Scott Rich

Backcountry skier living in Girdwood, Ak

Alyeska Conditions Report: April Pow Days!

“Better late than never”, was the phrase most used, as today was easily Alyeska’s best powder day of the season. So far the last part of March and almost everyday in April has been the best powder days of the season till today. Today was the most substantial with over a foot of “Alaskan low density snow” that fell on the upper mountain. It was not the day to miss out on! And just in time for the spring carnival this weekend!
It was a classic weekday storm day at Alyeska, which means nobody on the hill and plenty of fresh snow till closing at 6pm. There was about 20 people standing in line at chair four […]
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Alyeska Conditions Report: Heavy Snow!

Well its mid-march and we may be having our biggest snow event of the season. Finally! I thought this storm would never come. We have been currently been getting pounded with snow down to a couple hundred feet elevation and mixed precipitation at the base of Alyeska. The storm rolled in sunday but didn’t pick up its pace till early this morning. As of 10:30am we have received about 8 inches on the upper mountain and 4 inches midway.
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Alyeska Conditions Report: A Natural Terrain Park

Last week finally provided some much needed quality skiing at Alyeska. Finally we received a couple small storms, dumping a couple inches of snow here and there. This was just enough snow to soften things up a bit and allowed for riders to get more creative on our natural terrain. Watch this video as local ripper Colin Gordon makes the best of our dust on crust snow conditions. Besides our small snow storms we’ve been receiving, the snow makers have succeeded on getting all the groomers on the lower mountain open. This was nothing short of a miracle since there has only been a couple weeks that allowed for snowmaking […]
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Alyeska Conditions Report: 20 Days of High Pressure

Not much has changed at Alyeska in the last two weeks. A massive high pressure system has taken over Alaska, blocking any major storm headed its way. The temperatures have been in the single digits in the valley floors and the mid twenties above 1,000 feet. Its been nice to escape the cold and take hot laps on the groomers on the upper mountain.These cold temperatures on the valley floor have been wonderful for the snowmakers. They have now filled in most of the lower mountain and are blasting huge mounds of snow on runs that are not open such as Tanaka and water fall. This will be great for the race team to finally […]
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Alyeska Conditions Report: The Return of Winter?

Finally, Its beginning to feel a lot like winter here at Alyeska. Although not much snow has fallen in the last week since my last conditions report, we finally have cold temperatures. This is allowing the snowmakers to get busy and fill in those lower mountain groomers… for the second time. Conditions earlier in the week were chalky off trail and perfect groomers all around. There is still not enough snow to allow them to open up south face, which was open two weeks ago but soon closed due to rain and lack of snow. Again, the best off trail skiing has been from gails gully down past Wick’s knoll. The jumps in and out of the […]
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Alyeska, AK Conditions Report:

I feel like I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but really it’s just a recurring cycle of non-stop rain. It’s getting old, and the morale of the locals is far from high. This is the first week, it seems, that people are finally losing their minds. The smart ones have left to Japan, Jackson Hole or booked a trip to Mexico. The ones still holding high hope for winter to return in AK are now beginning to have their doubts, while others are hitting the bottle harder than ever. Though it sounds rough, there is still fun to be had on the resort. You just have to dig a little deeper, find that inner child, and pretend it’s April.
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Alyeska Conditions Report: Frigid highs and Wet Lows

Just when you think things are shaping up here at Alyeska, mother nature decides to shut you down. Last week things was looking great as it was cold and clear in the single digits. This made it possible for the snow makers to continue the battle to make snow on the lower mountain. Progress has been made. Now we can ski all the way to the base and up load on Ted’s express (chair 4) next to the day lodge. No more forced tram rides and 60 minute lines to down load the mountain! Wonderful! There’s also rumor of starting night skiing this week, which on a normal season, is supposed to start on December 19th. With the lack of […]
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