ft chute. Our third skier kicked off a slide very close to the top that was probably somewhere between 18" and 24". He got steamrolled a bit, disappeared under the white for a short few seconds, but then resurfaced after he pulled his ABS. Fortunately, the direction he was skiing kicked him out Right, onto a bench above the big, steep face below. Unfortunately, his initial slide stepped down and set off a secondary slide that was probably 10' - 12' deep, all the way to the ground. From the glacier floor where I was, it was a massive slide, destructive snow tumbled and rolled 30'+ in the air. I could hear the rumble from way out on the glacier. It came down fast, and a group in front of us on the glacier had to scatter to get to safety. The smoke cloud at the bottom was easily 60' - 80'. It was a very intense hour or so up there, but all is well, and no one was killed. Looks like more weather in the forecast starting tomorrow. If we're lucky maybe a half day out before it socks in but maybe that's hopeful thinking...

Gorgeous morning in the mountains, looking back to the Chilkat river valley where base & 35 mile house are located

First run warmup on Mahogany – you can just make out my lone turns in the upper right chute 

Second run on Hangover – this is the first pitch of a 3,000'+ run – ski tracks are on the rib that is sunlit in the center

A very narrow landing zone on the top of Indy 500

A view back up Indy 500 – small dots in the lower right corner are the group in front of us and a boarder is on slope about 3/4 of the way down approaching the apron – my tracks are the furthest to lookers right from the top

Very scary moment after the whole left chute ripped out – film crew scatters at the bottom to safety and the snow cloud billows up

Tight shot of the two fractures – for scale, you can make out two dots that are people at the apex of the upper crown – fortunately the rider involved was kicked out to his right and behind the large rock pictured left here

Another beautiful evening here in Haines – happy to have everyone home safe tonight

Day 5:

Clear skies again this AM, with no early sight of the approaching storm. We got out for a fun half day, and got four runs in, two of which had some really nice pitches on them, with super smooth, clean turns. We got back up to Hangover, but did a more Westerly variation of it – just sick turns for about 2,000ft. The run in total is about 5,000 ft, and the safe zone we stopped at was very low, so we probably skied 4k from the top. By the time I was to safety the dogs were barking – loudly. Got some just insane turns down a run called Espresso. The guide let me ski cut it and had me go first. Super steep, deep turns all the way to a nice ramp and divingboard for some floaty hang time. Good memories for sure. The clouds started to chase us around a bit and we called it quits just after lunch. Not too sure how long the storm will stick around but the legs will appreciate a little time off, and it will be nice to sleep in tomorrow and get some laundry done, maybe throw a few flies.

Looking down Hangover – this is the pitch we skied of this peak yesterday

View back up Hangover – today we skied off the closer peak to the right of center, then down through the valley past the ice ceracs

Mid turn, mid run heading down the West side of Hangover

Inbound bird at the PZ

Chesty view down Espresso

About to get real light coming out the bottom of Espresso

A look back up Espresso which is the run that starts on the saddle just a nudge to the right of the highest peak – it was a gnarly landing way up there that wash't even as wide as the skids

Clouds start to move in on us as we cruise onto the glacier below Espresso

Oh yeah, Crab feed AK style

This was our little crabby – I think she weighed in around 12lbs

Sean Dog stuffing them in

A definite team effort to keep the buggers in there

Not AK, but a nice shot of Maher holding down the fort at my pad in Tahoe – thanks for keeping an eye on the place Mike – very festive choice in beer & cheers right back atcha

Day 6:

Woke up to fog in the mountains and in my head this AM. No flying today. Went to town for the afternoon and walked by the bay, grabbed a beer at a few different bars, did some shopping and dinner in town. Word is a possible window of blue for part of the day tomorrow so maybe get out for a partial day. TBD, but legs are happy with some down time.

Day 7:

Had a nice surprise of very clear skies to the West when we got up this AM. Clouds were moving in from the coast so I assumed that if we got out at all it would just be for a run or two, but to my surprise the clouds held off until later afternoon which afforded us a pretty full, 5-run day in the zone. The combination of the low lying clouds and the darker light afforded us some spectacular early AM views. Unfortunately, the weather yesterday must have been warm and windy out there and the snow we found early AM was pretty beat up on top of some deep instability on some of the faces we were looking at. Some groups called it a day after two runs, but mine decided to stay out and poke around. Light was not great but we found some good wintery turns in an area called Deflower, and our final run on the West side of the peak was actually a pretty rad 2,500 ft couloir – definitely a nice way to end a bit of a challenging day out there. Looking like tomorrow will be down with maybe a break in the weather later in the week, however if the next storm doesn't bring much precip we could be in for some pretty crappy days while we wait for a significant reset.

Valley fog and nice light in the mountains this AM

Guide Burnie working on a pit – he wasn't happy with what we found so we got a high pickup and moved down to a pretty mellow saddle

Burnie standing in front of a huge hole,  pointing up to the slope we ended up getting pulled off

Some amazing views South as we work our way deeper into the zone

Not the raddest terrain but some of the better snow we found on Deflower North – second skier spooning my lone track down the 3,000 ft face

Some of the best turns of the day down Deflower West – my line coming out of the chute where the sun  line is mid-image

Looking down the entrance to my chute on Deflower West

Day 8:

After the warm temps and springy conditions yesterday it is nice to wake up to the return of winter here in AK. Snow is falling this AM – tough to say if it will be enough for a proper reset but fingers crossed... Spent some time on the couch pulling a short vid together of some week one highlights, nothing too rowdy, but some nice pow turns for sure.

Enough messing around the house, it's time to go fishing. Sadly I still haven't gotten to town for laundry...

Day 9:

Clear skies this AM so got out in the zone. Group was small but fun. The new snow was nice, light, sluffy and fast, but the wind got after it last night, so the goods were a bit limited. Lots of wind loaded pockets were ripping, but we managed to get some good turns in and a handful of fun runs. Ended up skiing a lot of the same terrain I've already seen over the past week, which is a bit of a disappointment, but also kinda fun since it's now becoming familiar. Hoping stability is better tomorrow and we can get on some more serious terrain while there is some good snow around. Rumor has it there are a few days of clear weather this week before another storm rolls in and sounds like it could have a little more precip in it. For now seems like we will work out way further out looking for some better snow.

Got back up on Espresso today – skied the same line, far lookers left from the top, you can see my tracks landing off the cliff just above and to the left of the skier on slope – was able to take it a bit faster as it was my second time there

Got a better and more impressive view of the chute in Deflower West that I got into on Sunday (the narrow chute mid-pic, just below the small lit up island 1/4 down from the top & center) – with the new snow i was hoping to get a shot at straight lining it from the top, but the wind really beat that aspect up so it was a no-go today

Some mellow late afternoon blower

Day 10:

To quote the esteemed poet Ice Cube, "today was a good day." Today was the day that I've been waiting for. While not super, super epic on AK standards we finally got to ski some more technical and challenging terrain that got the heart pumping a bit. We pushed a bit further out into the zone and to the North, right on the border of Canada, to find some really good wintery snow and a variety of terrain that suited everyone in my group. I was able to push the limits a bit more on narrower and rockier chutes, with some nice drops peppered here and there and even a rib and spine or to. It was a slow-ish day getting around, but we managed five great runs, the last being a 4,000 ft non-stopper of blower pow down to a huge glacier. Stability improved tenfold from yesterday, and with clear weather in the forecast for the next two days, I think we're only going to have more epic days as we get towards the end of the week. Got a few beers and a burger in the belly and am happy to be just relaxing on the couch after a fantastic day in the mountains.

Dropping in firs run on Venue

A little AM spinal warmup – literally my third turn of the day

Some low risk spine work

About to cross my sluff – a bad decision for sure, but managed to ollie over it safely

Guide Zach posted up for safety for our second run with some seriously nasty looking stuff in the background

A cross valley view of the fun chutes we got into on T-Top

With the next stop some fun spines on Venue

A pretty precarious landing atop venue

Final run all the way to this spectacular glacier

Bird home awaits on the glacier floor

Day 11:

AM: Sometimes you just wake up with a feeling. Yesterday I woke up and knew it was on, that we were going to get a good one in. Today I woke up and knew a lot of the infinite things that need to line up were there, but also had this feeling that today wasn't going to be that banner day. I finally got lined up with a super strong group & guide, snow quality was going to be good, and stability was decent. But, the reports coming in from the first groups out were that it was windy out there – quite windy. So we went on hold while they sorted out a zone we could actually go ski. After more than an hour they finally made some decisions on where we were going, but unfortunately as we approached the heli it was discovered that my group of five was over the weight limit to safely go that far out, so one of us had to bow out. For a variety of reasons, it seemed right for it to be me, which I was bummed about. But as I type this, the wind is absolutely ripping here at the house, I can see huge clouds of smoke firing over the ridge tops, I ran out of lunch meat two days ago, and still very badly need to do laundry. So, I'm headed to town to get that part of life back in order and maybe can try and stick a few fish on my way back. Sometimes you wake up with a feeling, and usually that feeling is right...

PM: Turned apples into applesauce – or something like that. In any case... My only previous experiences of driving to town have been when we weren't flying, when the whole valley was socked in. With today's super clear skies, I learned that it's beyond a ridiculous drive – just gorgeous. The views down the Haines Highway, from 35 mile here at the house to the town of Haines, pass through some of the most spectacular peaks I've ever seen, roadside. I was able to get a bunch of stuff sorted in town, and spent a few hours on the river in the afternoon. Stuck two Dolly Varden, followed by some beers at the 33 Mile Roadhouse. All in all a very spectacular day of just hanging in this beautiful valley. Hard to say what this wind event will mean for tomorrow's skiing, but am hoping for a fun day out there before the next storm moves in on Saturday.

Bird heading out for the day with the  all clear sigh

Just insane views from the Haines Highway on a clear day

Got two in hand today – let the big one go, and took this guy for dinner

Really stunning mountains to be fishing under

Day 12:

Woke up to very blue skies out there this AM, and knew we'd be getting a full day, but it was just up in the air about what conditions would be with the big wind event that came through yesterday. Temps were quite cold throughout the day – the coldest day I've had yet, and the wind was still on in the AM. Things lined up nicely this morning with a new group of Austrians who just arrived. These guys are traditional ski racer types that recently have taken an interest in free-riding, which in the US is just skiing... In any case, they are here with one of the lead guides, Bernie (I got to ski with him on my touring day as well as this past Sunday) and the man is an absolute animal. So good at his job, such a strong skier and the only guy here this year that will really put you on the goods. Stability was good again, and Bernie delivered a big, big day to us. Warmup was pretty mellow in that it was short, but definitely steep. I managed to blow a turn on my second run and tomahawked a handful of times, eventually making it to my feet no worse for the wear. After that nice stretch-out, Bernie took us to the back range, across the Tsirku River, and we were instantly into BIG AK. Descents were 5,500 ft at the shortest and the runs were more like routes than any traditional runs. The skiing back there for us was steep and good, but not nasty, but the exposure was just huge. Big crevices, seracs and cliffs everywhere. It was some true big mountain skiing, and it was just great. Such a good day out in the zone.

Dan arrived today with a friend Laura, and the previous roommates moved out today, so there are lots of changes here at the plywood palace. Psyched to get Dan up here now that I feel like I have this place dialed in. Might get a day or at least half of one tomorrow before the next system moves in, and still have 10 days to get the goods here in Haines.

I pulled a piece of glacier ice off a serac this afternoon so we are enjoying some tasty adult beverages chilled by thousand year old ice as I type. Life is good.

First run warmup 

Mid tomahawk, trying to get it back together

Outbound heli

5,500 ft run called Finally

The peaks are much more dramatic after we cross the Tsirku River

Gorgeous but treacherous crevices

Glacier travel that gets the heart going a bit

Hanging in the blue room

Final cruise run of the day – guide Bernie on slope far right line – mine is down the large sun/shadow line on the left side

Day 13:

No skiing today. We tried but didn't succeed. Lots of weather more in than out, but things broke up a bit in the afternoon so we got the call that they would try and punch out for a few runs. After a quick fire drill to get suited up we were standing atop a peak to the North of base. Snowpack was weird, clouds were moving in and it started to snow so we quickly pulled all three groups from the hill and retreated for safety at base. After a quick turnaround we headed to town for beers, cards against humanity, dinner and music for the evening. With no thought of the possibility of skiing tomorrow we turned it up a bit...

Low-vis flying is suboptimal 

Day 14:

We woke up with foggy heads, but fairly clear/clearing conditions in the mountains and a dusting of snow at the house indicated some hope for fresh turns up in the zone. Dan's friend Laura was up as a contest winner for a heli day, but had a very small window of avail to cash in on it, and with a 6PM flight this evening, we were skeptical that she would get turns after yesterday. But the stars aligned for her and we ended up with a very fun and rad six-run day on all new terrain (for me). Half of our runs were what I would consider good to great, which for this trip is a pretty good showing. Highlights of the day were a steep fluted top drop on our third run, and then our final run in an area called Porkey's Spines. All in all, a super fun and unexpected time out there today.

After two full weeks in the plywood palace I'm moving up in the world and moving to 'cabin 1' right on the helipad. Dan got to enjoy the beauty of true ski bumming for two nights, but I think he's happy to join me in the big move. Clear weather is possible for tomorrow so maybe some more great skiing in our near future.

Clear enough to fly and birds are up

Short but fun line off the top of our third run – definitely got the blood flowing

POV never quite does steepness justice, but these are some steep flutes – super steep flutes

Wide shot of the third drop – previous closeup peak is the furthest left lit up by the sun – run followed the middle chute about 4,000 ft to the valley floor

Laura on door duty

Last run – looking down Porky's Spines – 3,500 ft to the floor as a non-stopper

New digs have a pretty prime location

Looking down at Dan from my little loft bed

Cabin 1 is a definite upgrade – stoked to spend my last week here

Day 15:

Grey outside today and word is a storm is moving in. Current hope is for 10" at 3,000 ft, which could be pretty good up on the peaks. Soonest chance to ski is looking like Wednesday, though that could be Thursday. You just never know here in Alaska though. It could clear in an hour and we'd head out to ski...

With the down time I was able to pull a Week Two edit together. Looking back through it, there was definitely a little more excitement in the skiing over week one. I'm hoping that we'll see more of the same type of challenging terrain coming out of this next storm.

Day 16:

Started raining yesterday evening here at Base, and just pissed through the night. Dan says around 5AM it was snowing here, but turned back to rain by the time I got up. There is snow a few hundred feet up in the trees so that's at least a good sign that we're getting snow up high. Latest forecast shows the weather sticking around a little longer – at the moment it looks like maybe starting Friday we'll see some clearing.

We got out to the Funny Farm where Seth and the Armada crew are staying for some afternoon beers and nutty antics including the beer olympics – shoot two cans with a pellet gun, chug a half beer, run to a snowmobile, two hot laps around the yard, finish your beer. Pretty epic times.

Makeshift mediaroom

Beer 'lympics step one – shoot

Hot Laps

Tight ling through the water

Best to wear some rubber

Day 17:

Unexpectedly blue this AM, fresh snow in the mountains so we're fired up the bird and headed out. Took it real mellow poking around to make sure the new snow was stable and managed a few fun turns in before we got chased back to base and are now laying low hoping for another break in the weather...

Rockhopping and wasting time on the Chilkoot river

Day 18:

Spotty sun/clouds when we woke up so went on aggressive standby for the day. Sat around until 3:30 when they finally called it. Bagged two movies throughout the day, until we could safely dip in the the Pyrat Rum, and beers. Afternoon will continue to be lazy, but will certainly rest up tonight because I think it's on starting tomorrow, and anticipate four full days before I jump on the ferry Monday night to start my journey back South.





Day 19:

Good one, no doubt. Partly sunny and brisk when we got up this AM with a very light dusting of snow on the porch. Lots of activity around Base and expectations were high for the day. We ended up spending a lot of time in areas I was familiar with, which was both a bummer to not see new stuff, and cool to know the location. A few fun warmup runs on Mahogany were followed by some super deep and steep runs on Hangover before some unfortunate mechanical failure with our ship – which caused some pretty serious delays for the afternoon. We managed six runs, punctuated by getting on a new area in Indy 3,000. Definitely a day in the top three of my trip and stoked to get Dan in on one of the better ones. Still looking clear for the rest of my trip. Wind was up today, so TBD on the next few days, but still looks to be clear skies.

Waist deep blower down the steep skiers right chute of Hangover

Looking up at our next LZ – can you see the heli?

On approach to Indy 5,000 – Gabe's group standing by for us to land

Stacked up above a scratchy chute

A few turns in and dan is smiling – long ways down to go in Indy 5,000

Unknown skier about to drop mid-slope

Making fast turns down Indy 5,000

A look back up – my line on the far right in the sun

Day 20:

Fully bluebird this AM, and got put with a strong group with the lead guide here. Anticipations were high for a big day, and more or less that was delivered – lots of big fun, deep & steep runs. We were a bit surprised getting out in some pretty significant winds, with evidence of some serious wind damage yesterday but we managed to find some decent snow on good pitches for a full day of good turns. Much of the day was spent in the Porky's Spines amphitheater which was fun to get to spot some lines, and charge hard. Got a few big ones in, a decent drop or two and mach-ish speed. More clear weather in the forecast, so another big day for sure tomorrow and the next. Looking like we will cross the river tomorrow and head out deeper in the zone for some of the bigger runs in the 'back-9.' Hopefully Dan and I will again get put in the same group...

Big mountains on a big day

Guide Gabe on the rope for the pit

Looking back up hill at some squiggly warmup turns

Sending

Crashing

A look across valley at Porkey's Spines

Time to point it straight out the bottom of Porkey;s

Dan with a spectacular lunch view

Post lunch panorama – green pant club

Afternoon waiting for the bird

Dan the man crashing out waiting for a pickup 

Stoke is high at 33 Mile after an epic day in the zone

Day 21:

My alarm clock this AM was usurped by a heli firing up, and the smell of Jet-A exhaust. Film crews are up and out early and we are all heading deep for a big day in the field. It was a struggle to wipe the fog of a mild celebratory hangover as I put my ski boots on but I managed to get out the door for an expectedly big day.

I know I must come off as a broken record, but it just takes so many uncontrollable variables to come together to make a truly epic day in heli skiing. Given the stakes & things out of your control, from the outside you have to (repeatedly) ask the question, is it worth it? Well, sometimes when you wait, and wait, and wait – things will line up. The snowpack is super solid, I got lined up with the lead guide again, and today our four pack group was strong and ready to rip. Dan & I got paired up with Triston and Raplh for a big, big day out there. Nothing was insanely gnarly and exposed, but we had several 50+ degree 2,000+ ft faces, some mini-golf sessions, and all in, seven ripping runs deep in the zone. Dan jumps a plan in the AM, and I have one more full day before I have to show up at the Haines ferry terminal at 6PM. It was a slower buildup to the goods than I would have liked, but it definitely feels great to end on such a positive note here in Southern AK.

First zone for the day – Wolverine Bowl 

A few AM fast turns – can you guess which are mine?

Me on slope making some fast turns

Things are getting a little more spicy – guide Gabe leading the heli into the LZ

Definitely approaching the edges with caution 

A short one but a little mini-golf none the less

Me up on a wall laying it over

Triston playing with his new wing

Us dudes are a bit memorized by this – first time seeing it live

Ans safe and sound on the ground

Dan spraying some white smoke on his last day in Haines

Two happy dudes as things really shape up for the end of our trip

Back on top

Got pretty deep today to the edge of the zone – Glacier Bay in the distance

Some more mini-golf style runs – this one a 50+ degree face on Swiss Cheese

Time to slow 'er down as I approach seracs and cracks

A missed opportunity – our final landing of the day up top to ski the elongated diamond chute, but snow didn't seem right

Birds back at home in front of out Cabin 1

Day 22:

The body is quite sore after our big day out yesterday. Alarm clock was again the sound of a heli firing up, and I had to work a little to fire the body up to head out for my final day here, skiing in Haines. With momentum from yesterday I headed out expecting our biggest day yet, and as it turned out it was the best day of the season, by far.

It’s tough to write that as I know Dan will be checking in to see how it all went, and he’ll be bummed to know he missed out on ‘the day.’ We bagged 8 runs today, more than half of which were super legit. A few big, steep 50+ degree faces, a very rowdy blind rollover, to spine to air line that is probably one of the meatiest lines I’ve ever skied, and I rounded out the day (and the trip) with a fast and fun straightline – probably 1000+ ft to the apron, then another 1,500 ft to the valley floor (the same chute on Deflower West that I poked into and made turns down on day nine of the trip). There were moments today that I was gripped to say the least.

It was a slow start to the rad skiing, but the story just reiterates that you cant just book a week in AK and just get it, you have to put your time in to get the best days of the season. It felt really good to drive back out the Haines Highway to the ferry port with a huge smile on my face having just had four consecutive rad days to end the trip. Super stoked on AK with all its ups and downs.

Now onto a new chapter of the trip, the 4+ day ferry from Haines, AK to Bellingham, WA where I’ll catch up with my mom for a few days in the San Juans before I finish up the two days drive back to SF.

Blue bird, big peaks and the magic machine

Big time fun on 50/50 – a super steep ramp on the lookers left of the mountain in the foreground

Memorable big one for me, coming in hot off the tallest peak

First turn view – hope I know where I'm headed

Four turns in and time to point it 

Closer inspection of the entry – my track the furthest lookers left – see people on the right saddle for scale

The gnarly toe-in landing that got us up there

No joke knife edge ridge to make my way out from the LZ – not sure what got the heart rate going more, the skiing or just getting there

Threaded the needle on Deflower West – straighline on the far left of the most prominent chute

Will miss hanging with the birds, but it's time for me to head South

Day 22.5(ish):

Sad to have to leave Haines when things are just getting rolling, but happy to be heading out in one piece, with knees & limbs intact. Week three was definitely worth the wait, with some exciting moments. Am looking forward to the next time I get to have my chance in AK. Was able to pull some of the week three highlights in a final vid that will wrap my 2013 ski season up – quite a season it has been: