30 Days in the Chugach Range, AK | Photo Tour:

The past 30 days in the Chugach Range of Alaska have been inspiring.  This place never stops teaching lessons and never lets you drop your guard.  For the first time in my life, I feel as though Alaska and her people have let me in.  She’s now calling me and I can’t resist.  It won’t be long before I do a season here.

Map of Shoup glacier area where I spent 20 days in March/April 2014.

Where These Photos Are From:

I arrived in Anchorage, AK on March 13th at 2am, skied powder at Alyeska ski resort on March 14th, flew onto the Schoop glacer on March 15th, spent 20 days climbing, camping, and skiing on the Shoup glacier and Sugar Mountain near Valdez (filming for the movie Sugar Mountain), flew off the glacier on April 3rd and watched Jim Chaplin snow kite for a couple hours and saw Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe at the Bear’s Tooth, skied a few days at Alyeska, skied a few days at Turnagain Pass, I leave here on Friday and I don’t wanna.

Weather and Snow Conditions in the Chugach the Past 30 Days:

The Chugach got a few feet of snow ending on March 14th.  One sunny day followed that storm before another small storm dropped about 8″ (up on th Shoup, at least) on March 16th.  The day after the small storm a heavy wind event ripped through the Valdez area and damaged a lot of the perfect snow.  There were still great turns to be had on North and Northwest aspects.  After the wind died down on March 18th, the Chugach experienced an unprecedented for March, 18 days of sunshine and warm (for here) temperatures.  Weather didn’t return to the Chugach until April 4th when a weak storm did almost nothing for about 3 days.  The night of the 7th the weak storm finally kicked into gear and dropped 6-12″ of snow.  Dust on crust in spots and perfect powder in spots.  The higher the elevation and more north facing the better.

I hope you enjoy the photos.

30 DAYS IN THE CHUGACH RANGE, ALASKA: