Team News
AK the Hardway
May 7 2008
Hey,
Wow, AK was nuts! Since I wrote last we were waiting for weather so we could fly out in a plane and get dropped off for a week. Well, it finally went down on April 20th! We got dropped off in the morning and it was gorgeous out....Finally!! We set up camp as quick a we could, which still took about 3 hours. Once we got camp dialed we ate and rested a bit and then motivated for a big peak near to camp. It looked pretty small, but that's the Alaska effect out there. Everything is so big that it all kinda looks small! A quick hike, we thought. It ended up being a pretty solid 3 hour mission! The peak we climbed and skied can be seen in a photo that I attached to this email. Pretty scary climbing! Really steep for a long time with some frightening bulges that definitely were going 60+ degrees. It definitely wears on your mind to be exposed like that for so long. Once on top, you just wanna get down! The ski down was beautiful and steep with sluff everywhere. We got our first taste of steep Alaska climbing and skiing and it was a good thing as we would have to get used to it! Most everything we climbed and skied after that was the same. Scary as hell!
After the first perfect bluebird day we were lucky enough to get 4 more days of sun! Each day we would get up before dawn and get ourselves up a different peak. We'd ski and return to camp exhausted. We'd have just enough time to gorge on food and nap before getting out and climbing the second peak for the sunset shot. It was a ton of work but we got a sunrise and sunset shot each day! We were pretty worked and happy to have bad weather the 5th day. We all did nothing and just had a cold and windy down day. Lots of napping and reading books to each other for entertainment. Shogun was a hit out there! On our final day, we were scheduled to have the plane pick us up at 4pm. We got up early again and got our last sunrise shot! The snow was super chalky and fun! Maybe one of the steepest lines of the trip and I was glad to be done with the exposure and steepness!!! Our final afternoon ski was just a mellow slope behind camp and we actually even got some fun corn snow!
We were all pretty happy to see that plane and get back to the real world! Calling loved ones, showering, sleeping in a bed and the surprisingly good Mexican food of Haines were all very welcome treats!!! Some happy campers!!
Getting home was pretty uneventful for me. I couldn't wait to get back to Tahoe and it only took a ferry ride, a night in Juneau, and a plane flight and I was back in paradise!!!
It's great to be home!! And really great to be warm!!!! My toes are even coming back to life!!!
All in all it was a really great, really rough trip. Uppers and downers and all arounders. I can look back on the insane deepness of Baker, the perfect backcountry of Whistler, the strange peaks of Smithers and Northern BC, the perfect light of Haines Pass, and the surreal steepness of the plane trip and gather up a pretty confident smile. Life is good. These trips always take a lot of energy, but are always worth it.
Hope that the Spring is treating you well!
Thanks for everything,
Miles
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