Today Tim, Benji and I headed south to Portage hoping to finally find some crust in the Placer River valley. We’d received over two feet of snow at home in the past two weeks (in April!), but the Portage area didn’t get as much. Plus the sun has been out for the past few days, so we were hopeful that we might find some crust. Our goal was to ski up past Spencer Glacier, then up and over the ridge to Grandview. I’d crust skied at Grandview before but I’d never crust skied to Grandview before. Getting there is a little tricky. The train gets there by going through a tunnel next to a river gorge. Not willing to risk our lives by using the train tunnel, we had to go up and over a ridgeline, which actually wasn’t that bad if you know where to go (which is why we go with Tim). It turned out that the crust was bomber most of the way, and the ski was spectacular. If you want proof that I actually was on this trip, check out Tim’s photos.

March 28: Three years ago, Linda and I skied and camped on the Curry Ridge Rider trails near Trapper Creek. Ever since then, I have wondered if it would be possible to ski a big loop up and around the Tokositna River using those trails. When I recently read that the CRR had just finished creating such a loop, I couldn’t wait to ski it. Tim Kelley also has some good pictures of this trip (and many, many others).

Supposedly the three peaks we bagged had never been climbed before. But even so, whoever named this bay must have known how spectacular it is up on the peaks, because the views definitely hit the Jackpot!

April 29, 2007: If I had to pick one ski route as the quintessential Southcentral Alaska crust ski - it would be Center Creek.

April 14, 2007: Tim, Tim, Benji, and I encountered crust, corn, and fresh powder snow during our ski from the Peter’s Creek trailhead, up and over Bombardment Pass, and out the Ram Valley.

A couple of years ago, Scott and I tried to ski up Willow Mountain looking for crust. That time we didn’t make it, but this time Tim and I used classic skis and had better luck. Tim’s video of this ski:

Feb 18: Wow, three months since I’ve posted any trip photos. Well that about sums up my winter so far - not much fun. The skiing has been great, but I haven’t been out enjoying it much. But on the bright side, I did manage to get a jump on the crust skiing season. Today I joined Tim Kelley and Tim Miller for a ski up the Twentymile River valley.

Its Thanksgiving and we’ve had skiable snow for almost 4 weeks, so I can’t complain. But right now, the skiing isn’t nearly as good as the ice skating. Photos by Tim Kelley.

October 22: Another weekend of good weather, so Tim Kelley and I ran to the Knik Glacier and floated back. Photos by Tim Kelley.