Feb 4
3PM
21F/Snowing/E0-10
Ski Conditions
4-6" of new very light all day
and more on the way to heal a rough snowpack. Very little snow in the past
week while I was "islanding"
and boarding(see below).
NWS update and briefing
has lined us up for a major snowfall developing and continuing through
Sun am with possible 24"+...ending wet. Ski quality should improve quite
well with potential for Very Good with typical stability issues with abundant
new snow.
Found this interesting article
on snowmachine fatalities in avalanche terrain and worth reading for skiers
too.
Canada
Article
Avy Conditions update below
Makapu'u, Oahu
Waste-deep
Jan 26
7AM
20F/Mostly Clear/Calm
Ventured far and wide exploring
the Camicia Glacier route adjacent and to the east of the Valdez Glacier.
The route was 1st done in 1985 by Brian Teale, Sue Forbes and myself as
we topped out on the glacier. This time we found the Canyon area
strewn with huge boulder from the Oct 2006 flood and despite and early
start did not make the glacier....but .....we did venture up a steep side
valley that took us to an incredible cirque between 7000' East Peak and
Mt. Benet.
No more report from me for the
next week as I am taking my mid-season break from all things skiing.
A peruse of ski mountaineering
races in EU show that Michele Esen completed the 10,000' Mountain Attack
in Austria in precisely 3hours. The mens division time was 2:36hrs.
That's up and down!!
Did some research in calories
used for skiing and found these stats
Calories per hour:
Snowmachining - 246
Ping Pong - 281
Yard Raking - 281
Shooting Free Throws - 317
Snowshoeing - 422
Swimming - 563
XC Skiing - 850
Backcountry Skiing - 925
Camicia Canyon w/ West Peak in
the Background
Jan 24
5PM
20F/Mostly Cloudy/Calm
Sunrise 9:25 Sunset 4:35
Whelp..winds have lowered quality
in exposed terrain and mainly above brushline in the Valdez and Thompson
Pass Arenas. There are pockets of powder out there as the wind did
exceed warning levels bu widespread winded surfaces dominate. The
Mineral Creek Nordic Trails are in excellend conditions and spent Sat and
Sunday ski session lapping the groomed. No more than a trace of snow
in the forecast as the Chugach range here goes dry for awhile. Residency
has ruled the past 2 months!! Avalanche conditions will be of concern
in isolation for obvious reasons, so updated Avy report belo
Two pics of the week. The
first is a really nice shot of Port Valdez from the top of Comstock Peak
I captured this week and .... a pose by the Valdez High School Ski Team
after time trials on Saturday.
The Chugach Surrounds Valdez
2010 VHS Bucanneer Ski Team
1-21
10PM
22F/Cloudy/E10-15
While skiing should remain good in Port Valdez
winds are up in Thompson Pass Core area and along ridges and peaks.
Wind are and should remain below warning level with calmer condition away
from the main Pass area.
1-20
7PM
16F/Clear/Calm
Comstock Couloir
Yeeehaaa!
More
Comstock and Misc. Pics
Comstock
Couloir video
1-19
6PM
22F/Cloudy/Calm
Skied Sugarloaf today with a
nice skin track from the Solomon Gulch trailhead across from the
hatchery. Snow settled 8" overnight and made for nice skiing on moderate
angles. I have not seen so much snow over there in years. Encountered wind
effect above brush @ 2000'. Things seem pretty stable in the steeps
with no activity skier triggered or seen. I would think Comstock
would be the best next. Moderate east winds in TP core today.
WX forecast look favorable, mild and in the 20's with some pecky east winds
exposed area and upper mt areas. Valdez is 2" from 200"!!
Port Valdez
Sugarloaf Route
1-18
5PM
23F/Mostly Clear/E5
(cancel High Avalanche Warnings)
Looks like Excellent conditions
have returned to the area with TP reporting good skinning but some wind
effect in the Odessey And Sapphire Arena but good stuff in protected areas
and really nice on Girls Mt. I found knee deep skinning on Sugarloaf
so may have to wait for that snowpack it settle a bit. I did some
pit work which is below in the Valdez Avalanche Section. Reports indicates
very little if any natural activity in TPass as of late today.
Thanks to Tucker Chenowith for
a fantastic presentation to nearly 30 participants for the AAS avalanche
awareness presentation in Valdez on Sunday. Thanks for putting Valdez
on your list and making it the most popular avalanche seminar ever for
this snow enthused community. Quality with qualifications makes a difference.
Interesting that we have had
2 snowmachine/skier fatalities in North America already this season as
skiers may be skipping the hard work of probing, digging at a constantly
changing snowpack to get the quick fix it seems. Food for thought. Be carefull
out there in big AK.
1-15
5PM
29F/Cloudy/Calm
1-15
Back into Benzene today working
Matts Slope to the wind lip with four Fairbank guest breaking trail.
Snow a bit more dense today but little change in stability. As density
sets in expect a more cohesive slab at the surface. We did an AK
Block and got a surface sluff to 14" on first step on to block at 31 degrees,
but no naturals seen in th area including the big walls under Benzene Peak.
Will be on the Pass on Sat to assess that snowpack. Wx looks mild
through the weekend with clouds and occasional flurries.
Alaska Avalanche School will
be in Valdez this weekend on Sunday the 17th at the Civic Center presenting
a FREE morning lecture on avalanche awareness @ 9am and then a field session
@ 1pm. These folks know Alaska snow and know Valdez, having been
involved in educating Valdezeans since 1981(at the time they held 3-day
classes at Tsaina Lodge led by Doug Fesler) They are leaders in avalanche
education for Alaskans, qualified. They are full time avalanche professionals.
I highly recommend attending all or part of the classes.
Fixed the wx link below for the
DOT Wunderground site at the TP Station (Mile 27) so it should show more
complete info..Sorry about that.
1-14
16" new snow in the past 24
hours, so headed to Benzene Alley and lower Larsens Notch on the Snow Dome
Route today and found incredible powder skiing and light density snow.
TP has received only about 6-8" over the same period. I updated the
avy beta below but did not do any pit work.
Jan 13, 2010
5PM
19F/Snow/E5-10
6-8" of very nice, very light
snow has fallen today across all the ski Arena's of Valdez and TP healing
the surface after the wind event the began Sunday and ended Tuesday.
This should move ski conditions to Very Good as we expect snow to continue
thru Thursday along with cold temps in the lowers 20's with continued gusty
east winds to 30 possible from Mile 23.5 to and through The Gap.
This will vastly improve BC conditions in the Port Valdez Arena along
the south shore and Dayville Road. No pics today as I hit the nordic grounds
for grins on the nicely groomed.
1-10
3PM
31F/Cloudy/E5G25
Sunrise 0950
Sunset 1600
Winds are up in Thompson Pass
this afternoon with deteriorating ski condition at upper elevations. Gust
to 50 along ridges and through gaps will remain through Monday stronger
near the Pass. Best skiing will remain to the north Nicks in protected
areas. Port Valdez still fair with punchy, pesky ice lens just under
the surface.
Kudo's to the Valdez HS Bucaneer
XC Ski Team and a very nice weekend race event with other high schools
including West Valley. Perfect conditions and nearly 100 skiers participated
in scholastic racing and the citizen's 5.6K race in Mineral Creek.
Tabitha and I both raced and the course was fast and smooth.
Our snowpack in TP is uncompacted
and light density to the ground. Depth at 4000' are 4-6' so any strong
wind event would not be good . Snowpack depth is below normal in
TP as are seasonal snowfall amounts. Our last significant snowfall nearly
a month ago.
1-8
6PM
31F/Mostly Cloudy/Calm
Skiing remains very good in Thompson
Pass if you can move around a bit. Some gusty winds from the Gap
to Worthington Gl. Found very good conditions on the northside above
the fog in Magic Kingdom with good light with parking at about Mile 33.5
or so on the west side of the highway. Dimond and Crudbusters look like
real good workouts.
Fresh air is free fuel!
Jan 7, 2010
6PM
34F/Mostly Cloudy/E5
Headed to the Dimond Arena today
enjoy a tour up Squaw Creek to nearly 4500'. Maritime influence
bringing warm temps and spattering of snow over the next few days and the
weekend.
4" of new snow since Sunday
January 3, 2010
1800 AST
20F/Flurries/SE10
Cold weather moved in during
the weekend and we have fresh snow falling, expecting a few inches over
night. Much warmer temps due with strong winds on Monday as snow
ends. We just need about 6" and Port Valdez should ski well.
Noticed real nice snow on Crudbusters and the adjacent gulleys to the north
and under 42-Mile Peak look in stellar condition for short booting
and great lines with very good stability.
Happy New Year to everyone!!
I was lucky enough to spend the weekend in Eagle River and skiing Hiland
Road. Had a nice tour up high and found nice conditions and excellend
sun favoring a SW aspect for the day going up and
down.
Avalanche assumptions udated
below....
12-30
6pm
18F/Clear/Calm
Sunrise 10:00
Sunset 15:39
Near perfect conditions forecast
to bring in the new decade. Encountered 30% soft wind slab in most
exposed areas with naturally packed powder at higher elevation and dominate
in protected areas. Foray today put us in a rarely skied couloir just north
of CMitt. Wind should remain mostly light with steady north winds
to 15 -20 along ridges and stronger in gaps.
Pro-Member
-American Avalanche Association
Charter Member(1982) - Valdez Nordic Ski Club
