Alaska Ski Mountaineering Course 2012

Touring through the 27-Mile Icefall en route to a descent on the Worthington Glacier.

Reaping the reward on the Worthington Glacier.

For our first heli drop we flew to the Northwest ramp on Lizard Head Peak. In the photo JP is riding amazing powder on this 45 degree ramp that extends for 1100 vertical feet to the glacier below.

Beautiful glacier skiing after making a descent of Lizard Head Peak.

Cool ski touring in the Chugach. On the way to the Karat Ramps.

Dropping in on one of the Karat Ramps. Big. Steep. Powder.

Next up, Crudbusters. This photo shows the initial descent off the Crudbusters Ridge.

Another shot from the Crudbusters descent with the Iguanabacks in the background.

Santiago is all smiles as the helicopter lifts off for the summit of Girls Mountain.

What a place to land a helicopter! Santiago is taking it in on the summit of Girls Mountain.

Eustaquio prepares for the 2500' descent down the North glacier of Girls Mountain.

Amazing big mountain glacier riding.

This run keeps going, and going, and going. . .

Touring past an icefall on our way to Acupulco Peak.

A Chugach classic: Acupulco Peak.

Riding the steeps on Acapulco Peak.

Climbing a steep ramp in the Promised Land. Crampons and ice axe required!

Reaching the top never felt so good! Now let's ride down. . .

Yes, the climb was worth it! Riding a steep ramp in the Promised Land.

The goods!

The K2 Carbon/Aluminum Lockjaw Poles receive 4 out of 5 stars in our gear review.

The grip of the K2 Lockjaw Pole is ergonomic and comfortable. The padded wrist strap feels supportive and secure like. . . . a real performance ski pole!

Using the Lockjaw pole grip to lock the toe unit of a Dynafit binding.

Using the grip to adjust the heel elevator position on a Fritschi binding.

Using the built in inclinometer to measure the angle of a slope.

Close up of the inclinometer on the Lockjaw pole.

Measuring the depth of a storm slab using the depth markings on the Lockjaw poles.

Close up of the depth markings.

Close up of the "Lockjaw" height adjustment mechanism. It locks the pole firmly in place and is very easy to adjust.

The lower shafts screw together to create an avalanche probe. The black pieces in the photo are "caps" that cover the male and female ends of the poles when not being used as a probe.

Recent storms have produced excellent backcountry skiing.

Looking at layers in the snowpack on a level 1 avalanche course in mid-January. At this time the snowpack consisted entirely of weak, faceted snow grains. This weak snowpack will soon become the source of great instability.

The first of the big January storms arrives on the third day of our avalanche course. The load is too much for the incredibly weak snowpack and avalanches are widespread. In this photo we're touring through safe, low angle terrain in the trees in order to avoid the avalanche hazard.

Vicki performs a tilt test on the new snow and discovers a magnificently weak bond! With this quick test it's easy to identify that slides are likely in steep terrain.

Fortunately the skiing was fantastic! We chose some lower angle terrain that was a good balance between avalanche hazard avoidance and some good turns.

A few days after the big storm Kellie and I enjoyed some really nice skiing on ever-so-slightly wind buffed powder. The avalanche concerns of the previous weekend had diminished a bit so we were able to ride slightly steeper lines on some aspects.

Kellie enjoying some smoooooooth skiing.

Another fine line in the Red Mountain Pass backcountry.

On January 22nd the next big storm rolled through the San Juans. Snow totals exceeded 2 feet in some areas, causing the snowpack to go through a natural avalache cycle. With careful terrain selection it was still possible to find great (and safe) skiing conditions. Bruce sampling some of the terrific skiing on January 23rd.

Sarah putting down a fresh track while Bruce cheers her on.

On the way back up the skin track Sarah pauses for a moment to admire some of our tracks. It's always fun to look back at your tracks!

Sarah cruising through the glades. What a day!

Ice climbing season is off to a great start!

Ilya enjoying the afternoon in the Ice Park.

Ilya topping out on "Pick of The Vic" in the Ice Park. This route is a classic WI4 that is nearly 175' long.

Swing!

On the route "Slip Slidin Away", a 2 pitch WI4 in the backcountry near Ouray.

Ilya finds nice soft ice in the sun while surmounting the final headwall.

Just down the cliff from Slip Slidin Away, the first pitch of "The Skylight" offers enjoyable mixed climbing at an introductory grade. Here Ilya makes it look easy.

Dexter Creek Slabs, another classic backcountry route near Ouray, is in excellent condition right now. Here Erica ascends the crux WI4 pitch. The route has 3 additional pitches of WI3/3+.

There is minimal snow on many of the approaches right now, as can be seen in this photo.

High on Dexter Creek Slabs with the valley unfolding in the distance.

Tyler digs a quick snow profile to evaluate the reactivity of wind slabs.

The avalanche bulletin described the primary avalanche concern as wind slabs near and above treeline, with a secondary concern of persistent slabs. It would require keen observation skills to travel and ski safely.

We began by digging snow profiles to identify layers in the snowpack. On this Northeast aspect below treeline we found no slabs, just lots of nice soft snow to ride!

Our snow profile revealed no avalanche concern in this area, and there was lots of good snow, so we made some turns!

After getting a baseline view of the snowpack on the second day of the course, we spent the third day on a big tour. In order to evaluate avalanche hazard we used our probes to "feel" for slabs by sensing changes in stiffness. In addition to feeling for slabs, we also watched for changes in snow height. Anything greater than the 100cm we saw in our snow profile the day before would indicate slabs were present.

As soon as we neared the treeline our probe measurements started to indicate a much deeper snowpack. In this photo Tyler is finding the slabs.

Once we had found the slabs, our next objective was to determine how extensive they were and whether or not they were sensitive to triggering by a skier. Tyler digs a quick profile to make an assessment.

Our observations throughout the day (probing, profiles, ski test results) had indicated that the slabs were actually discontinuous and isolated to specific terrain features such as small bowls and gullies. After figuring out where we could ski safely, we had a great (and scenic) lunch break and then a nice ride down.

Liba making some turns through soft snow on our descent.

Give the gift backcountry skiing or snowboarding this year with our holiday special.

A beautiful sunrise greets climbers during an ascent of Mt. Rainier.