Valdez

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.

Alaska and British Columbia are known to be powder paradises - as long as you can rent a helicopter and a huge lodge on the edge of the mountains. My companion and I, on the other hand, camped in our converted van in May 2016 with little money in our pockets. In Canada, we were mostly only able to climb, due to the low snowfall, in winter. In Alaska, however, the trip took us to some breathtaking ski touring spots.

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.

Once again this year, one of the most successful ski film events will be released in cinemas on November 2, 2013: Warren Miller presents his 64th film with TICKET TO RIDE. This year there will be a total of 53 tour stops, including five in Austria and five in Switzerland.

Alaska - just "ÄyKäy" to those in the know - is probably the dream destination of almost all freeriders. The Powdernoerds alias Dieter Grafl, Andy Razic & Christian Skala were there and review their trip.

After a few days of earn-your-turn from the motorhome on the various famous passes of Southwest Alaska, the first heli day of our Dreamline trip had given us a taste for more!

Steep flanks, narrow gullies, wide slopes, pow up to your chin: these are the dream lines that Andy Razic, Chris Skala and Didi Grafl are chasing in Alaska. The first part of their trip took them from Anchorage via Turnagain, Hatcher and Thompson Pass to Valdez and into the helicopter.

If you like fluffy deep snow runs from white sugared peaks just as much as park action, garnished with a few rails, you will also like the new film from Standart Films. The images are filmed in HD quality and are at least as varied as the accompanying music.

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.