Report from April 2, 2025

On Wednesday, I was assigned to Standby Guide here at Pulseline Adventure in Valdez, AK.

This means I spend the day at the airport, ready to assist in a rescue if one goes down.

Plans changed when a group of heli-skiers decided to go heli-touring.

Boom!

I was picked to take them for a walk.

Jordan already had a heli-touring group, and they were out in the field.

We flew in to join them.

They’d picked a great, north-facing, shaded zone with good snow.

We dropped into old, recrystallized snow on great terrain for run #1.

The team from Jackson, WY, loved it, so we skinned back up for another.

We were able to skin back up the very steep headwall and get right back on top in about 1.5 hours.

We dropped the face again a bit more skier’s right and loved it.

We then took it all the way down to the bottom in brilliant sunshine and creamy hot powder.

Jordan told us to go back up and over the saddle to the west for some rampy chute thingers, so we did as we were told.

Jordan took the lead once his group caught up to us, and he ended up boot-packing the entire ramp.

On top we surveyed the two chute ramp options.

One was wide open and simple.

The other was steeper and more complex.

My ripping crew chose the latter.

I guided from mid-slope and enjoyed the view as they streamed past me, spraying snow into the horizon.

I went last and enjoyed great snow on steep terrain.

The run out was glorious, and we all settled down into a comfy pickup zone and waited for the heli.

Our crew was content.

Thanks, Alaska!

Photos