We set out with heavy packs and our skis (of course) on the approach from the Richardson Highway to the interior of the range. Passing over a 2000ft rise,  3 to 4 mile long wilderness pass, the vastness of the region became apparent.  The countless white peaks are surrounded by glaciers and deep drainages, and are in all directions.  To truly explore this place, we quickly realized it will take more than the 4 days we have given our selves on this trip.  Once over the pass, we arrived at a junction with a large drainage that lead further into the depths of the range.  Across the drainage there were three beautiful cirques lined with ridges, steep couloirs and spines.  It was decided that given our time frame, these cirques are where we would “scratch the surface” on this trip.  The drainage was quite deep with steep walls in this location so we had to navigate about another mile or so into the range to find an appropriate route to cross the drainage and gain access to the terrain on the other side.  At this crossing point we found a suitable spot for camp as well as a water source.

The next morning we woke to a re-visiting of winter.  Snow on the ground, wind, and variable visibility.  We decided to head out, with minimal expectations, toward the southerly cirque a couple miles away.  As we approached the cirque we noticed 2 things;  one being there was once again a large drainage to negotiate, and two being the visibility had gone from promising to worsening.  Up the drainage a few hundred yards there was a skiable chute that lead to a skin-able route out of the drainage to the other side.  At that point we decided that the weather was not going to allow us to go for a peak so we opted for plan B.  Plan B was to boot pack up and ski a couple north-facing couloirs further down the ridge.  The series of couloirs we headed to form something close to an “M” from afar, so Michelle and I had thought it would be fun to each ski one of the legs.  During the ascent we encountered various pockets of wind loading from the recent series of storms, but the rest of the snow pack felt to be stable.  We climbed to the top of the ridge, which was breathtakingly narrow, rock hard, and slightly exposed with cornice.  The steepness on each side of the ridge with only a couple feet of corniced snow on the top qualified it as quite the knife ridge.  Having to hold each others skis while we made the transition from crampons to skis, we were quite puckered and ready to descend.  I tested the snowpack one last time just below the summit, then we decided Michelle would take the skiers left leg and I would take the skiers right leg.  Michelle dropped in first, proving that the snow was soft and plentiful with only slough to worry about.  Once I saw Michelle safely shoot out of the bottom I made the move through some rocks to enter my line.  The slough was manageable up high, but once I reached the bottom half of the couloir the slough was gaining strength and I kicked loose a wind pocket.  This forced me to make a slightly premature staight-line out of the bottom.  All and all the couloirs here were pretty awesome and a success.  Being that they had likely never been skied we named them “M & M”!  Feeling satiated and with more weather moving in we ventured back to our camp for the evening.

Our third day out we rose from our tent to blue skies and minimal wind.  This day we deemed our mission to be an un-named peak that topped out above the shared ridgeline of two cirques.  We would approach this peak via the cirque to the north, which is made up of 3 peaks.  Our plan was to ski one of the north facing lines off the summit or further down the ridge-line after summiting.  However, once we entered the zone we felt an unexpected collapse deep in the snow pack on a lower angle, north facing test slope.  This combined with the wide-open face from the summit were cause for concern of a deep instability and wide propagation if it were to be triggered.  Being a moderate risk with quite high consequences we then changed our focus to the peak in the center with a more leisurely southwest face to descend.  When we reached the summit we could pretty much see huge white peaks (most un-named) as far as the eye could see in all directions.  It was humbling to say the least.  From here we were able to ski off the top, down the southwest face, and all the way back to the drainage below our camp.  Though we did not get to ski all three peaks of the cirque, I felt it fitting to call this area of un-named peaks “JRJ.”  This stands for Johnny’s, Ryan’s, and Jim’s in memory of three friends and peers I have lost in recent years.  Johnny Nicoletta passed away after a fall during the 2008 Freeskiing World Championships at Alyeska Resort, Ryan Hawks passed away after a fall during the 2011 North American Freeskiing Championships at Kirkwood Resort, and Jim Norm Jack passed away this past February in an Avalanche near Stevens Pass.

On our final morning in the field, we once again opened our Marmot Alpinist 2P vestibule to clear blue skies.  We took our time to make breakfast, pack up our camp, and began the much easier trip back to the Richardson Highway.  Because our camp was less than a thousand vertical feet from the top of the pass, the trip out was almost entirely skiable.  However, it was not exactly smooth gliding with 50lb packs, drainages, and thick brush to negotiate.

At around mid-afternoon we arrived back to the Lodge at Black Rapids, where we had time to clean up and relax a bit before the Cinqo de Mayo festivities began.  The lodge was full and there were wine tastings, beer tastings, and a big Mexican food dinner scheduled for the evening.  Not a bad way to come out of the backcountry at all!  We enjoyed one last night at the lodge before packing up the car the next morning and heading back to Anchorage.  This region of Alaska and the Alaska Range has certainly sparked my interest for future trips to the area.  As I mentioned previously, we literally were just able to scratch the surface.  With countless technical peaks to climb, and knife ridges with couloirs and spines to ski, this place will continue to be on the hit list for quite some time.  Not to mention there is an amazing lodge, or climbers and skiers roadhouse if you will, to stay in at the beginning or end of adventures.  The Lodge at Black Rapids is certainly an up and coming treasure to outdoor enthusiasts.

I am now sitting in Anchorage packing up and preparing to catch a redeye flight back down to the lower 48.  This has not only been the most amazing trip to AK that I have had, but one of the most amazing trips of my life.  I met up with good friends, met new great people, and successfully engaged my future wife!  What more could a fella ask for.  As I have mentioned in previous write-ups, I will begin to compile and edit the footage and photos of the adventures from the past few weeks.  I hope to have a summary edit/teaser out in the next week or so.  Then over the next month or two I will edit and release videos in three parts; The Prince Williams Sound trip, Thompson Pass/Valdez, and then Black Rapids/the Eastern Region of the Alaska Range.  So as always……stay tuned!!!!

Mikey

GEAR HIGHLIGHTS:

Marmot Alpinist 2P tent – This lightweight single wall tent provided the perfect shelter for our trip into the eastern region of the Alaska Range.  Being late spring, we had rain, sleet, snow, and wind.  This tent kept us warm and dry through it all.

Marmot Odin 50+ pack – Loaded with enough gear and food for a week, ski and winter climbing equipment, and an attached Marmot Backcountry 20 pack, this pack held strong on this adventure.

2013 Scarpa Maestrale Pro – This lightweight boot proved, as expected, to be efficient and comfortable on a long winter camping and touring adventure.  It also proved that it could manage technical boot backing with crampons, as well as skiing steep couloirs and higher speeds.

The next morning we packed up the car, said our thank you’s and good bye’s, and hit the road to the Lodge at Black Rapids.  Located on mile 227 of the Richardson Highway, the lodge sits along the Delta River Valley in the eastern region of the Alaska Range.  Michelle and I have been researching this region for quite some time and have been in contact with the owners of the lodge, Michael & Annie.  Michael, one of the foremost explorers of this region, was out with some friends touring and skiing when we arrived on Sunday.  He left a note for us saying, “Michelle & Mike, make your selves at home and go-a-head and move your stuff into the second floor room on the SE corner of the lodge,” so that is just what we did. When we arrived we were in awe of this place.    It was nice and sunny out so once we settled in, a game of cribbage and a few beers on the front deck seemed in order.  Michael arrived back to the lodge around 6:30 with good news on the snowpack and conditions.  He showed us pictures and videos of some terrain he thought we’d like to explore.  Michael made us a delicious meal while we looked over maps and brainstormed a game plan.

Michael told us a little about the lodge; what a place by the way! Michael spent about 9 years building the lodge at the sight of the historic Black Rapids Roadhouse.  The new lodge, running since 2009, features tall ceilings with timber wood beams and a beautiful stone fireplace in the center.  Michael said this lodge was built with the intention of being a winter lodge to base ski trips from…..perfect.   Since our arrival, we have been spoiled with amazing meals, incredible hospitality, while staying in one of the most beautiful lodges I’ve seen.

Michelle and I spent yesterday getting our gear back in order and packing to head out into the backcountry for the week.  There is a decent amount of weather moving through and the forecast is not looking stellar, so we are planning to head out today when/if we get a break in the weather and just see what we can make of it.  This region is quite minimally traveled and for the most part un-skied, due to its remoteness and being a bit over shadowed by Alaska’s vast wilderness options.  Our plan is to be out until Saturday, but again this is very dependent on the weather.  As always, I will check back in with updates as soon as I can.

Mikey & Michelle

Alaska Rendezvous Lodge and this area of the Chugach from here on out will be a very special place for me.  Wind has been an issue for accessing some of the bigger terrain further out.  Michelle and I killed some down time on Wednesday by going out for a nice little 3000+ft evening tour/ski on Crudbusters.  After playing the weather game, waiting in anticipation and holding out for clearance to fly to some pretty amazing zones, we finally got the nod Thursday morning.  Jessica Baker (guide & fellow Core Concepts athlete), Brenton (fellow Marmot athlete), Renno (Squaw Valley 2 edge shredder), Michelle and I were quite ready to get out to say the least.  Starting the day off in an area called the Cauliflowers, Jess thought we would ease into the day with a few 50 degree, 3000ft shots.  With several new inches of snow 2 days prior, we quickly learned that slough management was going to be the theme of the day.

She said YES!

About half way through the day we ended up with some down time on the Cleave Glacier while the bird made a trip back to base to refuel. With about 15 people hanging and eating lunch on the glacier I ask our amazing guide, Jess, if Michelle and I could go for a 100 ft or so walk.  Now that we were a little more separated from everyone I figured this to be as good of place as any, dropped to a knee, whipped out the ring, and asked Michelle to marry me (she actually said yes)!  Full of emotion and excitement, we turned round to find everyone waiting to cheer.  I just threw my fists in the air (I did it).  It was quite the moment and we were lucky to be able to share it with some great people.

These went fast!

I had spent the morning being more nervous about my pending engagement than the quite aggressive lines we were skiing.  Now that that mission was accomplished and the bird was back, it was time to go get some more of the goods.  Jessica continued our tour of the radness that this area of the Chugach provides.  Some key zones of the rest of the tour included Candy Land and Clue Land.  Ramps averaging 3000 ft or so and over 50 degrees, we certainly managed to get the hearts pumpin.  The day was just packed full of big, fast, and steep lines.  I came away with some pretty exciting content and will certainly be posting some edits as soon as I get back to civilization.

The Marmot suite Alaska Rendezvous Lodge

Word spreads fast in the world of Rendezvous as we arrived back to base with many congratulations and celebratory beers.  The celebration continued with an amazing Alakan Halibut dinner and a bottle of wine.  Speaking of which, a big thank you to David Sokol & crew for dinner and to Theo for the bottle of wine!

Needless to say, we have taken things a bit slower today and are gearing up to ski a shot off of Diamond or one of the other peaks tomorrow (weather permitting).  Then Michelle and I are off to the Black Rapids area of the eastern part of the Alaska Range!  As always, keep checking in for updates.

Mikey

GEAR HIGHLIGHT:

2013 Volkl Shiro 193 – 50+degree slopes, over 3000 ft per shot, speeds upwards of 60 mph with Alaska Rendezvous Guides…..the Volkl Shiro 193 took everything I could throw at it!

Scarpa Mobe - 50+degree slopes, over 3000 ft per shot, speeds upwards of 60 mph, and driving a large big mountain ski, this boot felt and functioned just like the race stock boots that everyone else were using!

Sea Taxi through the PW Sound

The Prince William Sound boat/ski mission to Cochrane Bay & Shrode Lake Cabin was a success.  We got back to Anchorage late Monday night,  were there for  day before heading out Tuesday evening toward Alaska Rendezvous’ lodge near Thompson Pass.  Getting to Shrode Lake was quite the adventure to say the least.  From Whittier (quite the unique town), we took a sea taxi through Prince William Sound to a small access cove in Cochrane Bay (Chugach National Forrest).

Scootin across Shrode Lake

The cove we hoped to access was still surrounded by sea ice so we had to be dropped off at an alternate cove with a bit longer approach and tougher terrain to navigate to the cabin.  This was not too big of a deal, but proved to be challenging at times with the amount of gear we had and pulling sleds.  Maybe just two 15 gallon kegs next time instead of 3, ha ha ha (witnessing people perform crevasse rescue to fish a keg out of a glide crack was a first).

Surveyin the scene

After conquering the approach (about 4 hours later) and skinning across a mile or so of the frozen Shrode Lake, we arrived at the cabin.  This place was truly paradise!  Once unpacked we decided to tour around a bit, got to a ridge line and decided that we should take advantage of the sunny skies and continue toward the top of the peak.  There were countless lines to descend.  However, due to extremely warm temperatures and direct sunlight for hours on end, we were forced to take the conservative ridge lines back down to Shrode Lake below.  It was a nice 1,700ft run and by this time it was about 9:30 or 10:00pm and the sun was setting….sort of.

The next day or so we pretty much did small tours in the rain, and boy did it rain.  The price to pay for skiing in a rain forrest in April.  After sitting out a few hours of morning rain, it did end up clearing nicely for our last full day at the cabin.  We took advantage and toured across near by Lake Jack where we once again skinned as high as possible to find that the warming was quite an issue.  The view alone and realizing the potential of this area was worth every minute.

With the length of the approaches from the cabin and time of year in mind, I would like to try to get back there about a month earlier as a lot of the higher peaks require non-rainy early AM starts and will take most the day to reach.  It was unusually warm, but more wintery conditions would prove for much better skiing at all elevations. None-the-less this was a sweet hut/cabin trip and a big thanks to Amber, Dan, John and Boone for having us along!

Chillin on the white beach

Now we are on wind hold at Alaska Rendezvous Heli-Skiing with our awesome guide and Core Concepts athlete Jessica Baker, and fellow Marmot team member, Brenton Reagan. We’re planning to be here for 5 days or so and then its time to head up the Richardson Highway to the eastern part of the Alaska Range and Black Rapids Lodge.  So keep checking in for updates!  Gotta go catch a heli……..

Mikey

GEAR HIGHLIGHT: On the trip to the Shrode Lake Cabin in the Chugach I used the Marmot Odin 50 Plus backpack to carry about 50 lbs of gear while ski touring some pretty tricky terrain on the approach.  I was quite impressed with the pack as it went above and beyond its typical use!

Remembering

It has been 4 years since I have been back to AK. This is a special trip in many aspects (a trip to AK always is), but two things in particular make this one extra special. One being the fact that my girlfriend Michelle has been here for the past 10 weeks straight and finally being here with her is amazing. The second is the fact that this is my first visit back to Alaska since the passing of my ski industry peer and friend, Johnny Nicoletta.

In 2008 Johnny, Chris Tatsuno, Andy Sabatier, Bryce Newcomb and I all crammed into an RV (along with one other RV load of good friends) and spent the two weeks leading up to the Freeskiing World Championships traveling up and down the Turnagain Arm skiing. It was an amazing couple weeks and having the opportunity to spend the final couple weeks of Johnny’s life with him was something I will never forget. Johnny Nicoletta passed away on April 11th 2008 as a result of injuries sustained in a fall during the Freeskiing World Championships at Alyeska. Being back here for just a day has already brought back so many memories from that trip in 2008. Johnny and the rest of the crew from 2008 will be on my mind a lot over the next 3 weeks (and never forgotten).

Stay tuned to tetonfreeride.com as I will be updating the site with trip reports and photos as I check back in between adventures. First up, we leave tomorrow on the 9am water taxi from Whittier, across Prince Williams Sound to a coastal backcountry cabin where we will ski from for several days.  Then back to Anchorage for a day and will try to check back in at that point.

Mikey

Here is special edit of some of our week….check it!

Special thanks to:
Marmot
Alex Gilbert
Tom Fritz
Andy Meyer
Futuristic Films
Tom Farnsworth
Frank Pickell
Eric Anderson
Rob LaPier
Dan Corn
Brenton Reagan
Ken Rider
Zahan
Bill
Grand Targhee Ski Patrol
Grand Targhee Resort
and
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort

a Mary’s Christmas:

Having mentioned all of that, I believe it is time to move forward into another great season by shredding hard for Jamie, skiing our resorts with the idea that mother nature has decided to put our technical skiing skills to the test, getting familiar with and respecting the variable snow pack, enjoying the snow when it comes and the sun just the same!

Despite the sunny, dry, and cold November of the rockies, the Tetons and surrounding mountains are skiing surprisingly well.  Grand Targhee Resort, though it does have it’s share of unmarked obstacles, is showing signs of it’s true self with fresh pow lines still being found and reports of snow on the way.

So do your snow dances, know that it could be a lot worse and join me in enjoying what we’ve got, cause it is still not that bad!

Mikey

PS: To prove it I have put together a short vid of our “Nice Little Saturday” out on Teton Pass yesterday.  Enjoy!

Last but not leaset….a quick message from your friends up at the Ghee:

Beginning Monday, November 21, 2011, Grand Targhee Resort will be setting up and preparing the mountain for opening day. ALL uphill access will be closed due to avalanche hazard reduction work, grooming operations and maintenance and all in-area closures will be adhered to.

My roomy gettin some fluff!

Kicking off the season at the Knotty Pine!

I was fortunate to be able to kick off the Backyards tour right here in the Tetons.  The Grand Targhee Ski Patrol (my co-workers) were kind enough to let the Futuristic crew into our world and allowed them to show a glimpse into our daily ski patrol routine.  The day that we shot the ski patrol scenes the weather was pretty nasty and the lack of visibility prevented us from getting useable avalanche control/hazard reduction footage. This was really the only thing that we were not able to nail in the amount of time I was given to show off my Backyard.  Though it had not snowed for a few days and the windows of good light were sporadic at best, Pip Hunt and I were able to utilize some of my key hot spots to find freshies, steeps, and drops at both Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and Grand Targhee Resort.

As much as I’d like to tell you more about Backyards, I am going to have to let you see it for your selves on TV or right here via web.  Here are the three episodes of Futuristic Films’ & Marmot’s…..Backyards…..enjoy:

TETONS

WASATCH

ELK MOUNTAINS

A big thanks to Futuristic Films and Marmot for the opportunity, and Nat Patridge, Eric “EA” Anderson, Lincoln Farnsworth, Grand Targhee Ski Patrol, Grand Targhee Resort & Jackson Hole Mountain Resort! And a shout to the Marmot Freeride Team for a job well done! Hope this series gets everyone stoked for winter!!

Mikey