Bomber Ski Traverse
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 7:56PM Elisabeth crushed me. I'd just returned from two months of summertime in Patagonia. Elisabeth Dupuis came from up Calgary for eight days of non-stop touring.
We started with four days on the Snowbird Glacier in the Talkeetna Mountains, then hit the Turnagain Pass in the Kenai Mountains for few days until a four-foot storm drove us out. We headed back to the Talkeetna Mountains for a final crushing on the Bomber Traverse.
Day 1: The Snowbird Glacier and the (what used to be a) Nunatak from the Snowbird Hut. The Snowbird Glacier is a portion of the Bomber Traverse and has great early season skiing. The glaciers along the Bomber Traverse are stagnant pieces of remnant glaciers. This means they're not moving and no crevasses.
Talkeetna Mountains above the Snowbird Hut.
On the seventh day Elisabeth didn't seem tired at all. I had to do something about that. On the eight day we did the Bomber Traverse. This route is 22 miles and 7,500 vertical feet. Here Elisabeth is nearing the Penney Glacier after climbing a long and steep gully directly above the Mint Hut. Elisabeth was a smidge tired when we returned to the car after 9 1/2 hours of skiing.
Elisabeth skiing freshies on the Penny Glacier, ten days after the last storm.
Elisabeth below the Penny Glacier after 2,000 feet of untracked.
The Bomber Traverse in the Talkeetna Mountains, Alaska.