Steep flanks, narrow gullies, wide slopes, pow up to under your chin: this is what the dream lines that Andy Razic, Chris Skala and Didi Grafl are chasing in Alaska look like. The first leg of their journey took them from Anchorage via Turnagain, Hatcher and Thompson Pass to Valdez and into the helicopter.
Our trip was not actually under a good star even before the start. A few days before departure, Knut's cruciate ligament gave up the ghost and his participation died overnight. Of course, it was almost impossible to find a replacement for him at such short notice - even the necessary transfer of equipment was not easy to organize, so we had to embark on the adventure as a team of three.
Pre-glow
We kicked off on Monday 10 days ago in the beer garden in Munich. Warming up for a night of drinking in Amsterdam, which prepared us to take the flight delays and annoying children constantly ramming their knees into our backs with the necessary composure until we finally arrived in Anchorage. After a first night in our monstrous, mobile hotel, we headed south to Turnagain Pass after shopping, checking the weather forecast and organizing a satellite phone.
Swinging into Turnagain Pass
After a rainy night with heavy rainfall at the top of the pass, we were quite skeptical as to whether it would work out. But only for a short time! In the early hours of the morning, the sun got more and more upper water, the clouds disappeared and we got to see an incredible landscape: wild, white peaks, steep flanks and snow-covered ridges as far as the eye could see; and a gigantic snow base.
So we quickly set off on our first exploratory tour. We were not disappointed and the snow line was not as high as we had feared. After a few hours of climbing - with this amazing backdrop - we had already reached our first AK summit. Simply stunning!
The terrain that stretched out below us was the purest invitation to have fun on first-class playgrounds. So it's no wonder that we already had our goal for the following day in our sights before the descent, perfect. After our first AK descent, it was time to enjoy the sun with a satisfied grin and a beer in front of our motorhome. After a clear night, classic spring conditions awaited us the next morning; everything was nice and frozen in the morning. So we set off on the approximately three-kilometre-long trail through a valley until we reached the destination we had chosen yesterday. Motivated, we continued upwards through beautiful, set powder in the north-west exposure. What more could you want!
We reached the summit quite early in "AK-untypical" temperatures and were rewarded with a magnificent view. After discussing the current snow cover (snow-covered layer of frost), we decided to postpone our first dream line a little and opted for the safe option.
Back in the motorhome after a brief study of the weather forecast, the next destination was already clear: Hatcher Pass!
Hatcher Pass
From Turagain Pass, we headed back to Anchorage a short time later - after all, we need meat and beer - and after extensive shopping, we continued on to Hatcher Pass. When we arrived at the top of the pass, we were a little disappointed: an almost full parking lot, lots of families, snowmobiles and a few ski tourers. This was not how we imagined AK to be.
In the parking lot next to us, we met a few telemark skiers who were celebrating the start of spring after their run. After a brief update on the weather and snow conditions, they offered us "gscheide Elchkäsekrainer" and beer, so that even Chris could forget his beloved Bavarian Leberkääääs for a short time.
The people here are very friendly and you never feel like an outsider. After a surprisingly lonely night at the pass, we explored the area - it had to be somewhere in a northern exposure. So we struggled up an extremely stupid track. Better a poorly made ascent track than one we made ourselves was the motto. But we were rewarded with very good snow on the descent. We have now finally arrived in AK!
After that, we took another nice photo ridge in the same exposure, where the snow was even better. Neat. And we also had a third destination in mind: a beautiful, long gully. Shortly before entering the main gully, we got to know the rapid weather changes in AK. Within a few minutes, the sun disappeared and the clouds turned into an absolute whiteout, so we had to abandon our venture.
But the highlight of the day was still to come. When we arrived at the camper, the weather immediately changed again and the sun came out so that we could get the barbecue out for our 2 kg steak. "It's hard to believe, but the 2 kg of meat didn't survive the evening and three freeskiers went into their sleeping bags with full stomachs. As the good weather continued to hold out, we decided to go on a short tour the next day before setting off. We still had a score to settle with the gully from the day before.
But "bummer": weekend over and hardly any cars at the parking lot, and yet we're not the first ones at the entrance... But that didn't throw us off track either and we chose another nice option a few metres further on. So two days at Hatscher Pass passed very quickly and we made our way towards Valdez.
The famous Thompson Pass
Thompson Pass was calling! So we set off on the long journey from Hatcher Pass to just before Valdez. To the left and right of the highway, we could constantly see incredibly beautiful landscapes. Huge glaciers, steep mountain flanks and some ice giants. We had come to Alaska for these panoramas!
Late in the evening, we arrived at Thompson Pass. As the weather forecast promised very good weather for the following days, we made a short stopover at the guys from Valdez Heliski-Guides to ask about free spots. After a few minutes they said: "Come by tomorrow morning, it doesn't look too bad". Perfect! The first heli day was just around the corner and our anticipation was immediately high. So the soles were changed and the practice powder boards (editor's note: fat slats with guaranteed fun in deep powder!;)) were taken out of the ski bag.
In the parking lot we met two familiar faces, Claudia and Alex from Munich, who are currently on a long tour of North and Central America. Old bags Meeting AK! After a few beers, we went to bed early so that we would be really fit for the first day of heliing.
In the morning, Valdez Heliski-Guides gave us a short, mandatory training course on avalanches, including avalanche search, sluff management and getting in and out of the helicopter, and in the afternoon the time had finally come: we were in the helicopter! It's on! First there was a warm-up run so that the guide could assess the group's skiing abilities. But 1650 vertical meters of "cruising" through beautifully set powder in hilly terrain is something we can certainly handle as a "warm-up run". In the second run, a steep slope was on the agenda, where we felt like the pros in the various AK movie sequences. The line was called RFS: Really Fucking Steep ... and it was.
After another run, our first heli adventure came to an end. One thing was certain: it was definitely not going to be our last heli adventure during our trip.
The Tailgate Festival is currently underway at Thompson Pass, so there are significantly more freeriders than normal. We're not really happy about this, but with the almost countless tour options on the pass, we can live with it. However, the festival also offers some advantages, as there are numerous snowmobile tour providers at the top of the pass.
The next day, we enlisted the help of Big Mountain Taxi, who took Alex and the three of us by snowmobile to the start of a beautiful "S-gully" on the Python. With the support of the snowmobiles, you simply save yourself the sometimes very long approaches. We then headed towards the summit, first on skins and then on foot. Unfortunately, the light became more and more diffuse as time went on, so the first few meters in this 45° to 50° steep gully were a bit of an adventure. Nevertheless, it was another great day of skiing.
A storm was now approaching and we broke down our tents at the pass and drove on to Valdez, where we immediately raided the supermarket and petrol station. We didn't want to miss out on the downday either and went to H2O Heliskiing for the obligatory training, including an avalanche transceiver search. We also had the honor of talking to the freeride legend and owner of H2O, Dean Cummings, and he showed us the huge area that only H2O is allowed to fly to. We also inquired about free spots and hoped to receive an email with the "go" in a few days. After a storm with lots of fresh snow, even the locals and all the other skibums in the area want a place in the helicopter. In other words, it's like playing the lottery as to whether you get a seat or not.
But we didn't want to stay in Valdez any longer and drove back up to the pass after a day in the village. We were lucky and caught a small window of good weather, which we immediately used for a leisurely afternoon ski tour. We treated ourselves to a beer after the ski tour and checked our emails when andY called out happily: "We have an email from H2O Guides....!"
What the email said and how our AK adventure is progressing will be revealed in the next update. You can look forward to it!
