Skiing with Scissors

They should teach you to ski with Scissors in kindergarten. Skiing with Scissors works well for big vert. It is a highly recommended technique for adventuring into unknown basins of snow. Skiing with Scissors is a suggested method for bringing sunshine when the forecast says "rain." It's also a great method for chatting on the ascent, laughing on the decent and then going back for more. Après ski, skiing with Scissors is well known for burgers and beers. 

I skied with Ben and Ken Scissors in the Ortler Mountains in 2010. We kept in touch and they came up for a week of backcountry skiing in Southcentral Alaska with me in late March. After a warm up skills day in the Chugach Front we hit Government Peak at Hatcher Pass. In this photo they're standing on the summit of Government. Between them are tracks from our first run.

It's been a chubby season in Alaska. So chubby we couldn't read the warnings. The Center Ridge Snotel has over 10 feet of snow. 

Skiing the lower-angle ridge from Tincan toward a mini-slab on the uptrack. The winter provided a relentless maritime snow climate with the advisory going from Considerable, to Moderate, to Low in two to three day period. During a normal winter Turnagain has an arctic maritime snow climate. Also known as maritime with an identity crisis. 

These mini-avalanches from surface hoar under drifts were long-running and efficient. This was the first persistent weak layer of the season.

Ben skiing the Tincan trees. 

Ken skiing Tincan trees with Turnagain Arm and the Chugach beyond. 

On top of Manitoba at Summit Lake. Getting ready to ski...

Manitoba's east side for a loopy-tour back to the car. 

Conditions heated up during the week, even for these Grand Junction, Colorado boys. 

Our last run of the week in Magpie Creek near Crow Pass. We then rushed back to the Midnight Sun in Anchorage for brews. Thanks for a super-fun week Ken and Ben! I can't wait to ski with you again. 

Weekend Warrior

Last weekend was serious fun. Probably the most fun in the history of all weekends. Weekends are like organized events, but with no entrance fee. And the winner is the one who has the most fun. Clear skies and stable powder over last weekend made the competition huge, but I still won. 

Weekend material near Anchorage-Turnagain Pass. 

Good weekends depend on good people. Cathy, Jeff Conaway (our neighbor) and I went to Turnagain last Saturday. We found sun, an inversion for warm +10-degree F temps and off the hook skiing. 

 

Cathy on our first run from Magnum. Jeff calls this run TC. I've never had a TV so Jeff was educating me about the Magnum PI cast. 

Second run, into Goldpan, or is this Superbowl? Sorry Viking...

Jeff a body length ahead of his sluff. Ski fast or get out of the way. 

Across the way another posse of amigos was having a good time. Here's Jeremy Wood taste-testing snow quality. 

We confirmed there is no better place on the planet. 

The next day Cathy and I skied with Paddy Sullivan. He's still riding the granola sticks but that's okay. Anyone who can rip 2,000 vert non-stop on smelly teles is a noble man. It's now also okay, after this day of touring up Spokane Creek and down Bertha Creek, that Paddy swiped our Spanish tenant. Awesome skiing with you Paddy!

"Don't feel any pressure Paddy, but do you mind skiing right now? The light has 20 seconds left! Now! No pressure, but right NOW!" Thanks Paddy!

Now I'm in Mendoza, Argentina hanging in the Alpine Ascents guide apartment with this guy. Dave and I worked together in the Cascades in 2006. He enjoys Turbo Truffles and baristas. Tomorrow I leave for Aconcagua for three weeks with JP from New York. Tonight JP and I drank malbec at Francis Mallmann and agreed that Sarah Palin is...well, anyway, JP and I will have a good trip. 

Come spring I'll be back in the weekend contest. Watch out. 

Wolverine Creek

Turnagain is like a Grimms' Fairy Tale about a mystical paradise for backcountry skiers. Where the trees hang heavy with a winter coat of snow and the mountain sides are draped with fat powder. The locals frolic across this land. They laugh and smile and know there is no better place on the planet. 

That's what Turnagain has reminded me over the past few days. 

Jeff Conaway, Peter Thurston and I headed back Wolverine Creek to visit a new part of this mystical land. We skinned with our eyes up, looking at the mountains that hung in a soft haze of ice crystals, like a 100-year old painting. Wolverine Creek is one of eight main drainages on the non-motorized side of Turnagain Pass.  

At the head of the valley we skied lower angle slopes to keep the roaring sluffs at a manageable level. 

Peter lived in Girdwood back in the day. Now he lives in Salt Lake City, where the snow isn't happening. He came up for a month of Alaska's finest product.  

 

The next day I returned with my wife Cathy, Gretchen and Ben. Gretchen and Ben just returned from a semester down south expanding their brains. They were sooooo glad to be home. 

Ben's PhD had taken him to Juneau. He skied Eagle Crest ski area during breaks from the confuser. Back home he skis between glide cracks on the south side of Eddies.  

We finished the day with a 2,000-foot chute on the north slopes of Eddies. Since there was no light in the chute I took photos of the alpenglow on this thing. Yeah this thing. This thing is starting to bug me. 

Then I spent a day with Kevan Dee on a Tincan grand tour. Kevan grew up on a farm in northeast Colorado. Now he sells drill bits on the Slope, three weeks on, three weeks off. Kevan knows that AK rules!

Kevan on the summit of Tincan, ready to leave the light and drop into Todd's Run. Kevan saw the light in this Grimms' fairytale land and never wants to leave. I hope you don't Kevan. That was a blast! 

Ortler Ski Mountaineering

In April 2010 Dad and I skied in the Ortler Mountains in the Tyrol region of northern Italy. Despite zero visibility, Dad was hooked. He recruited six friends for an eight-day trip. Dylan Taylor was keen to co-guide with me.

On our late March 2012 trip we had perfect weather, stable and powdery snow and great company. Thank you so much for an incredible trip everyone!

The 2011 Ortler crew from the left: Jim Boland runs Hog Heaven Sausage in Moscow, Idaho; Dave Stock stays busy being retired in El Chalten, Patagonia and Albion, Washington; Don Seiss does AIDS vaccine research in Portland, Oregon; Joe in yellow, Dylan Taylor guides in the Alps, Alaska and Antarctica; Melissa Pearson is a vinter at her winery Coulter's Creek along the Clearwater River in Idaho; Diane and Scotty Cornelius are retired analytical geochemists from Pullman, Washington; and Mike Pearson is married to Melissa and makes wine. 

After a day of skiing Sulden resort and reviewing avalanche companion rescue we toured to the Marteller Hut. Duvets, showers, beer on tap... 

Skinning toward Mount Cevedale on day four.

Dad likes icefall skiing! From Mount Cevedale we skied the Vedretta de la Mare glacier to cappuccinos at the Pizzini Hut before continuing onto the Branca Hut.  

Apres ski at the Branca Hut.

Ravenous for another huge meal at the Branca Hut: Melissa, Mike, Scotty, Diane, Jim, Don, Dave, Dylan and Joe.

 

We spent a full day touring around on the Forni Glacier from the Branca Hut. First we skinned up to the Bivouac Meneghello. Dylan found some bulging potted meats for lunch.

Diane skiing yummy untracked. Although over 100 people are touring in the area, they all ski the same line from mountain tops. If you don't want moguls from mountain tops then you'll find great skiing.  

Don skiing steep untracked on the Forni Glacier. 

Yeah Melissa!
  

On day six we moved to the Pizzini Hut and spent the next day skiing the Castelli Glacier. Here Jim is pole whacking for GNAR points.  

You think your Dynafits are old? 

Dad leading over Suldenspitz to our final run to the resort. Last year Dad and I traversed this mountain but all we saw was our GPS, map and altimeter.

Specs on an untracked face for the last run to the resort. Dylan and Erica (joined our group on the last day) are in the shadow below the rock wall as Jim skis the steep, sunlit face. 

See more photos and stories from our trip on Dylan's Blog. 

I stayed for a second Ortler trip with Elisabeth Depuis. In 2009 Elisabeth and I skied for eight days in the Talkeetna and Kenai Mountains, culminating with a Bomber Traverse day tour. This year, knowing that Elisabeth doesn't get tired, I was prepared for lots of touring. 

After a day of touring around Sulden we headed to the Marteller Hut. Based at the Marteller Hut for two nights we spent a long day exploring nearby glaciers, finishing through a corridor in the cliffs above the Zufallhutte.

On day four we moved to the Branca Hut via the Mare Glacier and Palon de la Mare (3,703m). Elisabeth and I like the same type of skiing: long adventurous days away from the crowds.

Temperatures were high, reaching 39 degrees C in nearby Milan. We'd start touring at 6am, right after breakfast and return at noon, before the afternoon avalanches started rolling.

Our ski day from the Branca Hut included Monte Vioz (3,645m) and an exciting icefall descent.

For our ski day at the Pizzini Hut we toured over Cime Del Forni and up the Miniera icefall.

On our last day we climbed Monte Cevedale (3,769m) before dropping down to Sulden. From the summit we looked back and saw a local guide counter balance belaying five clients across an icy patch.

Thanks for another awesome trip Elisabeth! I look forward to adventuring with you again! Elisabeth is now off for a Northern Selkirks traverse and a skiing on Spitzbergen. Lucky!