Chugach Mountains

Still no sign of summer break in Alaska. Just as winter is making a comeback in the Alps, it’s doing the same in Alaska. Despite being much farther north, Alaska is beginning to thaw—slowly. Spring is usually the time to "claim your spine" in the Chugach Mountains, but the weather windows have been few and far between, especially on the southern slopes. Since the last SnowChase, the weather simply hasn’t settled down.

Before we head into summer break, we’re checking in one last time with an update on the heavy snowfalls sweeping across Alaska. Since last Thursday, the snow has been coming down steadily—and there’s more on the way through Monday. For everyone in our community chasing the dream of "Back into the Wild" or those iconic ski film vibes, here’s a quick look at what the weather has in store over the next few days.

The Warren Miller Film Tour will be touring Germany again from the second of November. This time, the 66th Warren Miller film presents the fringe groups of winter sports: speedriding, powsurfing, but also real classics such as monoskiing. Of course, the classic powder runs through Alaska, Utah and Chamonix are not neglected either.

Alaska ... Spines, steep slopes, endless glaciers, all covered in a thick layer of powder snow. The holy land of freeriders. The land of heliskiing. The ultimate dream for many powder addicts. Last winter, we tried to turn this dream into reality. Without heliskiing, but with all the other ingredients. An adventure report with diary entries by Lukas, at 21 the youngster in our group of four.

For six long days, we?ve been sitting in a motorhome watching the snow fall in enormous amounts. Almost two meters are stacked up here in the valley and there is no way of knowing how much has fallen in the mountains above. We watch DVDs, drink whiskey cooled with glacial ice, and are just waiting for the blue skies to return to the Chugash.