TR: Jan 30th - A few hours in the Alaska Range

[skier666]

Boom! Solid work.....

[freak]

wow. that looks really amazing. thanks for sharing.


freak~[&]

[^^^]

Beautiful scenery. Keep stuff like this coming! Very nice.

[AK]

Thanks for the props; after scrolling through hundreds of TR's over the last few years I figured my JONG-ass should probably start contributing to the stoke!

The shot of the traverse over the cornice across the ridge looks sketchy from the picture.

The pic makes it look a bit more dramatic than it actually was, but yeah, it definitely wasn't a traverse to be showboating on. This time of year, it's still fairly easy to punch your bases onto submerged rocks along the ridge lines. Looking cool for TR pictures ends up taking a distant second place to making sure you don't lose your balance with that kind of exposure.

I'm trying to put together a trip up there for March, is the snow really that bad? How is the stability?

The AK Range is a continental snowpack so it's different than the typical maritime snow that you see in the pics of the Chugach. In general, the snowpack in the Alaska Range is usually a bit less stable than a couple hours south in the Chugach. Cold temps and shallow snow (1-2m) lead to lots of faceting in the early to mid season, while it should start shaping up over the next month or so with the sun warming things up. I wouldn't worry about a "bad" snow year though, as there was ~10-15'+ on the ground @ 3500' in Valdez last week. While it may not be a banner year, there's still plenty of snow to go around

[taylorm0]

way too sick

[time2clmb]

That's the SHIT right there.

[Mathematics]

that was awesome.

[RiderX]

sick photo

[Chnaiur]

Oh man, what am I doing in my CUBE???

[Kellie]

Strong to quite strong for sure!

You guys access with snowmachines or from a road? Awesome work - love the light this time of year!

[crstlextrm]

Thank you for sharing!

[COpow]

The AK Range is a continental snowpack so it's different than the typical maritime snow that you see in the pics of the Chugach. In general, the snowpack in the Alaska Range is usually a bit less stable than a couple hours south in the Chugach. Cold temps and shallow snow (1-2m) lead to lots of faceting in the early to mid season, while it should start shaping up over the next month or so with the sun warming things up. I wouldn't worry about a "bad" snow year though, as there was ~10-15'+ on the ground @ 3500' in Valdez last week. While it may not be a banner year, there's still plenty of snow to go around

Thanks for the update. I should have specified (like all of AK's ranges can be summarized in one question), I will be heading to the Chugach. Although, those pics are so fucking rad...

Sounds like the Alaska Range has a snow pack similar to Colorado. Not super familiar with maritime conditions, guess I need to read up and go with someone that knows.

[tone capone]

So sick, so many great shots, awesome skiing and pictures. Great work.

[Liveezy]

Thanks for the stoke! Makes me wanna pack up my shit right now.

[brianstltz]

Dude, should have been there with you guys... I think I was ripping Moose Mountain that day staring at the sun shining on the Alaska Range.

[tomi25]

Thanks for the stoke dude! It's really inspiring.

[Driver]

incredible $$$$$

[alto]

Oh my pants got tighter.

[BobbyBill]

Stoke bump...sweet pics and incredible light!

[whipski]

totally bootiful