Crust Skiing Pics

Since crust skiing in the mountains is my absolute favorite activity, I wanted to share a few shots from skinny ski outings in AK this past spring.

Portage glacier area was primo this year. Blue skies, blue glacier, and sparkling crusty snow.

The Patrick Stinsonator

He tries not to tell anyone, but he still does tele too...

Hbrooks and I on our ski over to Blackstone Bay. On skinny skis and perfect conditions the trek over can be done super quickly and the views are unbelievable.

Dylan Watts. This guy can put down some serious wattage on skis.

Das ist Ronsse in Deutchland spandex.

Early morning sunrise.

Rob rippin. We just held our poles on the downhills just in case we would punch through and brake one when descending.

HBrooks with her contagious smile and laugh.

Holly, a happy birthday girl at the top of Ship Pass.

Exploring on the way to Indian

It was great to see the spin-off of an already silent sport get some exposure in the media (ADN's 61 degrees north magazine) even though I almost always cringe and laugh when reading my own comments in newspapers or magazines. But I absolutely love spreading the word and seeing more people taking advantage of the Portage crust than I've ever seen before. It really can be a fun activity for skiers of all ages and levels. If you're trying to figure out where the conditions might be good, you can always check the trail conditions forum on the CCAK website.

Overlooking Whittier

It was great to get in some good adventures with friends during my final weeks and months in Alaska for the next while. I'll miss AK but am also looking forward to new ventures in Utah too as I start the 3-year dPT program this spring.

If you have any good tips on places to crust cruise down there, let me know!

Mudflat Mountain Biking

One of the most beautiful, quickest, and underutilized get-aways in Anchorage is ocean mudflats and marshlands. And there's rarely a soul down there....maybe because it can be a perilous place if you aren't aware of which areas are safe, the status of the tides, mud, ice, open hours of the Rabbit Creek rifle range, or access points. But if you check the stats and keep astute, there's nothing that beats instantly stepping into wide open spaces.

The best mode of travel is dependent on what the weather and tides have been doing recently. In the winter, xc skis or mountain bikes with studded tires work great.

Dad overlooking the ice bergs of Cook Inlet when we rode from our home in Oceanview to downtown via the 'flats.

Marbleized ice over mud.

The riding can be slightly technical with different types of snow, areas of brush, dirt, ice, etc ... but the unknown and variability is also what makes it fun.

Dad and Mt. Susitna in the background.

An ice berg balance test.

Heading downtown with skyscrapers in sight.

RyanGB.

Its nice to have the feeling of having to head back into civilization after just exploring so close to the city. We made a big loop back home via the roads and ironically felt much safer traveling on the 'flats.

Not a bad back-yard, eh?

Skiing Mt Susitna

One of my new favorite xc ski ventures this spring was up Mt. Susitna, or "Sleeping Lady". Susitna is one of the most recognizable mountains from Anchorage, although with a relatively remote starting point and long approach not many attempt this ski.

We took the long gradual route up the "North Ridge" along sleeping ladies back.

Tamra Kornfield (above with GPS in hand) put together this trip after years of stomping around the base the mountain near the Kornfield yurt and competing in the Susitna 100 mile ski race. A huge thanks to her Dad, Ed for flying us out there, having us stay at their yurt and to Tim Kelley for route advice and GPS coordinates.

We lucked out and had another perfect AK spring day. Here you can see a lake-side angle of Mt Susitna with Diana in the foreground.
Views of Mt Foraker and Denali (Mt "McKinley") were pretty darn nice...

Diana Johnson taking a ski break for some yoga mid-way up.

Conditions were rock solid one the snow crusted snowmachine trails. The terrain was gradual and in steeper sections we just hiked.
Sweet old school Atomics!

Ronski

Tamra and Katie. When we were in first and second grade, we were the two girls who chose to play soccer with the guys at school recess and became friends. It's been fun to reconnect and plan outdoor adventures together almost two decades later.

Katie Ronsse, Tamra Kornfield, Diana Johnson not too far from the summit.

It's hard to beat getting to spending time outside skiing in the mountains with good friends.

Winter Riding Johnson Pass

Most mountain bikers in AK know that Johnson Pass is a great ride in the summer/fall. But it can be just as incredible in the winter months too.

Apparently snowmachines are allowed to ride every other year on Johnson Pass and alternating years on Resurection. Since this year is a snowmachine year on Johnson Pass, the track was packed down solid enough for a fat-wheeled winter bike. Thanks to Holly Brooks for letting me borrow her Fatback while she was away racing, and to Rob Whitney (her husband) for making this little venture happen.

If you try this just be prepared for a little hiking and a few fun little river crossings along the way...

I'd recommend the "winter" route closer to the middle of the valley for times when the snowpack is unstable and avalanches can occur.

Be prepared for winter biking bliss!

I look forward to exploring many new areas via winter riding in years to come, including my favorite summer rides such as Lost Lake and Resurrection. Let us know if you have some favorite winter rides that are in good shape!

Switching Gears

Well, these times they are a changin'...

My life is in a period of transition as I am prepare to begin graduate school this spring. To give you an idea, I recently sold my car and had my last day of coaching for APU....unless I can manage to do some fill-in sessions in the future.

Here's Angela and Joanna cutting up their gourmet cake they brought to share after practice on my last day of the APU noon group, which also fell on St. Patty's Day. There's nothing more that I will miss about this transition than the incredible people I've been able to spend my time with in the skiing community. This includes the masters & juniors I've been able to work with through coaching, my coaches (current and former), competitors, supporters, and teammates.

I don't have any recent pictures with my teammates since they've been scattered around the globe at World Championships, OPA Cups, AK Supertours, etc... but I did find the above picture in the "Ski Trax" magazine yesterday. The photo is by Flying Point Road and is of Morgan Smyth, Holly Brooks, Myself, and Sadie Bjornsen. Excelling together at the classic sprint at US Nationals in January was certainly icing in the cake for a great year of training and racing with them.

In the coming month and a half or so I am thrilled to get to see some activities I've been organizing work themselves into fruition. Up on the plate next:

1. Volunteering and exploring Guatemala with Justin! We will help out at Maya Pedal, where we will make Bicimaquinas (Pedal Powered Machines) from donated bike parts/pieces, that can be used by the locals to pump water, mill grain, etc... We are thrilled to get to take part in this NGO and also experience a part of the world and culture that is new to us.

2. Going north to rural Alaska to help introduce the joy of xc skiing to elementary and high school students living along the Koyokuk River (which is off the road system). The idea to do this was a seed planted in my mind many years ago when Jennifer Johnston began organizing these types of trips. It has been something I've wanted to do for many years, however I was never able to participate due to my late season racing commitments. After some dreaming, calling around, and networking, it looks like it's going to happen! If you have used ski equipment you would like to donate to leave at these villages, please let me know.

3. Soon after I will be bonding with textbooks in the library, Im sure!

Before then, I hope to upload some pictures of recent adventures soon to help spread the word on what is possible to do in AK in the spring with so much daylight. Spring in AK is paradise, so soak it up if you're there!

Ahh...Spring Skiing

I don't think I will ever be able to get enough of spring skiing in Alaska. Powder, groomed trail, crust, snowmachine trails, or sastrugi... it seems like there's a fun and freeing way to experience it all. With increasing daylight, the exploration routes through the mountains, trees, and river systems seem endless. And I feel like I have barely begun to tap into what is possible.

Here are some pics from some morning/day trips in the past month or so...

Eklutna Lake/Serenity Falls:

Dad with the Twin Peaks in the background.

Dad checking out the old avalanche debris just past the lake. I thought we would turn around after about an hour of skiing, but we kept wanting to see what was around the next bend or mountain... and eventually found ourselves at the Serenity Falls hut (~22miles round trip).

Beautiful, high peaks back in this valley.

Eagle River area:

Turnagain Pass:

Paige Brady, a lifelong adventure buddy and telemark skiing inspiration (check her out in the Powderwhore ski movies). The powder, wonderful not long ago, became wind affected which made made gradual slopes more enticing such as touring at places like...

Rabbit Lakes:

A beautiful place in the winter too, even with the wind whipping through (Paige Brady pic). A huge thanks to Skhoop for their generous sponsorship of the most stylish winter wear.

Arctic to Indian:

Arctic Valley area and Birch, the Bird-dawg.

There are plenty of strong ice and snow bridges along the way right now.

And even some open water to fill up bottles if needed.

35k of bliss through the Ship Creek Valley.

Jeff, Carolyn, and Eric. We were all on fish scaled touring skis, which was the way to go for the current conditions. Having metal edges for the relatively steeper luge-like descents in the woods was super nice. Thanks to the Brady's for letting me borrow their ski set up, rather than risk breaking one of my beloved nordic pairs.

A spread eagle on the spot. A good day in the mountains gives me an energy and enthusiasm that I can't explain.

Another thing that gives me this vivacity is coaching. Getting outside with other skiers, seeing improvement, sharing what I've learned, and learning more in the process has been rewarding and fun job.

I may be shifting the structure of each day from ski-training/racing/coaching... but I feel like skiing, training, and coaching, each in some form or another, are all things I wont ever really be able to live without.