2007/2008

by: Tim Kelley

Lane Glacier, Talkeetna Mountains - 07 September 2008:  My goal of skiing 12 consecutive months this ski season turned out to be pretty easy to obtain.  Thanks to a record cold spring and summer there was plenty of snow for times when you needed a skiing-fix.  Though I had never skied the Lane Glacier before, this place is no summer skiing secret.  I would guess that this popular glacier is snowboarded or skied just about every weekend of the spring and summer.

Rabbit Creek Valley, Anchorage - 08 August 2008:  This was a memorable, yet strange, day.  It started out as a crystal clear day, an oddity for the summer of 2008.  After work we headed out hiking in sunshine towards the site of the 8-8-8 ski fest, only to soon get overtaken by a monster thunder and lightning squall that hammered hail on us.  We ignored the lightning strikes around us as we set up the slalom course, because we knew we couldn't reschedule this event.  8-8-8 only occurs once ever ONE THOUSAND years!  So the chance to ski-link "8's" on 8-8-8 is a one-shot deal in your life!!  Click here to see Cory's pictures.

Crow Pass - 20 July 2008:  Not the greatest weather this late July weekend.  So what to do?  Hey, how about heading out to do some ski touring!  I ran up to Crow Pass with my skis to check out the skiing.  A while later my GPS said I got in about 8 miles of random snowfield cruising and turn cranking in the area between Crow Pass, the Raven Glacier and the base of Summit Mountain.

I saw tracks from other skiers that were up here the day before.  Right on fellow winter worshippers!!  Hang in there ... next ski season is not long off!!

Rather gruesome looking algae, eh?!  This snow phenomenon is called:
watermelon snow.

Girdwood - 13 July 2008:  In the early 1980's xc skier racers used to regularly hike up to the Glacier Bowl at the Alyeska Ski Area, stomp in a ski loop and get some summer on-snow ski training in.  Hardly anyone does this these days as getting helicoptered to the Eagle Glacier is the preferred choice.

I figured this area would still be good skiing mid-July this year thanks to the cold and cloudy spring and summer we've had.  Sure 'nuff.  The ski-able snowline came way down below the tram station.  There was tons of snow in the Glacier Bowl for a good ski loop with, of course, the requisite slalom course.  And skiing back down offered a long run of great snow that got your quads aching.  My kind of summer indeed !!

Seattle Ridge - July 1, 2008:  Sunshine!  The first sunny day since mid-May!!  Well, it seemed like it at least.

I have wanted to ski Seattle Ridge on the "snowmobilers' side" of Turnagain Pass for quite some time.  So I waited for July 1st.  July?  Yes ... this has been a heck of a cool (as in temperatures) spring and early summer.  So there is much more snow around for this time of year than most people can remember.  No complaints from me!

For this ski trip I used waxless skis.  The snow was consolidated summer snow that kept you from sinking in more than an inch even in the afternoon.   After hiking from Turnagain Pass to snow level at 1500 feet (on the snowmobile route to  ridge-top) I was able to ski all the way to Pyramid Peak.  Out and back was about a 12 mile hike/ski.

I hauled a bunch of stuff out.  Stuff that I will use actually.  Wish I had brought a bigger pack!!

Culross Island - May 30, 2008:  The plan was to ski-explore the southern end of Culross Island by skate skis (we had skied the northern section of the island's main ridge each of the last two years).  But changing weather forced the backup plan of using wax-less classic skis.  It wasn't as much fun as crust skiing in the sun on this island, but it was cool to chalk up skiing some new terrain in Prince William Sound.  Skiers: Tim M., Benji, Cory and Tim K.

Turnagain Pass - May 17, 2008:  As a backup plan for a ski trip that didn't work out this morning, we (Tim M., Cory, Benji and I) hit Turnagain Pass.  We found lots of snow for mid-to-late May (10 feet at the weather station) ... and some fine crust skiing.

Anchorage - May 2008:  "Performance" spring skiing is usually equated with skate skiing.  But spring corn snow can make for some great classic skiing.  Waxless skis can be a good choice for these conditions.  I recently bought  a pair of Fischer Superlight Crowns (so I could be like Tim Miller!!).  They are versatile and fun skis for corn and summer snow striding, and they are good in the turns.

Beware!!   If you inexplicably crash while crust skiing ... the problem is likely NOT your skiing ability.  Most likely you were attacked by a crust vole and didn't realize it.  These devious monsters go ballistic when they smell wool socks skiing by their dens.   They are as fast as lightning and with their extremely powerful forearms (see above) they can quickly trip you and cause you to have a yard-sale crash.  If this happens to you - start screaming at the top of your lungs and flail your poles wildly to drive off the voles.  Or else the beasts will tear into your ankle and rip chunks of your socks off to use as bedding in their dens.  Don't be tricked by the cute and innocent facade these psycho-rodents project.  It's all just an act!  These are very dangerous animals!!!!

Portage - April 2008: "Skookum" is a Chinook word with a double meaning: 1) strong or heroic, or 2) demon or evil spirit.  Crust skiing to the Skookum Glacier right now (April 20th) is definitely skookum.  By that I mean the crust snow is good (very strong and heroic).  But be careful of the skookum spirits that live in the back of the ice cave!

Kenai Mountains - April 2008: Lots of skiers have ridden the Alaska Railroad and Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage ski train to Grandview to go skiing.  But why ride there, when you can ski there?!  After all, it's only a 32 mile (50 km) round trip crust ski from Portage.  It's a little tricky getting from Spencer Lake over the ridge and into the Grandview Valley.  But it's worth it once you get there.  This was my fourth time skiing from Portage into the Grandview Valley.  It was Cory Smith's and Benji Uffenbeck's first time skiing to the Grand ... but I'm betting they will be going back again, and again, and ... !!

Question: Were does most Swix, Toko, Holmenkol, Solda, etc ski wax end up?

Answer: Landfills.

Skis end up using a small fraction of the product wax companies sell you.  Most ski wax is destined to wax shavings that people usually throw in the trash, along with the container the wax came in.  A more environmentally responsible option is to save your ski wax shavings in recycled Ziploc bags.  You can save them per wax type.  Or you can do like me - save them as either "warm" (Swix purple, red and yellow for example) or "cold" (Swix blue and colder).  In the spring, take the wax shavings, melt them in a Pyrex cup and pour them back into the original containers. You probably wouldn't want to race on recycled wax.  But it is great for training, ski storage or ... spring skiing!

Kenai Mountains - April 2008: When I skied to Lost Lake last year I saw snowmobile tracks coming in from the west.  There is no formal trail to the west so I asked a snowmobiler where the sno-go trail led to.  He said the Snug Harbor Road ... and I immediately put this trail on my "to do" skiing trip list.  The beginning and ending sections of this 26 mile route are ratty and bumpy snowmobile trails.  But the central section is incredibly nice.  One could mistake this area for the tree-less mountains of central Norway (the Jutenheimen) or the hills northeast of Nome.

There was no sign of spring crust snow on this mid-April ski.  Cold powder classic skiing and lots of wind were being served up.  But hey ... it was a sunny April day in Alaska and there was lots of snow.  That's the ticket!

2009 Skiing Pictures
2007 Skiing Pictures
2006 Skiing Pictures
2005 Skiing Pictures
2004 Skiing Pictures