I covered the Chugach and Talkeetna Mountains this past week. Unfortunately I forgot my camera on the desk for 3 of those 4 days … what an idiot. On the one day that I did have my Canon I managed to document a bit of the activity out there. The farther East I went in the Chugach the more unstable the conditions became. I saw some big cornice breaks on the North Faces, as well as some nasty slushy terrain traps on the Southern Exposures. It was a surprisingly mixed bag of snow conditions considering it was only the end of January. The warm temperatures really wreaked havoc on the snow pack. Much of what I saw would have been better suited for a mountain bike than a pair of skis, but the winter is young, and I am still hoping for the best. Of course the Broncos fans were thinking the same thing this evening during the second quarter … we all know how that turned out.
If you do get out on the steeps to play, try to be a little careful.