Filming for Winterland: Part 2 Alaska

Friendly faces in Alaska! Our guides Dan Starr and Mike Welch!

         Back to Alaska. I say back to Alaska because Alaska is where I grew up and where I have returned to ski many many times. Not every winter, but I try to go every winter. When I plan my winter its always in the back of my mind. This year everything came together for a week long strike mission at the end of April. Our plan was to spend a week with Chugach Powder Guides and get on some big AK terrain!

Relaxing down by the beach!

     Growing up in Alaska I ski raced and skied the side-country around my home resort of Alyeska but I never got to Heli-ski as a kid.  Now going back 15 years later to finally fly out of Girdwood instead of riding the chairlift, thats a dream come true! I always dreamed of Heli-skiing  behind my home hill and as a kid I knew there was so much more on the other side of the resort!

Todd Jones finding the Angle!

     This was the first time skiing big Alaskan lines for Kai Jones! 12 years old and skiing big AK lines… unreal! I met Kai at the Jackson Hole airport, gave him a high five and from that point I knew this was going to be the trip of a lifetime! We got settled into our home in Girdwood, a super cool 1970’s style cabin in the small wooded town (where I spent a lot of my youthful days, skiing and goofing around) and then it was time to meet the guides.

The Massive Knik Glacier in the background, and our Helicopter flying in the background!

     Meeting the guides was important, getting together with the whole crew and getting on the same page was key. Lucky for us we had the coolest guides on the planet who answered all of our questions, Kai had a ton of good questions and it was important for our crew to mesh with our guides who were going to keep us safe and take us to the gnar! It is not every day you have a 12 year old Heli-skiing but getting comfortable with the whole scene was top priority. Kai fit right in and since we all have avalanche training through TGR’s IPRW workshop (Kai has been to 2) in the fall, the guides trusted and knew that we had a good sense of how to film in these mountains and do it safely.

Getting into the mix with Kai, showing him how to get ontop of your lines and call your drop!

The Chugach mountains are like no other! One of the biggest glaciers in the world, the Knik, is just a few minutes helicopter flight from Girdwood. The Knik splits the terrain into a north and south section of mountains where the North is a bit drier and rockier. Since the south zone received more snowfall in the week prior to our arrival the avalanche danger there was a bit higher so we set our sites on the far away terrain near Palmer. This is where Mcnutt, Elyse, Griffin and Angel had been posted up for the first 3 weeks of April and they crushed these lines! 

Tim Durtschi Dropping....

And Kai Jones on the line nextdoor... notice the tracks? He dropped first! Already building confidence here in AK

Warming up and the lines get bigger and bigger, this is what we came here for!

There was plenty of options and our guides took us to the best possible location for the current snow conditions and sun angles. The angle of the sun is the most important factor this time of the year, there is snow everywhere but the amount of solar radiation it receives determines whether it is icy or fluffy. The sun doesn’t set until 10pm so our days start around 3pm and don’t finish until we land at the airport at sunset.

So much fun...

Looking back on this trip I know it is one I will remember forever. I am sure Kai will be skiing in Alaska for years and years to come and his knowledge and experience will 

Before.....

After!

So here's to many more naps in Helicopters after long long ski days in Alaska!