POWDER Magazine's Photo Archives
For more shots, check out Ian Coble Imaging at iancoble.com.
"In the last 3 weeks Southcentral Alaska has experienced an unusual warm spell. Due to the snow line hovering around 1,800', lower mountain skiing has been marginal to say the least.
Last week Clint Butler, Josh Hegna and I headed north for some higher elevation skiing at Hatcher's Pass. This area was experiencing the warm weather but not as much rain as the southern region. There was definitely evidence of snow loss but because it hadn't really frozen again we found creamy, quality turns considering.
The next attempt was to give Alyeska a shot. Simon Evans and I hit the resort on Christmas Eve. A couple of weeks ago the Girdwood area was served 6" of rain in 24 hours with winds exceeding 80 mph at 3,200'. Because the majority of our skiing is close to sea level, it created serious concerns. You can only imagine what this temperature change did to the avalanche activity. Alyeska Resort and Turnagain Pass experienced several natural and skier triggered slides ripping to the ground. The resort turned out to be pretty good skiing up high.
Today I saw a positive turn in regards to a healing snowpack and low elevation snow accumulation. Simon Evans and I decided to do some storm skiing at Turnagain Pass. The last couple days temps have dropped slightly- enough to bring substantial wet snow at the base of Turnagain Pass- (1,000'). Approximately 18" of new snow fell in the last few days at Turnagain Pass and Alyeska's higher elevations. We found some good pow turns in the trees. Dark days are getting lighter and hopefully rain is turning to snow." -Jason Scheben
Colin lives in Les Terrasses, France, a small village 1,500 feet above La Grave and spends a large portion of his time near his favorite peak, La Meije. Here's a sampling of his photography.
Photos from Steamboat's epic November.
Photos by Larry Pierce
Another quality day in the backcountry has hopes high for a good season. Clint Butler, Simon Evans, and I skied Turnagain Pass on Sunday, December 4. In the last week 12"-14" of new snow fell in the Girdwood and Turnagain area. Recently temperatures have ranged from –10 F to 10F. There’s a healthy supply of nice light snow but the low temps have also created a substantial surface hoar in the area.
Our long-term outlook regarding this snowpack is a little sketchy. Snowpack layers consist of depth hoar, wet snow, surface hoar, rain crust, and now a couple feet of cold, light snow. Add some wind and things could get interesting. Yesterday we got lucky with weather and line selection. It bluebird with no wind and we skied a fairly stable aspect. Conditions are thin, I hit a couple rocks but it's still early in the season. Overall, a quality day free of incident.
- Jason Scheben
TGR hit the East Coast with force this year with stops from Portland, ME on down to Philly. Dave Hudacsko, TGR Tour Director, did a grueling 10 shows in a row keeping up with the local partiers at each stop. The Tangerine Dream was well recieved across the board with the best party at the Avalon in New York City. Along for the ride to keep the party hoppin' this year was Mixmaster Mike along with other music acts including J-Live. The Tangerine Dream Movie Tour wraps up this year with a stop in Park City on Dec. 9th. Finally, it's time to ski....
-Chad Jackson
Photos by Ian and Julian Fohrman
On November 12th we headed up to Turnagain Pass to ski some more early season Alaska backcountry. The area had received about a foot of new snow. Fueled by the suprisingly good conditions a week ago we had to check it out again.
It was a perfect day--clear, no wind, and about 20 degrees F. A bluebird day in AK always blows the mind! We skied some steep north facing lines and with the foot of fresh, snowpack was still stable. Clint Butler skied the most filled-in line and charged it with confidence. Conditions are still thin--being cautious and light on your feet is wise--but considering it's mid November, the stoke is easy to find. - Jason Scheben
CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICS FROM AK!
Slashing some early season turns? Email tess@powdermag.com with pics and a report.
Photos by Matt Niederhauser
11/9 - Mt. Bachelor opens November 18, but you wouldn't think it from the full parking lot last weekend. Powder-hungry Bendites spent the weekend reaping face shots on the cone and hitting the homemade booters that now cover the lower mountain.
Photos by Ian Fohrman
On Tuesday, November 1, Clint Butler and I skied Lane Glacier at Hatcher's Pass, about 1 hour, 20 minutes north of Anchorage. It's still really thin around here so choices are limited but if you wanted to put in the effort for some turns up high, Lane Glacier was the place. There was about a foot of fresh on a fairly consistent base for the top 1,000 vertical before rocks started popping up everywhere.
Due to the lack of snow and amount of effort required up north "AK SYNDIKATE" decided to check out the conditions to the south. Clint Butler, Simon Evans, Justin Keen, and I hit Turnagain Pass (a little more than an hour south of Anchorage). We hiked "Tin-Can"—the first 400 feet were a total bush-wack, but after that you could put the skins on and cruise. It's only about an hour and half to a false summit where you can choose to ski the southern aspect known as "Hippy Bowl", or continue to get the goods. We chose to keep going and skied some lines off the steeper north and west facing aspects. Overall, some quality early season turns! - Jason Scheben
