Our adventure continues!
We quickly set up camp as the others were flown in.
I'm not sure what is going on here with Drake and I? But we thanked him for the flight and finished setting up camp.
With a few hours of daylight left we headed for the nearest slopes. Will skiing at dusk.
Nicky D skis back to camp with Rosenberg watching from below.
We set up our 'Glacier Palace' (Stronghold from Mountain Hardwear) and cooked some dinner.
There was only one clear day forecast for the 2 week duration of the trip and it was coming up tomorrow. We knew we had to get as much footage as we could because we might not get another chance.
We headed out of camp up through a nearby pass and crossed another glacier to get to the goods. Quite a bit of treking, but it turned out to be well worth it.
Avoiding colapsed cornices the size of houses and avalanches, Andy Jacobsen plays it cool on a primo line.
We found 3 different slopes and aspects to work throughout the day. We came away with some great footage. The photo’s must have been good because Jay Beyer didn’t send us any others to post from this day. He keeps the good stuff to sell and is nice enough to give us the B-roll for the blog. I guess you’ll just have to wait to see it in our next film.
After a hard day of work everybody stripped down and dried out on a bare patch of ground.
We were not alone.
We slogged back towards camp as the sun set. Skinning and skiing from 8am-8pm with over 6K of vert was a good first day.
We woke up to really flat light and poor visibility.
Breakfast of champions, nutella and cream cheese bagels. We had a leisurely morning and hoped it would clear later.
The mornings were always socked in and then the pockets would come in the afternoon to evening. When they did come at all.
We had plenty of white-out, down time. Anybody for a pull-up pit?
There are probably better ways to construct a pit of pain, but this was fun and kept us busy.
Andy J demonstrates.
44, 45, 46....
After several attempts we managed to hit this really steep mini-golf area in good light. Andy Rosenberg ripping a hard left after exiting 'The Shield'.
Everything in AK is just bigger than you imagine and bigger than it appears. Rosenberg got a friendly reminder when he hit this 'little' wind lip at the base of his run and got bucked 60ft or so.
Nick Devore getting after it. Yes, or course he airs the cliff at the bottom, but again you'll have to wait for the movie.
Exiting a spine that Will commented as being one of the steepest lines he's skied.
We continued to ski in and out of patchy weather for the remainder of the trip.
Plenty more down days, but it was really nice to have a great place to chill. Will contemplates another round of java.
Keep your colon cleansed!
An excellent group of guys to get out with and track up some fun terrain.
With a sizable storm moving in we opted to fly out and not risk missing our scheduled flights back to the lower 48.
Alaska is always a gamble and we were lucky and managed to come away with some excellent stuff for next years film. However, we can do much more and much better in Haines and we’re already planning our return.
Andy R proudly sporting his hard earned shiner and celebrating being safely back on the ground.
We were just out of town near Mount Kashagnak in the Takshanuk Mountains.
Love those AMG guys (and gals!)
what glacier were you on?