FasterSkier

Tag: Chugach

  • Crust Season 2011

    Crust skiing is hard to predict. That is part of the attraction, and it adds to the thrill when you nail a perfect crust day.

    2011 was a relatively low snow year in southcentral Alaska, and it seemed that the general consensus was that the lack of snow would result in a poor crust season. But snow is only one factor that goes into baking good crust. Clear, sunny weather is just as important, and April this year had a lot of clear, sunny weather. As a result, there was a lot of good crust to be found this spring. It just goes to show that we should never try to predict crust conditions more than 12 hours in advance.

    But the predictions were right about one thing – my crust season wasn’t very good. The sunny weather just didn’t seem to mesh with my schedule. This is why I am continuing my campaign to make every sunny day in April a state holiday.

    But I did get out a few times to the usual spots: Portage, Center Creek, Glen Alps. And last weekend, Tim’s photos tempted Bill, Chris and I into a great day at Dogsled Pass.

    Here is a “quick hits” photo gallery of my crust season 2011:

  • Crust Season 2011

    Crust skiing is hard to predict. That is part of the attraction, and it adds to the thrill when you nail a perfect crust day.

    2011 was a relatively low snow year in southcentral Alaska, and it seemed that the general consensus was that the lack of snow would result in a poor crust season. But snow is only one factor that goes into baking good crust. Clear, sunny weather is just as important, and April this year had a lot of clear, sunny weather. As a result, there was a lot of good crust to be found this spring. It just goes to show that we should never try to predict crust conditions more than 12 hours in advance.

    But the predictions were right about one thing – my crust season wasn’t very good. The sunny weather just didn’t seem to mesh with my schedule. This is why I am continuing my campaign to make every sunny day in April a state holiday.

    But I did get out a few times to the usual spots: Portage, Center Creek, Glen Alps. And last weekend, Tim’s photos tempted Bill, Chris and I into a great day at Dogsled Pass.

    Here is a “quick hits” photo gallery of my crust season 2011:
     

    Center Creek

     

  • Crust seekers: The next generation

    Portage Glacier, April 10, 2011. Thanks to Bruce Talbot for the photo

  • Crust seekers: The next generation

    Portage Glacier, April 10, 2011. Thanks to Bruce Talbot for the photo

  • Crust seekers: The next generation

    Portage Glacier, April 10, 2011. Thanks to Bruce Talbot for the photo

  • Crust seekers: The next generation

    Portage Glacier, April 10, 2011. Thanks to Bruce Talbot for the photo

  • Arctic To Indian* (with a shorter shuttle)

    (* – well, not quite Indian…)

    One of my main concerns for the upcoming White Mountains 100 is my Achilles tendon. It has been two years since I tore it, and I haven’t had a single problem with it in well over a year, but recently I’ve started to worry about it anyway.

    See, when I was training for the Iditarod Invitational, all of my long workouts were skate skiing. I figured that if I needed to shuffle along, classic style, at times during the race, I could do that just fine. But I didn’t anticipate having to shuffle for hundreds of miles. My feet, ankles, knees, and – yes -Achilles, were not ready for that. Eventually the Achilles gave out.

    So now, leading up to the White Mountains 100, once again all of my long skis have been skating. But what if the snow is squeaky cold? What if there is a foot of new snow the night before the race? What if the trail is simply too narrow to skate? My leg aches when I think about it. So, it was time to squeeze in one more long training workout – classic style.

    On a related note, I’ve had an idea for a while now to do the Arctic Valley to Indian ski, a very popular backcountry route behind Anchorage, but as a loop starting at Hillside – without the car shuttle. You could use city trails to get to Muldoon, then up the 5-mile trail to Arctic Valley, across the regular Arctic to Indian trail, and then instead of dropping down to Indian, go up and over Ship Pass, down to Glen Alps and back to Hillside.

    This loop would certainly fit my criteria of a long classic ski with lots of climbing. But Saturday’s conditions weren’t good for the Muldoon to Moose Run section, and I was short on time – I only had a six hour window, so I skipped the city section and got dropped off at the bottom of the 5 mile trail, where Arctic Valley road starts to climb. The full loop will have to wait for another day.

    The 5-mile trail was decent skiing. The first kilometer was a hard-packed mess of wavy bumps caused by sledders, but after that I was skiing up a trail that had been packed only by a couple of snowboarders. It turns out snowboarders make a pretty good trail for skiers when they don’t have to turn or push much. The Arctic to Indian trail was in excellent shape, very enjoyable skiing on classic race skis and extra blue wax. Breaking trail up to Ship lake wasn’t bad because most of the snow was hard and wind-blown (sastrugi). Hiking up to Ship Pass was a little sketchier than I would have liked. The recent sun and wind made the snow rock-hard and glazed in spots on that steep slope. Definitely wished I had either an ice axe and/or crampons. The run down to Glen Alps was also a lot of sastrugi. No carving turns, just holding on while the skis chatter away. Then a straight shot down to Hillside and a walk to my house to finish off the day.

    Here is a link to a map and statistics. 29 miles, somewhere between 4000 and 5000 feet of climbing, total time 6:00:31

    It was a fabulous day. Great snow, great sun, and I did it in exactly 6 hours so I wasn’t late getting back to the wife and kids. In my rush to get home, I didn’t take any pictures. I stopped for a total of about 30 minutes to fix a broken pole (watch out for narrow cracks in the ice on Ship Creek!) and chat with friends skiing Arctic to Indian.

    Here’s a picture from the last time I was up on Ship Pass. It looked pretty much the same on Saturday.

  • Arctic To Indian* (with a shorter shuttle)

    (* – well, not quite Indian…)

    One of my main concerns for the upcoming White Mountains 100 is my Achilles tendon. It has been two years since I tore it, and I haven’t had a single problem with it in well over a year, but recently I’ve started to worry about it anyway.

    See, when I was training for the Iditarod Invitational, all of my long workouts were skate skiing. I figured that if I needed to shuffle along, classic style, at times during the race, I could do that just fine. But I didn’t anticipate having to shuffle for hundreds of miles. My feet, ankles, knees, and – yes -Achilles, were not ready for that. Eventually the Achilles gave out.

    So now, leading up to the White Mountains 100, once again all of my long skis have been skating. But what if the snow is squeaky cold? What if there is a foot of new snow the night before the race? What if the trail is simply too narrow to skate? My leg aches when I think about it. So, it was time to squeeze in one more long training workout – classic style.

    On a related note, I’ve had an idea for a while now to do the Arctic Valley to Indian ski, a very popular backcountry route behind Anchorage, but as a loop starting at Hillside – without the car shuttle. You could use city trails to get to Muldoon, then up the 5-mile trail to Arctic Valley, across the regular Arctic to Indian trail, and then instead of dropping down to Indian, go up and over Ship Pass, down to Glen Alps and back to Hillside.

    This loop would certainly fit my criteria of a long classic ski with lots of climbing. But Saturday’s conditions weren’t good for the Muldoon to Moose Run section, and I was short on time – I only had a six hour window, so I skipped the city section and got dropped off at the bottom of the 5 mile trail, where Arctic Valley road starts to climb. The full loop will have to wait for another day.

    The 5-mile trail was decent skiing. The first kilometer was a hard-packed mess of wavy bumps caused by sledders, but after that I was skiing up a trail that had been packed only by a couple of snowboarders. It turns out snowboarders make a pretty good trail for skiers when they don’t have to turn or push much. The Arctic to Indian trail was in excellent shape, very enjoyable skiing on classic race skis and extra blue wax. Breaking trail up to Ship lake wasn’t bad because most of the snow was hard and wind-blown (sastrugi). Hiking up to Ship Pass was a little sketchier than I would have liked. The recent sun and wind made the snow rock-hard and glazed in spots on that steep slope. Definitely wished I had either an ice axe and/or crampons. The run down to Glen Alps was also a lot of sastrugi. No carving turns, just holding on while the skis chatter away. Then a straight shot down to Hillside and a walk to my house to finish off the day.

    Here is a link to a map and statistics. 29 miles, somewhere between 4000 and 5000 feet of climbing, total time 6:00:31

    It was a fabulous day. Great snow, great sun, and I did it in exactly 6 hours so I wasn’t late getting back to the wife and kids. In my rush to get home, I didn’t take any pictures. I stopped for a total of about 30 minutes to fix a broken pole (watch out for narrow cracks in the ice on Ship Creek!) and chat with friends skiing Arctic to Indian.

    Here’s a picture from the last time I was up on Ship Pass. It looked pretty much the same on Saturday.

  • Arctic To Indian* (with a shorter shuttle)

    (* – well, not quite Indian…)

    One of my main concerns for the upcoming White Mountains 100 is my Achilles tendon. It has been two years since I tore it, and I haven’t had a single problem with it in well over a year, but recently I’ve started to worry about it anyway.

    See, when I was training for the Iditarod Invitational, all of my long workouts were skate skiing. I figured that if I needed to shuffle along, classic style, at times during the race, I could do that just fine. But I didn’t anticipate having to shuffle for hundreds of miles. My feet, ankles, knees, and – yes -Achilles, were not ready for that. Eventually the Achilles gave out.

    So now, leading up to the White Mountains 100, once again all of my long skis have been skating. But what if the snow is squeaky cold? What if there is a foot of new snow the night before the race? What if the trail is simply too narrow to skate? My leg aches when I think about it. So, it was time to squeeze in one more long training workout – classic style.

    On a related note, I’ve had an idea for a while now to do the Arctic Valley to Indian ski, a very popular backcountry route behind Anchorage, but as a loop starting at Hillside – without the car shuttle. You could use city trails to get to Muldoon, then up the 5-mile trail to Arctic Valley, across the regular Arctic to Indian trail, and then instead of dropping down to Indian, go up and over Ship Pass, down to Glen Alps and back to Hillside.

    This loop would certainly fit my criteria of a long classic ski with lots of climbing. But Saturday’s conditions weren’t good for the Muldoon to Moose Run section, and I was short on time – I only had a six hour window, so I skipped the city section and got dropped off at the bottom of the 5 mile trail, where Arctic Valley road starts to climb. The full loop will have to wait for another day.

    The 5-mile trail was decent skiing. The first kilometer was a hard-packed mess of wavy bumps caused by sledders, but after that I was skiing up a trail that had been packed only by a couple of snowboarders. It turns out snowboarders make a pretty good trail for skiers when they don’t have to turn or push much. The Arctic to Indian trail was in excellent shape, very enjoyable skiing on classic race skis and extra blue wax. Breaking trail up to Ship lake wasn’t bad because most of the snow was hard and wind-blown (sastrugi). Hiking up to Ship Pass was a little sketchier than I would have liked. The recent sun and wind made the snow rock-hard and glazed in spots on that steep slope. Definitely wished I had either an ice axe and/or crampons. The run down to Glen Alps was also a lot of sastrugi. No carving turns, just holding on while the skis chatter away. Then a straight shot down to Hillside and a walk to my house to finish off the day.

    Here is a link to a map and statistics. 29 miles, somewhere between 4000 and 5000 feet of climbing, total time 6:00:31

    It was a fabulous day. Great snow, great sun, and I did it in exactly 6 hours so I wasn’t late getting back to the wife and kids. In my rush to get home, I didn’t take any pictures. I stopped for a total of about 30 minutes to fix a broken pole (watch out for narrow cracks in the ice on Ship Creek!) and chat with friends skiing Arctic to Indian.

    Here’s a picture from the last time I was up on Ship Pass. It looked pretty much the same on Saturday.

  • Arctic To Indian* (with a shorter shuttle)

    (* – well, not quite Indian…)

    One of my main concerns for the upcoming White Mountains 100 is my Achilles tendon. It has been two years since I tore it, and I haven’t had a single problem with it in well over a year, but recently I’ve started to worry about it anyway.

    See, when I was training for the Iditarod Invitational, all of my long workouts were skate skiing. I figured that if I needed to shuffle along, classic style, at times during the race, I could do that just fine. But I didn’t anticipate having to shuffle for hundreds of miles. My feet, ankles, knees, and – yes -Achilles, were not ready for that. Eventually the Achilles gave out.

    So now, leading up to the White Mountains 100, once again all of my long skis have been skating. But what if the snow is squeaky cold? What if there is a foot of new snow the night before the race? What if the trail is simply too narrow to skate? My leg aches when I think about it. So, it was time to squeeze in one more long training workout – classic style.

    On a related note, I’ve had an idea for a while now to do the Arctic Valley to Indian ski, a very popular backcountry route behind Anchorage, but as a loop starting at Hillside – without the car shuttle. You could use city trails to get to Muldoon, then up the 5-mile trail to Arctic Valley, across the regular Arctic to Indian trail, and then instead of dropping down to Indian, go up and over Ship Pass, down to Glen Alps and back to Hillside.

    This loop would certainly fit my criteria of a long classic ski with lots of climbing. But Saturday’s conditions weren’t good for the Muldoon to Moose Run section, and I was short on time – I only had a six hour window, so I skipped the city section and got dropped off at the bottom of the 5 mile trail, where Arctic Valley road starts to climb. The full loop will have to wait for another day.

    The 5-mile trail was decent skiing. The first kilometer was a hard-packed mess of wavy bumps caused by sledders, but after that I was skiing up a trail that had been packed only by a couple of snowboarders. It turns out snowboarders make a pretty good trail for skiers when they don’t have to turn or push much. The Arctic to Indian trail was in excellent shape, very enjoyable skiing on classic race skis and extra blue wax. Breaking trail up to Ship lake wasn’t bad because most of the snow was hard and wind-blown (sastrugi). Hiking up to Ship Pass was a little sketchier than I would have liked. The recent sun and wind made the snow rock-hard and glazed in spots on that steep slope. Definitely wished I had either an ice axe and/or crampons. The run down to Glen Alps was also a lot of sastrugi. No carving turns, just holding on while the skis chatter away. Then a straight shot down to Hillside and a walk to my house to finish off the day.

    Here is a link to a map and statistics. 29 miles, somewhere between 4000 and 5000 feet of climbing, total time 6:00:31

    It was a fabulous day. Great snow, great sun, and I did it in exactly 6 hours so I wasn’t late getting back to the wife and kids. In my rush to get home, I didn’t take any pictures. I stopped for a total of about 30 minutes to fix a broken pole (watch out for narrow cracks in the ice on Ship Creek!) and chat with friends skiing Arctic to Indian.

    Here’s a picture from the last time I was up on Ship Pass. It looked pretty much the same on Saturday.

  • I’ve been narrow-minded recently

    I love living close to the Hillside/Chugach/Far North Bicentennial parks. It is one of the main reasons we live where we do. In the winter, when someone says they went skiing at Hiilside it usually means they did laps around the 15 kilometers of trail that is groomed for skate skiing. Sure, the groomed Hillside trails are nice, but I get sick of that loop pretty quickly.

    Fortunately, there are at least another 30 kilometers of ski trails at Hillside that I never get sick of. The narrow single-track trails are perfect for old-school classic skiing. Blueberry Hollow, Speedway, Single Track Advocates, Middle Fork Loop, everything on the north side of Campbell Airstrip Road, the list goes on. I’ve been hitting these trails even more than normal recently. The narrow trails and tight turns are tremendous fun. I can ski for a couple of hours, and I feel more energized when I finish than I did when I started.

    The proliferation of fat-tire bikes in the past few years means that these trails are almost always well-packed. Snow bikes make great groomers. The trails are even a little too-well packed for my taste, but its worth the trade-off of seeing so many different users (bikers, runners, showshoers, walkers, skiers, sledders) all sharing the same trails. I’ll refrain from a rant about the whole skier/biker/walker conflict non-sense that people in Anchorage just love to get fired up about (refrain for now, anyway. I can feel a rant coming on at some point…). Instead, I’ll just share a map of the loop that I did on Saturday. I started at Service High School and skied for an hour and 45 minutes entirely on narrow trails. Okay, okay the first part of the loop was on classic-only ski trails, but everything else was multi-use.

    My Saturday afternoon ski

  • Just like old times

    For the first few years that I lived in Alaska, Scott was my go-to guy for outdoor fun. He was a serious ski racer at that time, but whenever I could distract him from rollerskiing, we’d go do long skis and runs in the mountains.  But in 2005, Scott decided he’d rather be an academic […]

  • Whoahs and Williwaw

    This summer has not been what I hoped it would be, on so many levels. The obvious reason is the rainy weather we’ve been having for two months, but really that’s only a small part what’s been going on for me. I’m still dealing with weird health issues. They aren’t as bad as they were […]

  • Sunny Weather Goes Up In Smoke

    As I was biking home from work today, my lungs were burning, my eyes were squinting, and my nostrils were flaring. Was I hammering? Nope, I was inhaling the smoke that has descended over Anchorage in the past few days. Here’s a cool map that shows the smoke.