HatchYourTrax

As the overall health of our snowpack continues to deteriorate, it becomes difficult to stay motivated on skiing at the pass.  Our snowpack has transformed from 3 months of amazingly deep blower to a mixed bag of sastrugi, unbreakable windslab, ice lenses, and widespread surface hoar.  The prospect of new snow will be a welcome relief. Unfortunately, we don’t have anything worth mentioning in the forecast.  When that new snow comes, I’m going to very slowly edge back into the Talkeetna’s, as the near surface faceting, exposed ice lenses with temperature gradients, and surface hoar are going to make for a less than appealing scenario.  In fact…I hope it comes in hot, heavy and wet.  Flush and reset please.

Large Slab Material across from Motherlode & Wooded Pow by J. Phelps

I knew that Turnagain was going off this weekend, and has been for a while now, but I just couldn’t afford to make the drive…too many good things going on in the valley.  Friday night the Matsu Ski Club was showing the Winter Wildlands Alliance Backcountry Film fest, and it was topped off with Sweetgrass Productions’ new flick, “Solitaire.”  It was an amazing story told through inventive and unique cinematography.  The skiing wasn’t even always that great (well, the “skiing was, but not the conditions).  I like that take it or leave it mentality.  The folks at sweetgrass spent two years searching for something unique and different.  They found it.  The story told by “Solitaire” is a must see.  Thanks Matsu Ski Club.  Great event. Definitely motivated me to go out and explore my backyard more.

In times like these, when no matter how hard you search you don’t find decent snow (unless you drive 100 miles south on the Seward), it means a chance for exploration.  What do you have to lose? You could score, or worst case, you end up skiing shitty snow somewhere else.  It’s a win win, or is that a lose lose?  It’s important to remember how spoiled we are in Alaska.  We literally have easy to access, huge, gnarly mountains, right out our doors, in almost every direction.  This weekend Jared, Rob and I headed to a spot that begged for exploration. She’d failed me before, okay, maybe not so much failed, but didn’t deliver.  Like I said, I often go to these places when I have nothing to lose.  I’ll let you decide if we scored or not, but all in all, it was an amazing day of exploration and skiing new, very different terrain.

Motivation for exploration…

Of course, what kind of a local pusher of ski community would I be without mentioning the showing of “License to Thrill” at the bike and ski shop Saturday night.  Not too many folks showed up, but it was just an excuse to dress out in your raddest 80′s gear and watch a sick 1988 ski flick.  Check HPAC for condition updates and seriously…pray for snow.  Maybe burn a few skis?  See you in the mountains!

Fast Times at Backcountry Bike and Ski 2012

I spent the last four days participating in the Level 2 Avalanche course provided by the Alaska Avalanche School.  The amount of technical expertise included in the program can be overwhelming, sometimes so much so that you feel like you are being swallowed by…dare I say…an avalanche of information.  Sarcastic jokes aside, the class was amazing. Our instructors were Eeva Latosuo of APU Outdoor Studies, Denali Mountain Ranger Tucker Chenoweth, and Kent Scheler of Haines Heliskiing and Head guide for TGR. This wide spectrum of on snow experiences allowed the class to not just focus on the direct scientific principles of Avalanches and snow metamorphism, but added an aspect of real world, practical skiing application. Many people may feel that snow science professionals are simply snow geeks, that they don’t do anything but dig pits all day.  I can tell you that, these guys were no such thing.  While they reveled in the intricacy and dynamic nature of semi-solid h20, they also enjoy skiing a steep line of blower pow.  It’s not everyday you have access to Denali Rangers and the head guide for legendary companies like TGR.  I want to thank Friends of the Chugach for providing me with a scholarship for the class.  You guys rock and I can’t say enough about how much I learned in the course!

The first few days of the course were spent at the Hatcher Pass Lodge Visitor center, with groups fanning out into the bowl to conduct full pit data analysis of the Talkeetna snowpack.  It was heartbreaking to watch our beautiful snowpack being literally destroyed by 30mph+ winds on Friday and Saturday. While the skiing and touring was horribly cold, it was cool to watch the snowpack change before our eyes.  As always, everyone without the consistent local knowledge of the Talkeetnas and Hatcher Pass simply writes off our area as nothing but shit skiing and thin snow.  Good.  As always, if you don’t know, you don’t go.  Thanks to the lack of beta about Hatcher Pass, an increasingly frequent but inconsistent Avalanche Forecast, and an always thinner snowpack than the Kenai mountains, Hatcher Pass remains our diamond in the rough.  A place where a busy day means at most 30-40 people touring in the entire area, craggy misleading peaks that give many weekend warriors a case of the brown shorts, and a weakly enforced, misunderstood boundary between non-motorized and motorized terrain.  The common reaction to Hatcher Pass’ weather and snow was no different during our two days of AVY2 class.  The instructors knew better, but they simply kept it to themselves.

As we headed south, taking the course to the Turnagin area, a new round of snow finally hit the Southcentral Area.  Nearly 50cm+ (that’s about 20″ for Americans) of new snow fell the two days we were there, which made it especially difficult to leave girdwood each morning as we watched the ridiculously low density snow pile up outside.  I won’t go into too much more detail about the course, but I’ll say it was well worth my four days.  Having the mountains as a classroom is never a bad thing, and I honestly have no complaints.  A lot of folks have been skiing safely a long time, and a lot of them have never taken an avalanche course.  Hell, I would agree with most of them that, no, they might not get a lot out of an Avy 1 course.  While it may be basic, a friend, who is also a guide and instructor recently gave me an interesting way of looking at the importance of these courses. In any profession or area of technical expertise you are either required or suggested to partake in continuing education and in-service training (and yes, managing avalanche danger in the mountains is technical).  The arena of avalanche and snow interpretation is no different.  I’m a wildland firefighter, and used to be a lifeguard for quite a while.  Without continued training and practice, there’s no way I could have done my job effectively.  Now…take a minute and really think about it.  When is the last time you did a full group beacon check?  Buried a beacon and found it?  Buried two?  How about actually understood what an ECT or CT test is telling you about the snow, and I mean really understood, not just provide you with a quantitative asset.  Finally and most importantly, when is the last time you gathered together with 15 people and just talked snow, terrain management, and snow travel for three straight days? I’m not trying to sound pretentious or elitist. My point is…these classes are worth their weight in snow.  Deep, blower, over the head kind of snow!

It’s looking like our weather will be getting more cloudy, precipitous, and consistent again. It’s been between flurrying and snowing in Ptown since early this morning, but nothing significant to report.  The cold weather will also be hanging around, but the forecast looks like a weather pattern similar to the latter half of December, with clouds, slight clearing at times, and consistent yet low snow amounts.  Of course, this is always subject to change as the lows shift and move about the north pacific and bering sea. In fact, as of last night, NOAA still seemed unsure of the track of the upper level low pressure systems, only providing forecasts until thursday PM (see image at right).  As always, check HPAC for updates on snow conditions.  See you in the mountains!

It looks like our courtship with continual low pressure systems has ended, at least for a short time.  With that end came another….the end of the HYT video edit drought.  The crew has been out collecting photos and videos since the tail end of the last storm came through this past week.  With consistent snow in most locations and a near 30 degree temperature inversion in the high country, there was no reason NOT to be in the mountains.  There’s nothing like waking up to a landscape draped in morning darkness and 20 below temps.  In fact…it’s horribly lame. I could wax poetic about the crisp clear air or the sight of a far off inversion rippling it’s light refracting properties across the distant landscape, but no, this isn’t Fairbanks.  .  It’s a time when one can barely get theit car started or even take a breath without the pangs of pain from cold, dry air in your throat.  It’s cold, it sucks, and 20 below is not my cup’o tea.  But, if you look to the mountains, they will treat you good.  They can be your respite in this time of desperate need.  Sun for you vitamin D deprived body and a slight uptick in temperature range for those with a little less muktuk in our blood.

This weekend saw some amazing skiing. For me it was all about eating a hue grease breakfast, and then soaking up as much sun and snow as I could.  The pass was about the busiest it’s been all season.  Sleds, boarders, skiers, snowshoers…you name it, they were out there.  Lots of big lines were skied in many locations, including some I haven’t seen ridden in a few years thanks to our meter and a half snowpack.

I’ll keep the poetic prose on this update to a minimum.  Without further adieu, I present the first HYT edit of the new year.  Here’s to 2012 skiers and riders!  We’re glad to share the mountain life with you!

And they think tele skiers are vegetarians

I want to thank my buddy Adam for coming out and riding the Talkeetnas on MLK Day.  Adam charged our line today and I was honestly reminded that I don’t get to ski with him enough.  I’ve posted some of his video work on HYT in the past, but it case you missed it…here’s the link.  We’re all trying to figure out how to keep this life going….Support local folks trying to make fun art.

In social event news, don’t forget about the 80′s ski movie/gathering at Backcountry Bike and Ski on the 28th of January. I’ve posted the flyer below…but in case you missed it, You HAVE TO DRESS IN 80′s ski gear. $2 bucks at the door to cover having the event. Things could get heavy, so bring your North Face One Piece and be ready to break it down.

As always…check HPAC for snow and condition updates.  This high pressure looks to hold on for a while.  The wind is already howling at my place, and moving tons of snow around. When that next storm comes, make sure you know what kind of snow you’re working with.