Spring Surprise: Powder on Peak 3

Peak 3 was the perfect example of the saying, "ya gotta go to know." Grey skies, brown city, breakup in Anchorage was the way it looked.

The planned title for this blog was "Peak 3, Good Workout". A few chores (needed to wait for the corn to soften), then off to Canyon Road at about 1:30 p.m. under grey skies and through a brown town. Anchorage Visitors' Bureau doesn't show many photos from April, that time when the snow pack is going and enormous brown puddles inundate every neighborhood street. But, the Chugach front range were still quite white, so there was the possibility of happy glisse.

Happy glisse it was! A fresh 4 inches on a carvable base for the upper 700 ft made a second lap irresistable. The lower slopes were corned nicely; even off trail at the road elevation wasn't too rotten.

Canyon Road is a really nice place for an afternoon jaunt. Off Upper DeArmoun, Canyon Road climbs to 1800 ft el, and its a great launching site for several southwest facing gullies that hold snow.