Peak Mountain Guides is proud to offer ski mountaineering instruction and guiding in the heart of ski mountaineering country: Alaska's Chugach Range.
Learn ski mountaineering skills
With steep glaciated peaks, a strong maritime snowpack, and terrific access from nearby Thompson Pass Highway, the Chugach mountains near Valdez offer tremendous opportunities to learn ski mountaineering skills. Through a combination of human-powered touring and helicopter-assisted drops we ski big glaciers, skinny chutes, and make stunning peak descents. Of equal value, however, are the fantastic opportunities for participants to learn and practice techniques for ski mountaineering. Many Peak Mountain Guides ski staff took their AMGA guide training courses here, with several completing their certification exam on the steep flanks of this glaciated range. We learned the ropes here and so can you.
We commonly teach the following skills in the context of some incredible ski mountaineering tours:
- Tour planning and terrain selection
- Map, compass, & GPS navigation
- Tracksetting for safety, efficiency, and observations
- Traveling skills: striding, pacing, AVA turn and kick turn
- Glacier travel and crevasse rescue
- Use of ski crampons, ice axe, and boot crampons
- Construction of THINX ski anchors
- Lowering and rappelling for access to steep terrain
- Steep skiing techniques
- Advanced snowpack stability assessment through layer identification, understanding of spatial variability, and understanding direct and indirect weather effects
Chugach Ski Mountaineering Sample Itinerary
Day 1:
We'll meet in the evening at the hotel to discuss current conditions and review maps of the area. Once we formulate an opinion about where the best snow is, and what the snow stability issues are, we'll create a route plan for our first tour. You will learn how to gather information for route selection, how to make a time plan, and how to create a low-vis navigation strategy with map, compass, & GPS.
Day 2:
We'll do one of the classic tours on Thompson Pass such as Cracked Ice Peak, Nick's Happy Valley and the Berlin Wall, or the Worthington Glacier. While touring we'll learn basic glaciology and techniques for glacier travel on skis, strategies for efficient tracksetting using the "safety, efficiency, observations" triad, and we'll make some baseline observations of the snowpack.
Day 3:
We begin the day at Valdez Heli Ski Guides with a helicopter safety briefing. Once we complete the orientation we'll be flown to a backcountry summit where we begin our day of ski mountaineering. Many possibilities exist for heli drops; we will choose one based on current conditions and suitable learning environs. We'll ski from the summit of this peak then tour to an adjacent peak, climb it, then ski a second long run to the road. As far as backcountry touring goes, we'll be able to get a massive amount of downhill vertical due to the assistance of the heli drop. On the tour we'll discuss strategies for managing steep terrain such as ski belays and rappels, we'll learn how to build ski anchors, and we'll practice steep skiing techniques.
Day 4:
Beginning at the top of Thompson Pass, we will use the Worthington Glacier to practice glacier travel systems for whiteout, self arrest on skis, anchor building for crevasse rescue, and we'll learn an efficient and effective partner crevasse rescue system. Everyone will have the opportunity to rescue a real person in a real crevasse fall. Using a backup system to ensure safety, everyone will benefit from this realistic training opportunity. You will understand glacier travel and crevasse rescue very well after this session. If time permits we will also discuss a simple, lightweight, and effective system for crevasse self rescue.
Day 5:
We'll do another classic tour near the pass that involves a complement of ski mountaineering skills such as glacier routefinding, tracksetting, snow stability assessment, and the use of mountaineering techniques for ascending and descending. This will be an excellent opportunity to apply the skills that have been learned over the week.
Day 6:
For our final day we begin with a helicopter drop on a backcountry summit. We'll choose our drop location based on current conditions and the interests and energy level of the group. We'll ski from the summit of this peak then tour to an adjacent peak, climb it, then ski a second long run to the road. Again, we'll be able to get a massive amount of downhill vertical due to the assistance of the heli drop. This final day will offer further opportunities for applying the skills learned over the week.
Contact us to expand your ski mountaineering skills while experiencing the outstanding skiing in the Chugach. This is ski mountaineering at its finest!
*Peak Mountain Guides Alaska Ski Mountaineering programs are offered in partnership with the Certified Guides Federation. The Certified Guides Federation operates under special use permit from the Anchorage Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management*
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