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Heli Skiing Alaska's Chugach Range (April 1st-10th, 2004)
This was a big one. We were heading to Alaska's Chugach range to snowboard and ski the steepest terrain in the world. The Chugach mountain range is in south-west alaska and surrounds the small oil-pipeline town of Valdez. Their are no ski resorts here or a ski town atmosphere and we would log in way to many hours at the hotel instead of the peaks. Flying into Valdez the visibility outside the plane was not good, but a walls of surrounding snow fields dwarfed the city and we were happy to arrive without any weather delays. Checking the weather every day before leaving we were all expecting the worst. Snow and rain the entire trip, but the good news came from Mike. There he was grinding out another day at work then............... ALERT ALERT screamed the computer. The weather icon for Valdez Alaska started flashing red, a loud crash sounded out of the speakers. Valdez AK had just broke the snowfall record for April 2nd and snowing 4 inches an hour at Thompson's pass. This is the day before leaving, we were stoked. This meant the weather was sketchy, but this is the price we would have to pay to get the best snow and terrain of our lives. The whole experience had such and indescribable edge to it. You cannot feel more alive in this world when you are put in such adrenaline filled/uncertain situations. We went through a rollercoaster of emotions waiting for the weather to clear. But the wait paid off and we surly "Accessed the Goods."
I have to open up with this picture because this is the dismal sight we awoke to every morning in Valdez, Alaska. Looking out the window every morning and seeing the rain/snow. oh boy. We thought that there was no possible way that we would be able to fly as Helicopters need very good visibility. No hope for us this week we thought. We put on our gear anyway and had our first breakfast with June our waitress for the week. "I had the eggs benedict, but I'll take it." Mike not even thinking about arguing with the breakfast Nazi.
Mike and Andy wait for the word of the days plans in the hotel lobby.
We then were driven 15 minutes down the road where the helicopter was kept. We were debriefed on helicopter safety. Each was checked for our backcountry essentials - pack, shovel, probe, and avalanche transceiver. We then waited for the weather to clear.
Here we are loading the heli. Our guide Mark shown here kept us out of trouble, he was the man. Take note of Earl's Helmet cam. The footage from it..... well you will just have to see it.
We scored. The weather cleared just enough to get us out for a few runs. The feeling of vertigo as the chopper pitched forward is unforgettable. We were flown to a glacier filled valley surrounded by steep walls called "The Books"
This shows the knife edge ridgeline called "the books" that we landed on for our first run- no warm up run in AK. Look at those steeps. The heli bounced up and down on a small ridge line to stabilize a landing area before getting out. I could not believe we were exiting the aircraft on this ridge. This is the real deal. It was no more than 10 ft wide with thousand feet drop offs on both sides. Not only that, but I glanced to my right and saw that the helicopters blades were 3 ft from a cliff wall.
As you can tell from these pictures we are thrilled to be there.
After touching down, this is the sight looking into the carved out glacier valley. That small dot in the bottom right with a halo around it is our heli landing. Andy was the first to drop and disappeared into powder up to his waist. All we heard was him hooting as he dropped over the edge. "Those first few turns were the best of my life" It was so steep. It needed to be this steep though, the powder was bottomless and as light as a feather. When dropping in you could not see beyond the first little roll and only saw 2000 ft down to the chopper.
Where is Harg?
Day 3- We were lucky to get 3 runs in as the weather broke just a bit. There were 2 other groups that got no runs in this day. This pic shows our first and second run of the day. We rode the first 2 chutes on the right of the picture. This shot is taken from the heli before landing, you can see 3 people descending down the first chute in this pic. I got some epic face shot in hitting the walls on skiers right. If you look to the 3rd chute near the left of the picture there is another chute with a rock at the beginning. Mark said, "I might be able to rappel you guys in to access this chute," We all looked at each other.... did he really just say that.
This is me making a big turn after dropping the ledge on the right.
Mike, Harg and Earl hard at work. Our group was known for our LZ (landing zone) engineering skills. After landing on a new spot we would build a solid landing area so it is easier and safer for the helicopter to land on the peak.
Looking down a untouched AK powder for our 3rd and last run of the day. The bowl was much more mellow that the chutes before.
Let there be light damn it !!! The next morning there was nothing worse than our heli guides telling us to check out the museums in town. That night at a Mexican food place Andy talked one of the workers about having no light in the winter months. He replied, "The men stay inside and think about the woman, the women stay inside and think about the men, I stay inside and think about the bottle." We headed to the bar for our first attempt of many to drink it blue. Earl made a new friend, known to all as the bounty hunter.
Another morning I was in the hotel lobby talking, as I along with everyone else was now an expert in AK weather movements. Everyone had a theory of what the weather would do next. Then I looked out the window and saw this huge black thing on a treetop at least 2 blocks away. I grabbed my camera and headed out to see if it could be what I think it may be. It was.
Yes Andy, those topo lines are very close together.
The next day we got one run in. We were dropped off on a peak called Odyssey. It was the site of the 98 extreme skiing championships. The clouds rolled in and it was the flattest light I have ever ridden in. Earl thought he was moving until he put his hand down and realized he was at a dead stop.
The next day weather was bad and now seriously a problem, so they decided to take us to a spot that was a 3 hr drive north. We were now pioneering the North Chugach range - No one had ever landed on or skied these peaks until now. It was really cool that they did all of this for us, it was quite a production. We met the helicopter at a cross country ski area. These mountains greeted us with better weather, but the snow was variable. It was not nearly as deep and light as the Southern range, it was still really good though, we were just spoiled from the best conditions imaginable the previous day. You could see Mt McKinley 200 mi farther to our north. Anyway we got is some good turns, saw some of the beautiful countryside of Alaska and had a long drive back to Valdez.
Mike seen here getting first tracks down the ridgeline. Our guides were wary of the extremely dangerous snow conditions in the area so we stuck to lower angle slopes and ridges.
It was our last day, We could not believe it, Mother Nature finally let down her guard and gave us a taste of what would be the best snowboarding of our lives. The sun came out and we got our first real look at the surrounding immense mountains. We would end up taking 7 runs and meeting our bags at the airport.
I think we all had the anticipation that this was going to be one of the best days of our lives.
We flew deep into a valley and touched down on a ridge surrounded by massive peaks in all directions. 99.9% of skiers will not experience this........
Listening to our radios waiting for the word from our guide before dropping in the next section.
Surrounded by so much snow. Every avid skier or snowboarder dreams of this.
A picture of the glacier valley that we ride out on to wait for our pickup. So pristine, so uninhabitable, It felt like being on another planet. All this snow slowly flows down the valley and carves out the steep walls that we ride. It is a different type of snowboarding to say the least.
A group huddles as the chopper approaches for another run. It is loud, violent, snow and wind blasts your face. And it never gets old.
It was a good thing Eathan ,our pilot, was a Hollywood stunt man.
A feeling I remember so well is exiting the helicopter. We all slowly get out one by one, then huddle next to each other at the heli arms. Mark gives the thumbs up, we watch this machine rise out of the powder - we are deaf from the noise. Then... absolute silence. I find myself looking around to take it all in and think, "People are not meant to be here." And I had a funny feeling that the mountains did not want us there either, slashing down their untouched faces.
Mark digging a snow pit to check for unstable layers in the snow.
We did have one incident seen here. Mike (not my brother) triggered this slide. It took him over the cliff band and buried him leaving only his neck and hand above the snow. We were 2000ft below the slide awaiting pickup. Mark suddenly started running and we followed him while looking up to see if the slide gained momentum. If it did we would be in its wake. It was a scary minute of radio silence from the other group near the slide, we did not know if they were buried as they did not respond. Mike was alright and continued to ride the rest of the day. I misunderstood Mark earlier in the day and was scolded for my line seen above the fracture and off the cliff to skiers left.
Lots of lines
Earl in the bottomless, lightest powder of his life.
Notice that big white cloud to on the right of the picture, that is the drifting remains of the previous turn.
Mike and I lovin every turn during one of the few dual accents. Most of the time we go one by one from safe point to safe point. We were able to do this because we already did this run earlier.
Thanks for an awesome trip fellas, It can't get much better than that. Getting dropped off on these peaks, strapping in and pointing it is an unrivalled experience.
We flew back to Anchorage before catching our flight home. We had a layover and hit the bars before getting on that plane that would take us back to the flat lands. But don't be mistaken, I will be back to the Last Frontier.
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