All About the Up

Skin up, ski down. With about 95% of the backcountry skiing time spent on the uphill part, we should enjoy it. The ski down is exhilarating, but the up track takes a long time. Trudging up the ski track seems to make the down ski seem so much better. The key for me to enjoy the up, is skining up at a pace maintainable for hours. So that I can...
Look at the trail...

Trail Unbroken

The beauty of the trail is that it takes us where we must go.

See at the sights...

Anchorage, Dec. 25, 2013

Anchorage is situated in a splendid place at a northern latitude of abundant sparkling snow in wintertime, and midnight sun in summertime.

Watch the wildlife... with care!

Angry Moose

Bad picture, scary moose - I've probably seen thousands of moose in their wild environs, and I've been charged once, yesterday... She stood in the ski trail and looked at me as so many moose have - a big brown-eyed seemingly live-and-let-live herbivore. With head held high, her nose might reach seven feet and with alert ears, she is regal and beautiful. But, this one was different. She had a frosty muzzle and a nasty temperament. After watching me for a moment, she put her head down about two feet off the ground, flattened her ears, and bucked like a rodeo bronco. She reared up on her hind legs and flashed her front hooves like a boxer on a speed bag. Then she bolted directly at me.

Camera in hand and panic-stricken, I tried to ski behind a spruce tree, but tangled in a downed birch tree, and fell in the deep snow. Moose trampling must hurt, I thought, cowering among the brittle branches of the dead birch, and squeezing my eyes tightly shut.

She apparently bolted right past me and didn't stomp me to smithereens. She stopped 20 feet down the trail and looked back over her shoulder. She paused, and then pissed in the trail in a splattering stream as if to say, "this is a moose trail."

So, share your trails, avoid getting trampled, and enjoy the uptrack.