We woke up early again to check the weather. It was blue bird again and not so much wind! We had the amazing sugar rush american breakfast and headed up. We planned to ride down a bigger face that we saw from a distance in the previous days. It was the same aspect as yesterdays run so we were hoping that the snow would still be ok too after the blizzard winds.
We zigzagged little bit on the way up seeing some wild life on the way. Again we didn't find the easiest route but got to the top fairly easily anyway. We checked the run from a distance and through photos but it looked a lot different from the top again. The drop in was almost vertical and first we didn't find the access points that we thought might have been possible. The other concern was the snow. The wind had moved snow around a lot and the top was really wind packed but face itself looked soft. Wind slabs were possible so when I was dropping in I had to push the first turns and take the beginning easy. After the tight drop in I discovered that there was some mixed snow on the face but found the pow fast and forgot about the sun affected icy spots. I had to pay a price for that lower in the run when I approached a small drop. It was icy and slippery and I slipped right before the drop and landed on rock hard surface and slid down with speed for 50 meters before getting an edge in again. The rest was fun cruising. Even with the slam ti was an awesome run!
I gave some directions and info about the snow to Jonas before he dropped in and he managed to avoid all the icy parts. We were stoked about the run and the views on the lake bed were breath taking. Best moments of the AK trip and whole season. These are moments you travel even across the globe. Snowtour exceeded previous years again. We can't still believe all the luck we had and the right last minute calls we made.
This years Snowtour comes to an end here in Alaska and what would be a better place to end it than the last frontier. Alaska was wild, cold and intimidating but at the same time interesting, better, bigger and more accessible than we had thought. Truly another great trip!
We woke up before the sun rise again since it was upped to be sunny. Well it was but didn't know for how long. We packed up stuff and drove fast up to Thompsons pass just to discover that it was also high winds and the all the loose snow was being pushed around. We didn't feel like hiking several hours in freezing temperatures with wind chill so we drove back to port of Valdez. Hoping that the wall of fun from yesterday would be still sheltered we hiked up but it was soon clear that same thing wind blown at the sea level also. We still decided to try to get something out of it.
We almost turned back because it was blowing so hard but fought our way back to the ridge line. Once we got up the wind died down magically! But that was not the only problem. We noticed that now when it was sunny the wall was completely in the shade except for a short while in the early morning. There was no contrast on the wall, plus all the soft snow was blown away. But when the sun turned more to the west facing wall we discovered a whole new world on the other side of the ridge. We hiked little higher and dropped into short steep face which was followed by long river gully all the way back to the sea level. Snow was also still awesome al though we had almost given up hope on that. Great surprise!
We found another surprise when we rode into a parking lot. The oil company's security was waiting for us there and soon it was clear that area was strictly of limits. Our bags and cameras were searched, IDs checked and asked a lot of questions. But we didn't look like James Bond's so they let us go and even offered a ride back to the car. Only in America.
We decided the Heliboarding hangover take the best of us and went straight back on the hiking mode. The bird will ruin and spoil you fast and steal your wallet if you are not careful. Transition back to muscle power was easier than we had thought and it was actually nice to hike in the silence again. We couldn't tell what the weather would do in the next half and hour so we went for a scoping mission in to a area right outside of Valdez and rising from the sea.
After half an hour hike we came across wide wall with all kind of features spread from left to right. The wall was maybe 500 meters wide and 400-300meters vertical. It looked liked training facility for short lines since it was easy to hike up and try out stuff. It would be easy to film and ride here for days.
We picked our first line choices and hiked up. It took some time to punch in the track up and when we got on top of our lines the weather came in. Pillows and spines disappeared in the flat light and we were forced to back track to the beginning where was some visibility left. It was fun run down but we hoped to return quick with the sun and better visibility.
Yesterday I was in bed all day long with fever and caughing. In the meanwhile Miikka explored town and did some research about possible things to do when the weather got better. We knew that today maybe would be the last really sunny day of the trip so we figured we definitly needed to make the best out of it. Since I was sick and probably not able to make any bigger hikes. We decided to fly heli. Miikka talked to several operators and tried to make it as clear as possible that we not were there to just cruise in the deep pow, but that we wanted to ride some bigger and steeper stuff. The Valdez Heli-ski Guides seemed to understand what we were looking for so we booked a full heli day with them.
We woke up to completly bluebird day and drove up to Thompson pass were the lodge was situated. It was cold as crazy up there, almost -30. Luckily it got warmer higher up. The snow was unbelivably deep and light. The owner of the lodge claimed it was the best snow he had been riding for 15 years. We started up with a really mellow run and we were afraid that the rest of the day would be the same. But run after run our guide Dylan stepped it up for us and at the end of the day we got to ride some really nice and steep runs. We got to ride some of the classics of Thompsons pass like Mt. Dimond and saw amazing terrain as far as the eye can see. An unforgetable day is the least you can say.
Today we woke up before the sun because we wanted to catch every sinlge ray that was left before the weather was coming in again. We drove up to Turnagain pass again and choose a mountain that had some trees in as well if the clouds were going to take out the visibility.
Short hike turned into longer one and we were fighting the bushes and trees like in the jungle. It was lot more time and energy consuming that we assumed. But we made it to the top and started looking for and good entry for the steep tree runs. We walked along the ride but found nothing really. The stuff that looked good from the road was either covered with bushes or vertical drop. We had to back track to the beginning and ride short opening which was fun but those short ten seconds didn't really match the two hour hike. We still had to make it back through the jungle before getting back to the car. This was not a good call for Jonas who is coming back from a bad flu. We started drving towards our next destination Valdez and he passed out in the car.
Drive was long and we got to the legendary town of Valdez late in the evening. It seems that here is even more snow than in Turnagain area! Here's some first views.
Today was a once in a lifetime day. We got what we came for!
We went back up to turnagain pass. Hiked up on the same mountain as yesterday, but today it was bluebird so we could actually make it up to the top of Tincan Proper. To stand all alone on the top of that mountain was an undescribable feeling. And the ride down was if not the best run of my life, definitly the best run of the season. I cant really find words for how good this day was, so I will let the video and pictures talk for it self insted.
Now we know why people are so crazy about Alaska...
The weather didn't promise much in the morning but we wanted to feel the snow and have a look in the Turnagain pass. There was some trees in the lower parts so at least we could cruise pow with some visibility.
The weather was getting better and better and we actually got way higher than we thought we could go. We saw some good potential but had to turn back when the clouds came back. The run down was awesome, way better than expected, but the way back to the car was a pain in the ass. We got back to the house when it was getting dark.
Tomorrow should be sunny and we know now that there is some good stuff waiting....
After receiving the bag we left city behind and headed out to Alyeska resort one hour south of Anchorage. We had a fun day of riding. Alyeska offers fun terrain and the snow looks very promising. There was a lot of tracks but it was lots of fun to get back on the board. We saw some nice faces right of the resort which are closed down off course because of the strict safety rules of USA.
Now we are turing our heads and computer forecasts to Turnagain pass which apparently has some good terrain accessible by foot. But most of the stuff is above treeline so the weather has to be good to be able to ride decent stuff there. Snow is here now we hope for sun!
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