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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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Scott Rich |
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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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Scott Rich |
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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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Scott Rich |
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All Time Alaskan Tree Skiing

New Year’s finally provided some much needed snow in Turnagain Pass, AK. Although the winds were fierce and any snow above treeline was becoming wind scoured, the trees were finally filling in. The snow was dense, soft and fast. Despite receiving over 24 inches in the upper elevations, it was skiing about three inches. The wind had completely buffed the snow over and made for some all time tree skiing. It felt great to finally play around in the trees again! There’s no shortage of fun features from pillows, to multiple staged drops to air off of and keep you on your toes! Currently, it’s been cold for about a week without precipitation. Much […]
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Scott Rich |
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Alyeska, AK Conditions Report: 11″ Overnight, 196″ This Season

The last week has been a nice change of pace as it’s beginning to feel a lot like winter. Although it’s still raining at sea level, the snow line has dropped and it seems as if we’ve had our first real powder days of the season.

Yesterday the resort was closed due to high winds, allowing snow to accumulate during this last storm.Today the winds died down letting Alyeska open up the Aerial Tram, Chair 1 (midway laps only) and Glacier Bowl Express (Chair 6). There was only one wind hold on the tram and and Chair 6 the entire day… […]
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Scott Rich |
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Alaska Backcountry Conditions Report: Deep Chugach Powder

Finally, it’s beginning to feel like winter again here in the Chugach Mountains, Alaska! After a false start in October, hopes were high for a great early season in the backcountry. All hopes were quickly destroyed once Typhoon Nuri decided to shift a jet stream of tropical weather into the heart of South Central, Ak. For almost two weeks, the after effects of Nuri bombarded Alaska with wet, warm tropical storms. Temperatures at sea level were hovering at a steady 42 degrees with the highest topping out around 48 degrees.
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Scott Rich |
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Turnagain Pass, AK Report: Blower. Powder.

elevator shaft

Skinning up on 6″ of light powder on ice on Sunburst ridge today off Turnagain Pass, AK was frustrating. Skins didn’t wanna hold. Anytime it got steep, we slid back. The last pitch to the top was brutal. On top, I just wanted to go home. Clearly, it was going to be dust on crust. Bad skinning to bad skiing… We gave the line Elevator Shaft a go expecting pure survival skiing and found smooth powdery bliss instead. The snow […]
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Miles Clark |
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VIDEO: Valdez, AK = HUGE Avalanche & HUGE Clean Up

valdez avalanche clean up ak

Two weeks ago, an avalanche came down onto the only road connecting Valdez, AK to the rest of the world: the Richardson Highway. The avalanche was massive and stopped the Lowe river creating an enormous lake that was 60 feet deep and half a mile long. They’ve been cleaning this mess up for the past two weeks and they’ve got a lot left to do. The Clean Up! How does a massive avalanche get cleaned up? […]
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Sage Cattibriga-Alosa Charging Alaska in TGR’s “Way of Life”

I don’t usually think of Sage as a huge risk taker in Alaska. I’ve always enjoyed his way of finding safe, challenging lines lacking in no-fall-zones and über high consequence. So much for that… This past Spring, Sage changed, a switch flipped, his confidence and skill took over. Sage goes head first into no-fall-zones and huge consequence lines (check out the drop in at 3:30!). You can tell in this entire video […]
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Miles Clark |
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