Mad Snow Science by HatchYourTrax - YES

WOW!  That's almost all I've got to say about Hatchyourtrax artistry, humor and stoke.  I loved it.  See it!  See it, hear it, feel it, yeah.  Mad Snow Science by Hatchyourtrax

Knoya

Kanchee's big sister is Knoya.  Big sister was cruel today in the shade with 4 inches of snow from the Easter storm sitting on a firm snowpack, rocks, or rocks coated with a half inch of ice.  The ice-coated rocks were tricky climbing with or without skis.  After abandoning my skis for a bootpack to the ridgeline, I slipped a couple of times on the descent, but fortunately didn't slide too far.

The brilliant morning sun gave way to grey clouds just after noon, but the snow below 2500 ft el. was slushy without the sun.  The snow above 3000 ft was scritchy regardless of aspect.  South-facing snow below 1800 ft was becoming rotten at 3 p.m.

Kanchee

Celebrating the biggest Anchorage seasonal snowfall on record, DP and yours truly explored an Anchorage front range gem:  Kanchee. 

Kanchee access via The Dome is a moderate day trip with the great snow conditions we've enjoyed this season.

Four fresh inches falling yesterday and sunny skies opening this morning over the front range were motivation enough.  But, the beatiful Kanchee Peak so prominent on the Anchorage skyline has been like a siren beckoning us to her rocky perch.  We had to go.

Arriving at the Kanchee summit, we had only one choice:  descend! 

Kanchee has excellent northwest lines.   The fresh four had fallen on hard wind pack or thaw/freeze, supportable crust.  Slough management was necessary on the steeper terrain.

Kanchee

The lower trail near Campbell Creek North Fork was slushy at 4:00 p.m. as we descended.  Powder up high was terrific.  We expected the snow down low to become rotten in the late afternoon, but we were happily surprised with good conditions all the way to the creek.

Photocredits:  Dante & yours truly

Fischer S-Bound 98 Update

Warm spring snow is the sweet spot for Fischer's S-Bound 98 waxless ski.  Skiing the Fischer 98 on our Anchorage spring snow pack with an inch of fresh, wet snow is a delight.  The glide is a little slow, but the climbing ability of makes these skis work exceptionally well in warm conditions.  My 98's are mated with a vintage telemark system, Riva 2 cable bindings and two-buckle Scarpa T2 boots.  The Fischer 98 combination with the light, plastic boot is a good match of power and weight.