Al-Skan Saferi Day 9

Day 9, 3/18/2010 Lowe River Delta

No winds on the pass, went down to the river again, winds were gusty 15-20 mph. Put up the 13m frenzy, I wast lit-up! Seth was fly'n happy with his 12m Manta. Wind got fluky after a couple of hours of kiting, one second I was lit and the next minute the kite was falling out of the sky. Time to pack up, the frontal winds moved in.

We went to "The Rendezvous", a Helli skiing lodge, for beers. It was cool meeting some of the staff and guides and their stories, who were mostly from Jackson Hole. The theme from the staff is that they work for "Helli Crack".

Later that night Vern and Kristen meet up with us at Worthington Glacier were we parked the RV. We played some crib and had a couple of beers. Stayed up late and got up late, good times!!

Al-Skan Saferi Day 8

Day 8, 3/17/2010 Kiting Thompson Pass

We finally got to experience T.P. Kiting, The winds were light at 12-15 mph. We had a good day of touring and some nice glides. Could have used a little more wind, the snow was plentiful, and the sky's were bluebird. Great day of kiting, this is what we came to the Big AK for!



Seth's maiden voyage

Al-Skan Saferi Day 7

Day 7, 3/16/2010 First Day of Kiting

No Wind up on the pass, so we headed for the thermal winds blowing down the Lowe River Valley into Valdez. Winds were 30-40mph on the Lowe Delta, Seth was flying a 7 meter and I was happily flying a 4 meter Access. with temps in the high 30's and daylight till 8:30 we kited till the winds died around 7pm. We again park the RV at the Valdez Harbor, played some Crib and at dinner in the RV.


Seth feel'n out the wind!





Seth, Lit-Up!




Seth

Al-Skan Saferi Day 6

Day 6 Tavel Day Ancorage to Valdez

Rented the RV and drove 7 hrs to the port town of Valdez, Ak. We found a place to park the RV on the water front of the harbor.


Morning View from our backdoor!!!


Thompson Pass

Damn I look good in the morning.

Matanuska Valley

Al-Skan Saferi Day 5

We are now good at making skin tracks

3/15/2010 Last day of Avalanche Training

The last day of Avy Training put Seth and I in the backcounty, skinning up Pete's South Peak. We put all our new skills together with a 3 hr skin up and spectacular powder run down. Seth had an awesome bind inverted Areaola move on a blind roller going at mach 1. All I saw was Seth hitting some thing, flying through the air upside down then disappearing over a ledge. Sweeet! They (AAS) then gave the MN Flatlander's a certificate and said "have fun in AK"

We made it back to Anchorage while it dumped 14" more in Turnigan. We then went to Adam and Vern's Sunday night hockey game, were we were joined by Kristen, Wes Tibets, Mandy, and the Elley Family.

High view of Turnigan Pass


Pet's Peak from the Road

Al-skan Saferi Day 4

4/13/20
Day 2 of Avalanche Training Turnigan Pass, AK
Another blue bird day in AK! The day was spent evaluating snow pack, digging snow pits, skinning up Lip's Peak, and ended with awesome powder run. The amount of snow is unbelievable, the total snow pack was 12'! For some reason the two flat landers from MN were picked to break trail on the skin up, very, very exhausting. We met up with Adam, Vern, and Kristen for a beer and burger at Chair 5 in Girdwood. Another great day in AK!
Digging a snow pit

Seth breaking trail

Lip's Peak

Skinning

The Al-skan Saferi Days 1-3

Day 1

Seth and I flew out of MPLS on Wednesday night and got into Anchorage at 2am, and took a cab to Adam's, Vern's, and Kristen's place. No one was home because the were on an adventure of their own in the Tordilla Mountains an Hour fly in to the east of Anchorage. So we did what any good guest would do, crack open a couple of their beers and cooked up some moose brats. We went to bed about 7am Minnesota time.

Day 2 Thursday

Spent the day prepping gear and shopping for food. We reserved a 4x4 RV for the upcoming trip to Thompson Pass near Valdez. We got word from Vern that they were being flown out of the Tordillas because their trip was plagued by 3.0' of snow and -20 temps. Did I mention they were staying in a tent on a glacier with no roads within 100 miles. With that scenario they called their pilot to check in, the decision was made for them to scrap the trip and get flow out.

Vern and Kristen were flown out before dark, but with darkness setting Adam had to seek refuge at the Chugiak Mountain Guides cabin below the glacier.

Seth and I got a chance to visit with Vern and Kristen about their little adventure, before we headed out on our own. We reached the Chugiak Ranger Station bunk house around 11:00 pm and found an open room with 2 beds, thankfully no sleeping on the floor for 3 nights.

Day 3 Avalanche Safety Training Turnigan Pass, AK

The day started at 7am with paper work and a 3 hr classroom session on rescue techniques. We then went to the pass for hands on rescue work with beacons, probes, and shovels. Seth and I caught on quickly and did very well in our time avalanche scenario finding the victim in 6 minutes. The scenery was awesome, I have never been in snow over 8' deep. We picked up our technique of traveling on our skinned split boards quickly. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!