Manitoba Mountain, Alaska: SKI DREAMS DO COME TRUE!

**covert** · 10-20-2011, 07:13 PM

Here's another south face into a clap trap...i mean 'terrain trap'.

**powdork** · 10-20-2011, 08:45 PM

are those ski tracks at the bottom? unpossible.

and i have to wonder what the hell big sky was thinking when they broke the mountain up into two categories for their trail maps; eastern exposure and southern exposure.

**BFD** · 10-20-2011, 09:00 PM

shred seems to be fixated on elevation. From his avie thread
[QUOTE][We blew it by thinking a mid elevation line had the snowpack of a high elevation line./QUOTE]
I'm thinking he should pay a little more attention to climate.

**covert** · 10-20-2011, 09:35 PM

There is a lot of shit going on in the mountains of AK. Lots of different climate zones in a small space. The latitude has a different aspect dynamic than many people are accustomed to. There is the potential for pretty intense diurnal temperature swings. Fuckin' glaciers. I haven't spent a ton of time up there but it's a lot to wrap your head around. More so than most places in the world.

**wendigo** · 10-20-2011, 09:45 PM

3,000' south faces are super sketch

- in april powder no less

- to the road

**powdork** · 10-20-2011, 09:52 PM

i keep wanting to push play on that picture

**carpathian** · 10-20-2011, 10:01 PM

Hey Wendigo, is that the Three Guardsmen?

I was thinking about aspects earlier today. A lot of the weather systems come in warm, dump a couple of feet of snow and then taper off with cooler temps. There is generally a high moisture content and with that cooling things just 'set up.' In alaska in general, you will see crazy temperature swings. Might be pushing 40 with rain down low one day and drop to -10 the next day and back to 30 a day later.

Especially on south faces where there is SOME sun affect at any given time. The slope warms up during the day, cools off at night. After two or three 24 hour cycles of that an incredibly unstable snow pack can heal itself and get better and better with time.

Whereas on the cool north aspects, there is less temperature swing through a day and there you might find lingering, deeper instabilities. It might be 'fresher pow' but those deep layers have not been consolidated.

Nope no attractive or cool chicks around here.

Oh and that whole slope in front of the lovely ladies is north facing. Good damned sun is everywhere!

**wendigo** · 10-20-2011, 10:06 PM

yes that is on the guardsmen.

heh - i know those butts, my wife's was there too but just out of frame.

**shreddacord** · 10-21-2011, 11:52 AM

[QUOTE=shreddacord;3394647]

yo, I am not saying south and west does not have it's moments, just saying this zone is very limited as far as north and east goes. It's not my opinion, it's just a fact. Look at a map. I have outlined the north on this, and there is 0 east. Once again, this is not some opinion I hold, it is reality?

**MtnRA** · 10-21-2011, 01:03 PM

[QUOTE=shreddacord;3401189]

Originally Posted by shreddacord

yo, I am not saying south and west does not have it's moments, just saying this zone is very limited as far as north and east goes. It's not my opinion, it's just a fact. Look at a map. I have outlined the north on this, and there is 0 east. Once again, this is not some opinion I hold, it is reality?

Here's the north side of the top of 3,702, top of the proposed surface lift #3.

And here is looking down on May 4, 2010.

**carpathian** · 10-21-2011, 01:39 PM

I guess that is not good enough for ol Shred. And I believe in the upper left hand of that north shot, where that pointer looking thing is, that chute is facing east?

**Chugachjed** · 10-21-2011, 02:34 PM

Oh well maybe we'll get lucky and he'll stay in montana with the sheep.

**Bunion 2020** · 10-21-2011, 04:51 PM

[QUOTE=MtnRA;3401296]

Originally Posted by shreddacord

Here's the north side of the top of 3,702, top of the proposed surface lift #3.

And here is looking down on May 4, 2010.

I hope to hell you turned around and booted back down from whence you came.

**TBski** · 10-21-2011, 04:58 PM

Originally Posted by shreddacord

There is not a chance in hell that you can walk that ridgeling to the top of Silvertip. It is totally gnarly. Skining ridgelines works in the wasatch not there. You would fall through a hole, break a cornice off, be up to your belly in sugar around the rocks and make it maybe 10% of the way before realizing what a retarted idea that was. Low on Turnagin is below 3000. The difference between 3000 and 4500 is the difference between a 70 inch base and a 170 inch base. 70 goes isothermo and sugars out top to bottom. Particularily sugaring out in the dark of winter. 12 inches of windboard on top of 4 feet of sugar to be exact, so ya I know all about skiing in winter in AK, i got better places to be...... chalk is for blackboards just like rope tows are for children.

2 possibilities: You are a troll. You know nothing about skiing here.
I have skinned and walked that ridgeline.Just a standard ridge. Low on Turnagain is below Eddies pullout around 750ft. Turnagain doesn't go iso until late April in a low snow year. Deep snowpacks limit sugaring.
Dave is a good guy and means well but this will not be a sustainable venture and will ruin the backcountry experience we already enjoy there. Alaska is full of pipe dreams, add this one to the pile.

**BFD** · 10-21-2011, 05:20 PM

^^^ I thought you were going to claim that ass in the middle as yours.

**shreddacord** · 10-22-2011, 11:12 AM

so in AK all you can find that is north is one chute and some low angle alders, you made my point. R u gonna hold the Kenai mogul comp down that chute. Maybe make it a dress up day. Ahh fuck it the locs could just show up as is and that would be dress up enough already! One north facing chute amongst 10,000 acres. And the low angle alders looks cool, if it was at Brighton. Looks lke a good place to tour to not build a ski resort. as for pipe dreams, dreamers are good, the tram at Jackson was once a pipe dream so giv er.

The bottom of the Bering Sea is littered with the boats of dreamers. It is a frontier mentality that until you are part of you can't understand. Reality fades and dreams of huge mtns, huge fish, huge gold nuggets obscure the obvious unfeasability of what you may be attempting. 20 foot seas smashing your window out on the outside of Montague island is but a road bump in the pursuit of but another AK pipe dream. If not for the subsistence permits and the divident everyone would starve and have to move back to the lower 48. best of luck

**Chugachjed** · 10-22-2011, 04:25 PM

Originally Posted by shreddacord

so in AK all you can find that is north is one chute and some low angle alders, you made my point. R u gonna hold the Kenai mogul comp down that chute. Maybe make it a dress up day. Ahh fuck it the locs could just show up as is and that would be dress up enough already! One north facing chute amongst 10,000 acres. And the low angle alders looks cool, if it was at Brighton. Looks lke a good place to tour to not build a ski resort. as for pipe dreams, dreamers are good, the tram at Jackson was once a pipe dream so giv er.

The bottom of the Bering Sea is littered with the boats of dreamers. It is a frontier mentality that until you are part of you can't understand. Reality fades and dreams of huge mtns, huge fish, huge gold nuggets obscure the obvious unfeasability of what you may be attempting. 20 foot seas smashing your window out on the outside of Montague island is but a road bump in the pursuit of but another AK pipe dream. If not for the subsistence permits and the divident everyone would starve and have to move back to the lower 48. best of luck

Obvious troll... Right across the highway from manitoba is fresno ridge with lots of east and a goodly amount of north. Way more people ski manitoba even though it is a way longer approach. Probably not because south and east are shitty.

**Slaag Master** · 10-23-2011, 07:49 AM

we took manitoba from canada? damn!

**XXX-er** · 10-23-2011, 06:22 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDUKRftcq6s

those manitoba skiers are pretty core

**powdork** · 10-23-2011, 06:53 PM

Originally Posted by TBski

2 possibilities: You are a troll. You know nothing about skiing here.
I have skinned and walked that ridgeline.Just a standard ridge. Low on Turnagain is below Eddies pullout around 750ft. Turnagain doesn't go iso until late April in a low snow year. Deep snowpacks limit sugaring.
Dave is a good guy and means well but this will not be a sustainable venture and will ruin the backcountry experience we already enjoy there. Alaska is full of pipe dreams, add this one to the pile.

so in your mind, if you knew this WAS going to happen, what could they do to make it so it didn't ruin the bc experience there, or make it hurt less?

**BFD** · 10-23-2011, 09:26 PM

powdork maybe BC skiing is different in california. I usually do not ski tracked slopes. I do not usually ski with other BC skiers that seek out tracked lines in the BC. Creating mechanical access to an area that is seldom skied now really does nothing for the people presently using the area. This idea may appeal to the people that think it is great to stand in line for a gate to open at a resort than talk about how great it was. Personally I would just have the same response as when a snowcat operation opened up at my old stomping grounds. I would find a new area.

**powdork** · 10-23-2011, 10:19 PM

i totally agree. imo his (and yours and wendigo's) are the only legitimate arguments against this and my question is a serious one. there were gripes about how the immediate sidecountry just off chair 4 would be destroyed by the addition of the rope tows up covered wagon. it ended up not hurting too much and making it easier to go farther out, giving us more access. in some cases this is similar, in others not. my point is, there are things that can be done to lessen the impact. seems like both sides working proactively can come up with something.

**covert** · 10-23-2011, 10:31 PM

Mechanized access is always a trade off.

If I lived in the neighborhood I would probably have mixed feelings about Manitoba. It's nice to have a whole zone to yourself but it would also be nice to spend that first hour working up the ridge instead of starting from the road and having to skin up the ramp. Mech access will translate into more runs per day.

It's hard to imagine there being much competition for lines outside the gate on more than a handful of days over the course of the season.

**powdork** · 10-24-2011, 01:04 AM

seems like both sides working proactively can come up with something.

first thing that comes to my mind from looking at the maps and previous trs would be a scheduled shuttle of some sort from the silvertip creek drainage back to the base area on which all users are welcome. that could provide pass holders some value, bc users some value and alleviate car shuttling issues (parking, pollution, etc). it seems like being able to purchase a single ride (or whatever it takes to get to the top) would be something bc users would appreciate as well.
you guys should have some ideas/wants/desires/concerns and this seems like the time to express those.