Peak Five - Chugach State Park

Canyon Road is the place for a day tripper short on time. Just beyond Upper DeArmoun, Canyon Road awaits the quick tripper.

Dr. Snow needed some exercise, so off we went to the high point they called Peak 5. Chugach State Park rangers led the way. The rangers said they were keeping us safe (sanding the road would be a better use of state park $). Doc got his exercise and we got our powder ... a taste anyway. Although the snow didn't make the upper quartile on the Jack scale, it was a quite enjoyable afternoon.

Dust on crust doesn't quite describe the conditions. It was a an inch of fluff, or two or three, on wind pack. It was worth the trip; it is a short trip after all. It's a worthy classic Anchorage Front Range experience. Another 6" will make Canyon Road a must ski.

Anchorage Ski Club

Join it! Help keep Arctic Valley operating and enjoy the alpine country afforded by this exceptional community ski area.

Skiing today was very good under sunny skies. A little breezy, but nothing that an extra layer didn't solve. Untracked lines were still available at 3:30 p.m. when I had to make an appointment.

Met up with Kruser, Markman, Turk and Alex for some sunny skiing on great soft pack and untracked powder.

http://www.skiarctic.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58&Itemid=60

Hiland South Fork from Gordon Lyon

From downtown, Arctic Valley looked like a white out. Even with the looming whiteout, the fresh snow this morning held a promise of some nice turns. A short day at the office and off to the mountain!

The place was deserted save Markman & Cameron who were maintaining the long chair lift Arctic Valley; moving the chairs along the cable a few inches to prevent wire fatigue and embrittlement.

Expecting low visibility, it was a pleasant surprise when the clouds and fog just disappeared as I changed into my AT boots. After three laps on the front side, I noticed some nice snow on the northeast face of Gordon Lyon - the backside that flows down to the South Fork of Eagle River.

It was a nice fall line toward Hiland Road on the South Fork. There was 4" of low density snow on a wind packed base. The base varied from soft to breakable to super hard and icy, but the fresh on top made it worthwhile and worthy of 5 laps (only one on the backside).













Upper reaches of Gordon Lyon's northeast aspect




Lower half of back side line.

Last line back to the car on the front side.