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Chugach Mountains, Valdez-Cordova, AK, United States |
the ski journal |steep |spines |skiing |ski |shred |powder |mountain |heli skiing |heli |h20 guides |guides |deep |chugach |alaskan range |alaskan backcountry |alaskan |alaska |ak
Landon Bassett drops into a Chugach line known as "The Hammer." Photo by Colin Wiseman.
This April, a crew from The Ski Journal spent a week in Valdez, AK, ripping spines and big lines with Dean Cummings' H20 Guides Alaska Heli Skiing operation. The conditions lined up beautifully for the guys to create this stunning digital photo essay of the adventure.
"We’re gonna ski this thing T-to-B,” Dean Cummings said. By “this thing” he meant a 2,000-plus vertical foot ramp in the Chugach Mountains near Valdez, AK. By “T-to-B” he meant top-to-bottom, no stopping.
When Dean speaks, you listen—he’s been guiding in these mountains for 25 years. They’re pretty much the steepest, most snow-rich peaks in the world. They rise right from the deep waters of Prince William Sound and run for a hundred-or-so miles in every direction. These peaks offer a lifetime of serious lines to those with the means to get to Valdez and find their way into a helicopter. To ski them safely takes decades of experience and training, and a little luck with the weather.
I would have felt lucky at that moment, but I didn’t have the wherewithal to consider the providence of my circumstance. Tucked below a little rock fin and clinging to a 55-degree slope in the Valley of the Tusk, Dean was offering up an opportunity that I’d been dreaming about for 30 years of snow-sliding: the chance to open up a Chugach classic. So, after some consideration of sluff management, I obliged...
See the full story and photo gallery at h2oguides.theskijournal.com.