the chugach

50 o v e r s e a s c l i m b i n g o v e r s e a s c l i m b i n g 51

recent discussions in new Zealand on the

future of alpinism noted that motivation

to push new developments has been fueled

by the knowledge that plenty of unexplored grade

6 lines remain. The situation is similar for those

keen on downhill adventures. even one big line

safely ridden could translate into the most commit-

ted, exposed and ultimately rewarding descent of a

lifetime. as for venues, there’s no place with more

of these than alaska’s chugach mountain range. it’s

little wonder then that alaska has been host to many

defining moments for the world’s best big moun-

tain skiers and riders. For at least two decades the

chugach has been the place to test limits and explore

new lines. chugach occupies such a unique place in

global ski mountaineering because of two oft-said

words: steep and deep.

The chugach is one place where finding these

together is no problem at all.

The Geography of The Chugach

The chugach mountains produce steep snow situa-

tions, second to none. The chugach mountains are a

500-kilometre chain of coastal mountains bordering

the gulf of alaska and stretching from anchorage and

the Kenai mountains east towards canada. Towards

the east the range merges with the more massive

Wrangell mountains and the st elias range to become

the coastal mountains of british columbia. only a

few roads exist through these mountains, making

for an almost unbroken wilderness of peaks. For the

most part air or sea access provide the only reasonable

options for potential visitors.

because of the grandeur of the nearby ranges, the

chugach mountains do not look overly impressive for

their size. That said, the higher peaks are fairly seri-

ous propositions for mountaineers. given their close

proximity to anchorage it is hard to imagine why

none of the 10,000-foot peaks (3050-ish metres) had

been climbed until the summer of 1939. but read on!

it was in 1939 that mt marcus baker received its

first ascent, and bradford Washburn’s account of

the expedition provides a good insight into the reali-

ties of the area1. Washburn had been studying the

problems around accessibility for at least two years,

using a series of aerial flights and photographs. once

Washburn had identified the best approach route,

the next deterrent to his planned exploration was

the ‘unbelievably terrible weather which sweeps the

slopes of these mountains every day of the entire

year’. With this sort of recommendation it is easy

to see that accomplishing anything in the chugach

should be regarded as a success!

The largest peaks are concentrated around the

heavily convoluted coastline of Prince William

sound, which straddles the 60th parallel. This geo-

graphical barrier effectively isolates the sound from

adjacent areas. Whereas the alaskan interior has a

continental climate that is typified by drier weather

and extreme temperature ranges, the chugach has

a maritime climate featuring copious precipitation.

at sea level this may form as rain most of the year,

yet the moist air soon cools as it rises over the steep

mountains, dropping prodigious amounts of snow

in the process.

good positioning and timing can be extremely

useful in the chugach. inclement weather is the

norm and to travel extensively here requires inti-

mate knowledge of the patterns amongst many

subtle microclimates. The big glaciers in particular

lose much less water to evaporation than rocky and

vegetated areas and also reflect incoming sunlight.

consequently clouds may be fewer or less dense in

glaciated areas. However, pockets of cooler air over

the ice form local high pressure systems, and the

resultant glacier breezes are well known to sailors

and ski mountaineers. These glacier breezes produce

cold, foggy and generally inhospitable conditions,

and play havoc with a ski mountaineer’s confidence

that conditions will be better elsewhere. The location

of the ‘elsewhere’ in this story is the famous chugach

beast known as the ‘sucker hole’. such small gaps in

the cloud can often be seen in places but they have a

nasty habit of vanishing just when you need one!

With a snowfall of 600-plus inches per year—over

15 metres—the chugach is a veritable snow factory

and that’s perfect for one other thing: glaciers. The

glaciology is a big part of the chugach environment. 21glacial movement here is very dynamic, in part

responding to the magnitude of accumulation and

ablation processes. To remain stable these glaciers

must move much more snow from their accumulation

areas to the ablation zones than colder interior glaciers.

The result is exceedingly steep and active glaciers, not

dissimilar to those in parts of new Zealand.

chugach glaciers also produce lots of ice. in drier

climates the process of turning firn into glacier ice

takes hundreds of years, but the chugach glaciers

convert snow into ice in only a few years. High

levels of rain and meltwater, which speed up the

densification process, plus the healthy pressures of

continually replenished new snow are some of the

reasons behind this astounding difference. The firn

line extends much lower on the coastal side of the

chugach range because the winter snowfall is much

heavier here than in the interior. The result of all of

this is Prince William sound’s world famous tide-

water glaciers. Though some glaciers in the area are

retreating, the glacial process in the chugach ranges

is far from dead, with at least nine tidewater glaciers

currently advancing as well.

all up, there is little chance that snow will be

lacking in these parts. so the potential for epic snow

adventures is high. as for steepness, it’s also likely to

The ChuGaChSki Mountaineering in Alaska

by sHane orcHard


be in abundance, which is why the chugach is the

holy grail of big mountain lines for ski mountain-

eers. The snow conditions here are due to the area’s

unique combination of sticky maritime air coming

in contact with cold mountainsides, meaning that

exceedingly steep powder lines can form anywhere

the underlying rock provides an opportunity. The

terrain just happens to provide every option avail-

able, producing a range of radical features from

spiny faces to snow mushrooms, ramps, gullies, wind

lips and couloirs, not to mention some good sized

cornices as well. simply put, there are more steep

lines in good condition here than anywhere else on

the planet.

another part of the chugach equation is the qual-

ity of the snow there, and it is by no means perfect.

but with just a single clear night, a surface of slabby

wind-packed snow will be transformed into a sparkly

crystalline layer of completely non-cohesive snow.

This super-fast powder surface skis like a dream.

With disturbance, though, this powder turns into

another famous alaskan beast, the free-running sluff.

Together, these ingredients make for some pretty

unique challenges that will spice up even a modest

ski mountaineering expedition.

To give you a taste of what might be in store, here’s

my friend Tom burt’s mental checklist of hazards he

had in mind prior to dropping off cordova Peak.

1. avalanche on the summit icecap

2. icecliffs below the summit

3. spotting the correct spine onto to the face

4. conditions on the spine

5. escaping the sluff runnels

6. avalanche on the face

7. The lower cliff band

8. The bergshrund

9. The glacial holes at the bottom

10. Tom didn’t mention it, but i gather that falling

on a line like this wouldn’t be advisable either!

Places to go, things to do

an entire snow season in the chugach takes place

over only a couple of months. starting with rapid

snow accumulation and short winter days, the snow-

pack gradually consolidates on steep ground and the

better lines fill in. Then the days lengthen and things

start warming up at an alarming rate. before you

know it, the season is gone, the mountains are shed-

ding, and the glaciers are opening up.

over two seasons in the chugach, with rory camm

and various teams of others, we’ve been lucky enough

to complete trips to several interesting parts of the

region and negotiate just a few of the classic lines on

offer. This includes trips to the western chugach, the

Kenai mountains, the central portion near valdez,

and a boat-based mission out in Prince William

sound. but this sum total feels like a mere scratch on

the surface when i think about what’s out there! For

anyone thinking of heading that way, here’s a selection

of some of the more significant peaks we visited, to

give you a taste of what to expect.

girdwood is a true ski town near the anchorage

end of the range and is a great first stop for any

alaskan winter trip and one of the only options for

riding ski lifts. right behind town there are also sev-

eral imposing faces including the classic northwest

face of big league which has managed to evade us

twice now, despite best laid plans. Further east are

an array of peaks, all approachable from the road

en-route to Whittier and the adjacent Placer valley,

which contains the railway. although there used

to be a ski train here, offering a morning stop and

evening pickup from the rail line, these days you’ll

find the locals concentrated around Turnagain Pass,

which provides the easiest possible roadside access in

these parts.3 However since the snowline is often at

sea level, there are plenty of options right across the

Kenai Peninsula.

Prince William Sound

This season we decided that Prince William sound

might be worth a shot too. The allure of riding to

the water’s edge got us travelling out of Whittier

and into the unknown. all around the large glaciers

above blackstone and the surrounding bays offer

huge terrain, and even apparently insignificant peaks

on the map offer gob-smacking potential. Within

30 kilometres or so it became apparent that we were

looking at what could well be the world’s biggest

terrain park, with the unlikely situation of great sea

access! The place is vast and ridiculously skiable.

on the downside, this area is also renowned for its

storm generating capacity, as demonstrated by the

snowpack which was a solid 2-metres deep, right

down to sea level. We were lucky to get three days

of welcoming conditions, including two days of

sunshine and spectacular views up college Fiord and

into the heart of the chugach around mt marcus

baker. Unfortunately our first outing coincided with

a warm-up that turned the new snow into elephant

snot. We turned back from our planned objectives

above the Tebenkof glacier and gave away our

chance to bag a peak. at least we had spring corn

conditions down near the coast to retreat to, so there

was still plenty of fun to be had.

Thompsons Pass

several hours drive from Prince William sound,

or a short flight east, lie the towns of valdez and

Thompsons Pass. This is one of the few places afford-

ing easy road access to higher elevations. (imagine

the Fox and Franz névés with road access and you

have some idea of the fantastic potential of the area

around the Pass.) The action takes place along a

20-mile (32 kilometre) stretch of road that is host to

several glaciers and the voluminous snowpack that

lies over them. if you’re interested in easily accessed

backcountry powder, moderate sized peaks and

plenty of terrain options, you might not need to go

any further than Thompsons Pass.4


mountain where several peaks with great lines pro-

trude above the névé. We concluded our trip there

with a 10 mile (16 kilometre) ski out to the car, which

we finally located at around 1.30 am—it was hiding

behind a large crowd of people and several bonfires.

our car park turned out to be the spot for the local

prom night after-party so there were plenty of aprés-

ski beers to go around!

leaving chugach on a high note can be difficult;

deciding when to pull out or, worse still, abandon an

expedition is a typical alaskan expedition dilemma.

This year we got lucky with a late expedition to the

Tonsina glacier area in the vicinity of Peak 7601.

after three days camp-bound while the snow came

down, we set about climbing a number of un-named

peaks that offered testing lines. suitably invigorated,

we decided that it was a perfect time to call it quits

and begin the long journey home. The north ramp of

meteorite—one of the premier ski mountaineering

lines in the area—had eluded us for another year. The

story of our attempts to ski the meteorite are typical of

many chugach ambitions; just when we had worked

out how we’d do it, the next storm would come in and

a few days later the place would have changed. it’s all

about seizing your chances in alaska it seems.

valdez has been made famous in ski movies the

world over and is home to several heli-skiing opera-

tions, in addition to cordova and Haines further

east. The area also provides perfect access for sled

skiing so you’ll often find the full range of access

mode skiers all vying for first tracks on anything

in condition. as a lowly non-mechanised traveler

there is no need to despair though—there are many

couloirs and other features with no easy way up and

no landing zone for the heli services. or you can get

up early and start straight up something tasty in the

hope that the local pilots will avoid foot traffic. best

of all, though, is how quickly the people disappear

after the heli season, leaving only a handful of locals

to see in the spring.

There are dozens of accessible peaks and ridgelines

in Thompsons Pass, all full of ramps and chutes, and

we rode a heap of great lines in that area. some of

the best include Python, Diamond, Acupulcho and

Stone. but after some time there you will notice that

the really big stuff lies beyond. The choices become

more arduous or more expensive as you move fur-

ther back from the road corridor. as in new Zealand,

it is possibly to fly into many areas, but coordinating

extraction is not always easy. other choices revolve

around access by snow machine, by boat, possibly by

dogsled and even by kite.

often the good old Kiwi-style expedition base

camp is one of the best ways to spend enough time

in one area to assess conditions and bag a big line.

We used this strategy several times and it really paid

off. in two seasons there our best expedition trip

involved venturing east to the truly ridiculous ter-

rain in the valley of the Tusk. our nine day trip in

the valley of the Tusk resulted in some of the best

ski mountaineering we’ve experienced including suc-

cessful lines off the right and left peaks of the main

headwall. We were spared a confrontation with the

central line off the main ‘Tusk’ thanks to an ava-

lanche that had striped that face back to rock, with

a large chunk of hangfire ominously poised at the

top—that was our excuse anyway!

Bench and Heiden Glaciers

other destinations which produced great multiday

trips include the nearby bench and Heiden glaciers

south of Thompsons Pass. The bench and Heiden

glaciers are home to ‘the books’ and other veritable

libraries of scary lines, mostly in the form of steep

ramps cutting through cliff bands. This year we

also investigated the glaciated terrain beyond stone

(Further reading)

1 alaska ascents by bill sherwonit (1996).

2 glaciers of Prince William sound alaska by nancy r. lethcoe (1987).

3 chugach avalanche Forecast centre [www.cfaic.org]

4 alaska backcountry skiing by matt Kinney (2006).

the chugach

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