Japan to Alaska: 2014 Season Review, Part 7 | The Final Chapter… Check out all 7 pieces to “Japan to Alaska” As May arrived, we decided to go for a little fly in camping trip. The home zone. Paul Forward photo. Evening powder turns. Paul Forward photo. Camp is at the end of the shadow. Paul Forward photo. Eike ridge walk. Things started to heat up, and even […] Backcountry Lee Lyon | May 19, 2014 0 Comments
Japan to Alaska: 2014 Season Review, Part 6 Please check out all 7 parts of “Japan to Alaska”: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 *** Things were starting to heat up around Turnagain Arm, so we headed for higher climes. Hatcher. Same run different day. Billy from the Powder Palace. Still good north facing powder on Thompson Pass. Long couloirs, long bootpacks. Phantom, Berlin Wall. Dimond, north side. Lonely turns on the Worthington at the end of April. […] Backcountry Lee Lyon | May 19, 2014 0 Comments
Japan to Alaska: 2014 Season Review, Part 5 While the storm didn’t exactly deliver as much as we’d hoped, we still caught a couple decent powder days at Alyeska. The skies cleared, and the skiing was good on Turnagain Pass. Back to the top. Miles Clark photo. Backcountry Lee Lyon | May 15, 2014 2 Comments
Japan to Alaska: 2014 Season Review, Part 4 In March, it was time to head for Alaska. We arrived in Anchorage just in time for a good-sized storm. After a couple of endless days of shopping and organizing our van for camping, we headed for Turnagain Pass. Good to be back in Alaska. Unfortunately, new snow and rain crust weren’t getting along so well. We kept walking and stuck to mellower slopes. And eventually stability improved. Thin snow year equals more interesting couloirs. Elevator Shaft. Eekey Popplemayer photo. Then, it was time to head for Valdez. […] Backcountry Lee Lyon | May 14, 2014 5 Comments
Japan to Alaska: 2014 Season Review, Part 3 More fun moments from Japan. Travis Gohan flies in helicopters. Chaz on the guide run. A new view of some old mountains. On my birthday, I skied this “fun” variation of Ross’ Gold. Zach working some pillows in less than average snow. We were also able to ski a couloir that I’ve been eyeing for a few years now. It was good to finally get it done. And in great snow, too. Backcountry Lee Lyon | May 12, 2014 4 Comments
Japan to Alaska: 2014 Season Review, Part 2 While flat light, trees, and powder tend to be the norm in Japan’s winter months, we were lucky to have our fair share of sunny days this season. A good run on the Lone Tree. Much of the season was spent getting familiar with a favorite zone in the area. We’ll call it the spine pillows. And another favorite zone, not far off. The spine pillows’ evil twin. […] Backcountry Lee Lyon | May 12, 2014 7 Comments
Japan to Alaska: 2014 Season Review, Part 1 With my northern winter coming to a close, I thought it would be a good time to look back on what has been a pretty fun season for me. Bear with me here, this could take awhile. My winter actually kicked off with a trip to Thailand and Myanmar. While I do enjoy the occasional non-skiing adventure, it was hard to focus […] Backcountry Lee Lyon | May 9, 2014 7 Comments
Skiing in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca: Copa and Quitaraju This May and June I had the opportunity to join a trip to try and ski some high peaks in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca. This report is from the third part of our trip: attempts to ski Nevado Copa and Quitaraju. Check out the first and second parts of our trip here: Quebrada Ishinca and Artesonraju. Having been denied summits twice in a […] Climbing Lee Lyon | June 25, 2013 4 Comments
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