Can I ski with you?

Need more snow ASAP. Girdwood sidecountry...

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._8317234_n.jpg

= tracked out!

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._7319740_n.jpg

10100101001010010100101001010101010010101010010101 01001010010100101001010010101010010101001010100101 01001010101001010100101010010101010010101001010100 10101010010101010101010010101001010100101010010101 01001010101011111010101010010101010001010101010100 10100101001010010101010100101010101101011101010010 10100010101010110101110101010101001010110100101001 01001010010100101010101001010101001010101001010010 10010100101001010101001010100101010010101001010101 001010100101010010101010010SKI00101010010101010010 10101010101001010100101010010101001010101001010101 01111101010101001010101000101010101010010100101001 01001010101010010101010110101110101001010100010101 01011010111010101010100101011010010100101001010010 10010101010100101010100101010100101001010010100101 00101010100101010010101001010100101010100101010010 10100101010100101010010101001010101001010101010101 00101010010101001010100101010100101010101111101010 10100101010100010101010101001010010100101001010101 01001010101011010111010100101010001010101011010111 01010101010010101101001010010100101001010010101010 10010101010010101010010100101001010010100101010100 101010010101001010100101010100101SNOW0101010010101 01001010100101010010101010010101010101010010101001 01010010101001010101001010101011111010101010010101 01000101010101010010100101001010010101010100101010 10110101110101001010100010101010110101110101010101 00101011010010100101001010010100101010101001010101 00101010100101001010010100101001010101001010100101 01001010100101010100101010010101001010101001010100 10101001010101001010101010101001010100101010010101 00101010100101010101111101010101001010101000101010 10101001010010100101001010101010010101010110101110 10100101010001010101011010111010101010100101011010 01010010100101001010010101010100101010100101010100 10100101001010010100101010100101010010101001010100 10101010010101001010100101010100101010010101001010 10100101010101010100101010010101001010100101010100 10101010111110101010100101010100010101010101001010 01010010100101010101001010101011010111010100101010 00101010101101011101010101010010101101001010010100 10100101001010101010010101010010101010010100101001 01001010010101010010101001010100101010010101010010 101001010100101010100101010010101001010MOUNTAIN010 10101010101001010100101010010101001010101001010101 01111101010101001010101000101010101010010100101001 01001010101010010101010110101110101001010100010101 01011010111010101010100101011010010100101001010010 10010101010100101010100101010100101001010010100101 00101010100101010010101001010100101010100101010010 10100101010100101010010101001010101001010101010101 00101010010101001010100101010100101010101111101010 10100101010100010101010101001010010100101001010101 01001010101011010111010100101010001010101011010111 01010101010010101101001010010100101001010010101010 10010101010010101010010100101001010010100101010100 10101001010100101010010101010010101001010100101010 10010101001010100101010100101010101010100101010010 10100101010010101010010101010111110101010100101010 10001010101010100101001010010100101010101001010101 01101011101010010101000101010101101011101010101010 01010110100101001010010100101001010101010010101010 01010101001010010100101001010010101010010101001010 10010101001010101001010100101010010101010010101001 01010010101010010101010101010010101001010100101010 01010101001010101011111010101010010101010001010101 01010010100101001010010101010100101010101101011101 01001010100010101010110101110101010101001010110100 10100101001010010100101010101001010101001010101001 01001010010100101001010101001010100101010010101001 01010100101010010101001010101001010100101010010101 010010101010101010AIR01010100101010010101001010101 00101010101111101010101001010101000101010101010010 10010100101001010101010010101010110101110101001010 10001010101011010111010101010100101011010010100101 00101001010010101010100101010100101010100101001010 01010010100101010100101010010101001010100101010100 10101001010100101010100101010010101001010101001010 10101010100101010010101001010100101010100101010101 11110101010100101010100010101010101001010010100101 00101010101001010101011010111010100101010001010101 01101011101010101010010101101001010010100101001010 01010101010010101010010101010010100101001010010100 10101010010101001010100101010010101010010101001010 10010101010010101001010100101010100101010101010100 10101001010100101010010101010010101010111110101010 10010101010001010101010100101001010010100101010101 00101010101101011101010010101000101010101101011101 01010101001010110100101001010010100101001010101010 01010101001010101001010010100101001010010101010010 10100101010010101001010101001010100101010010101010 01010100101010010101010010101010101010010101001010 100101010010101010010101010POW11111010101010010101 01000101010101010010100101001010010101010100101010 10110101110101001010100010101010110101110101010101 00101011010010100101001010010100101010101001010101 00101010100101001010010100101001010101001010100101 01001010100101010100101010010101001010101001010100 10101001010101001010101010101001010100101010010101 00101010100101010101111101010101001010101000101010 10101001010010100101001010101010010101010110101110 10100101010001010101011010111010101010100101011010 01010010100101001010010101010100101010100101010100 10100101001010010100101010100101010010101001010100 1010101001010100101010010101010010SKI0010101001010 10100101010101010100101010010101001010100101010100 10101010111110101010100101010100010101010101001010 01010010100101010101001010101011010111010100101010 00101010101101011101010101010010101101001010010100 10100101001010101010010101010010101010010100101001 01001010010101010010101001010100101010010101010010 10100101010010101010010101001010100101010100101010 10101010010101001010100101010010101010010101010111 11010101010010101010001010101010100101001010010100 10101010100101010101101011101010010101000101010101 10101110101010101001010110100101001010010100101001 01010101001010101001010101001010010100101001010010 1010100101010010101001010100101010100101SNOW010101 00101010100101010010101001010101001010101010101001 01010010101001010100101010100101010101111101010101 00101010100010101010101001010010100101001010101010 01010101011010111010100101010001010101011010111010 10101010010101101001010010100101001010010101010100 10101010010101010010100101001010010100101010100101 01001010100101010010101010010101001010100101010100 10101001010100101010100101010101010100101010010101 00101010010101010010101010111110101010100101010100 01010101010100101001010010100101010101001010101011 01011101010010101000101010101101011101010101010010 10110100101001010010100101001010101010010101010010 10101001010010100101001010010101010010101001010100 10101001010101001010100101010010101010010101001010 10010101010010101010101010010101001010100101010010 10101001010101011111010101010010101010001010101010 10010100101001010010101010100101010101101011101010 01010100010101010110101110101010101001010110100101 00101001010010100101010101001010101001010101001010 01010010100101001010101001010100101010010101001010 1010010101001010100101010100101010010101001010MOUN TAIN0101010101010100101010010101001010100101010100 10101010111110101010100101010100010101010101001010 01010010100101010101001010101011010111010100101010 00101010101101011101010101010010101101001010010100 10100101001010101010010101010010101010010100101001 01001010010101010010101001010100101010010101010010 10100101010010101010010101001010100101010100101010 10101010010101001010100101010010101010010101010111 11010101010010101010001010101010100101001010010100 10101010100101010101101011101010010101000101010101 10101110101010101001010110100101001010010100101001 01010101001010101001010101001010010100101001010010 10101001010100101010010101001010101001010100101010 01010101001010100101010010101010010101010101010010 10100101010010101001010101001010101011111010101010 01010101000101010101010010100101001010010101010100 10101010110101110101001010100010101010110101110101 01010100101011010010100101001010010100101010101001 01010100101010100101001010010100101001010101001010 10010101001010100101010100101010010101001010101001 01010010101001010101001010101010101001010100101010 01010100101010100101010101111101010101001010101000 10101010101001010010100101001010101010010101010110 10111010100101010001010101011010111010101010100101 01101001010010100101001010010101010100101010100101 01010010100101001010010100101010100101010010101001 01010010101010010101001010100101010100101010010101 0010101010010101010101010AIR0101010010101001010100 10101010010101010111110101010100101010100010101010 10100101001010010100101010101001010101011010111010 10010101000101010101101011101010101010010101101001 01001010010100101001010101010010101010010101010010 10010100101001010010101010010101001010100101010010 10101001010100101010010101010010101001010100101010 10010101010101010010101001010100101010010101010010 10101011111010101010010101010001010101010100101001 01001010010101010100101010101101011101010010101000 10101010110101110101010101001010110100101001010010 10010100101010101001010101001010101001010010100101 00101001010101001010100101010010101001010101001010 10010101001010101001010100101010010101010010101010 10101001010100101010010101001010101001010101011111 01010101001010101000101010101010010100101001010010 10101010010101010110101110101001010100010101010110 10111010101010100101011010010100101001010010100101 01010100101010100101010100101001010010100101001010 10100101010010101001010100101010100101010010101001 01010100101010010101001010101001010101010101001010 1001010100101010010101010010101010POW1111101010101 00101010100010101010101001010010100101001010101010 01010101011010111010100101010001010101011010111010 10101010010101

It is not all about the skiing. Skiing just happened to be a helpful tool for understanding my own evolution of thought. The tool now is the computer. The computer is the matrix through which the operator can convert the idea into a more tangible object in the observing mind. Create packaged ideas for the market. Be sustained by monetary payment. Knowledge IS power, a function of love.

I have been having some trouble lately in settling on an introduction to this book. I think the problem may stem from me not being able to grasp ‘the whole’. At the same time trying to mask the truth of what had been written by playing on the filters readers could create for themselves as they begin to read. Set the reader up for something. Well, I have the tendency to over-dramatize things and sometimes I try to sound more intelligent then I really am, even if I am only trying to convince myself. But alas! This too, is a setup but that, it seems, cannot be avoided.

This is a true-life account of a tumultuous time in the universe of myself. I joke to my wife that I have retired to the lake house, in old age, to write and compile my ‘memoirs.’ I could wait another 50 years but time is of the essence and I must move on.

Alaska is great for many reasons. Some people like the lack of other people and the surrounding wilderness. Some people focus energy on catching fish under the endless rays of the midnight sun. While some people enjoy the splendor of the frozen winter months. I remember right after high school when many of my fellow students left Alaska to go live ‘Outside’ because they didn’t like the cold. Outside is the term used by Alaskans to refer to anywhere outside of Alaska, usually in reference to the lower 48 states of the U.S. I was not interested in leaving a couple hundred square-mile area in south-central Alaska because that is where the mountains and the snow met.

By the time I was 18 I had nearly not passed high school because I had spent too many days in the hills. For me, the dark winter months meant that snow was coming and I could ski.

The winter of my freshman year at the University of Alaska Anchorage is where this story begins. I was living with my girlfriend and her mother in a beautiful home nestled in the tiny community of Girdwood, AK. By this point Girdwood had become the epicenter in my mind as to where IT was happening. I had all of my classes stacked on Mondays and Wednesdays so I could focus on skiing big mountains five days a week. My intended career was that of a professional skier and nothing was going to stop me.

There are several subgenres of the sport for those who are not familiar. I will run through the different modes of sliding down the hill in terms of the evolution that took place in the minds and in the technology strapped on the legs of men.

I will lump the distant history up until the 1970’s as irrelevant. Downhill skiing in the 70’s was moguls, racing, snow-ballet and the French inspired ‘extreme skiing.’

Moguls are bumps that form on a run because people turn and kick up snow into piles. Enough turns on a slope and, from a distance, a mosaic of goose-pimples emerges on the surface of the slope. Some people love moguls. I am not one of those people.

Racing is racing. Get down the hill as quickly as possible over a semi-steep, icy run through gates that are set up to guide the skier. Racing has been the backbone of technological innovations that influence all aspects of the industry. I appreciate ski racers for their mentality (at risk of making generalization) as it relaters to the physics of turning. Racers have put ample research into how to ski fast.

I mention snow-ballet more as a joke. I suppose the wet-noodle/jelly-roll is applicable to some aspect of current-day ‘jib’ technique but I will digress. (more later)

A little covered aspect of skiing emerged out of France in the late 70’s. These guys in rear-entry boots locked on to nothing but TWIGS for skis, pioneered mind-blowing runs around Chamonix and surrounding region. The extreme influence arrived in the western U.S. in the Tahoe scene and it exploded.

Skiing was cool for perhaps the following decade and then something shifted. Skiing began to stagnate. Perhaps the product of skiing, as presented by the industry and surrounding media, fell into the natural life cycle of any product on the market.
1)development 2) growth 3) maturity 4) decline.

I had arrived on the scene at the age of 7 (1987), and the sport was in deep decline. I did not know the difference, being 7 and all. I had discovered the freedom of moving downhill for minimum effort and I loved it. I skied on every Saturday through out elementary school and jr. high. I even experimented with the monoboard in early high school but I will sweep that under the rug with many other adolescent indiscretions. A ray of light pierced the darkness and even the strongest ski ballet dancers could not survive the paradigm shift that followed the birth of snowboarding.

Snowboarding had been around since the 70’s but it had largely been ignored by the mass consuming public. It was lumped in with the perceived riff-raff of surfing and skateboarding, from which it inventors were indeed inspired. In the early 90’s snowboarding was in! It was crazy. Ski hills went from not allowing the boarders on the lift one year and then the next year half of the paying customers were dragging knuckles faster then any skier ever dreamed. The technology created the medium through which the mind could evolve and apply these evolutions in the physical environment.

So what was the technological innovation that changed the lives of many? Something simple really. A snowboard was much wider then any two skis combined. With the additional surface area came greater buoyancy in snow. Sliding on a snowboard became more hydro dynamically conducive to increased speed and control. On a board you skimmed on the surface of the snow and could ‘shralp’ and ‘shred’ natural features with a style that skiers could not afford. Instead skiers practiced the cherished powder turn of the where the skier strove for submersion. Submersion creates drag and as result the style of turn was that of an extremely short radius circle. Skiers would ‘zipper’ down the fall-line by milking as many turns as possible. I have to mention now that this talk about hydrodynamics and drag only really apply to snow that is deep and fluffy, hereby referred to as ‘powder.’ And so we don’t hurt anyone’s feelings, I will also mention that the racers always dominated that arena. Snowboards do not like ice.

Snowboarding brought a speed and aggression to the industry but more importantly, it brought an attitude cultivated from years of surfing and skating. You got the style of surfing without the localism and from skating came a wealth of creativity. Stunts learned on a skateboard in any urban center could easily be transferred to the slopes in the snowboard ‘terrain park.’ In these parks, which could be built on the smallest mid-west ski hill, riders sparked a revolution in the industry. Now you could promote a contest in easy to access venues for the general public to come spectate and spend money. Rider’s sponsors would shell out the cash so that their top riders could travel and compete and perhaps win. By winning or at least getting noticed, a snowboarder could then court bigger money in the growing snowboard movie industry.

It was pretty much a win-win situation. The sport had not yet realized its own potential as riders pushed the limits season to season by spinning or flipping more then the other guy.

Snowboarding was cool and everyone knew it. Tons of skiers got on boards just once and never looked back. You could not deny the ease of the turn and the lack of coordination it seemed needed by comparison to the turn of the skinny ski. The old guard of the racing-based ski industry either complained or adapted by producing boards of their own. (To this day Alta Resort in Utah still does not allow snowboards.) I would say it took almost ten years for the real revolution to take place.

At some point, somebody in an office somewhere in Austria asked “How do we make skiing as cool as snowboarding?” One option would be to make skis fatter so they too could be easier to ski. Oh wait, they already do make fat skis but they have only been used by heli-ski operations or the retiree you wants an easy way down the hill. The function of the fat ski was there they were just not considered to be cool.

The next question was “What if you made a ski that could go both directions? You know, so a skier could take off or land a jump backwards…” If you build it they will spin and spin they did. By introducing a wider ski with a ‘twin-tip’ skiers could navigate around the terrain park and professional skiers too, could benefit from the creative influence of skateboarding (and as it turns out rollerblading which funnily enough is not really considered cool anywhere).

But that is not my point. Skiing was becoming cool again and the fat ski was about to make its comeback. The bombshell that rocked the ski industry in 1998 was the ski movie titled “Harvest”, by Teton Gravity Research. In that movie a skier named Jeremy Nobis skied a run in Valdez, AK faster then any snowboarded had in the previous decade. The run was ‘Pyramid’ and the image is engrained in my mind.

Nobis arcing a 70 mph turn over a double-bergschrund like it was nothing. Nothing! My mind was blown and my future was set. The skis Nobis was on are the Dynastar BIGS, some of the first mass-produced fat skis to hit the market with a powerful marketing strategy. “Buy fat skis and a helmet and you too can ski down giant mountains in Alaska and become famous!”

That dream became the dream of 1000’s of skiers, myself included. However, I had a leg up on the competition because the mountains that the ‘big dogs’ were becoming famous for skiing were literally in my backyard. “Right there! And there, that’s ‘Jim Black Spines’ and that’s ‘Big league’ and there is the ‘Shoulder of Death’!” I would exclaim and point from the highway. These are the runs that Teton Gravity Research turned into the wet dreams of aspiring young Nobis’s everywhere. The only real tough part that my crew and I faced was that we did not have helicopters so we had to climb the mountains before we could ski them. A team would climb up the proposed run and a second team would climb a mountain cross-valley. By using radios, lung-power and a lot of luck we skied and filmed the same runs that were being heralded as top of the line in the industry. We were a bunch of punk kids with perhaps more brawn then brains but we managed to not get one person killed in out daily exploits in the hills.

People began to visualize bolder and bolder routes down mountains. Not by sheer steepness but by applying the stance of a racer on skis that were now hybrids of a snowboard/GS ski/ fat ski… Skiers ventured into the unknown realms of speed and trajectory once only explored by the snowboarders. I would call myself an eager disciple of the mantra:

“Faster! Faster! Until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death!”

When we were not in the backcountry, we were skiing at Alyeska resort in Girdwood. I am going to now make the assertive claim that Alyeska is the breeding grounds for the fastest big-mountain skiers in the industry. That is not a statement of arrogance but an observation of the skiers skiing as the terrain allows. What that means is that Alyeska Resort has the longest, steepest alpine runs in North America. They are long, steep runs that also get buried under 800 inches of snow a year on average.

What is the route one would take if they decided that they wanted to ride the dragon for the camera? Push the envelope in the industry but more importantly in the minds of men? The tried and proven method for becoming famous is to go compete.

Like I said, competitions had become big overnight because the demand was there. People could go watch these competitions but they were all in the subgenre of ‘jibbing’ (the blanket term for skate/rollerblade inspired, technical moves on man made or natural structures). From the extremism of the French inspired skiing of the 70’s came competitions that more suited that type of skiing. The World Extreme Skiing Championships were held in Valdez, AK every spring throughout the 90’s.

I had become obsessed with the idea of winning the World Championships but had to wait until I was 18. I then got to compete in the Alaska State Trials where they took the top 2 to Valdez. (I placed 2nd one year but due to some sort of budget problem, they only took the 1st place. Bummer) These competitions also evolved to suit the new style of skiing. ‘Extreme’ competitions became ‘Freeskiing’ competitions and the emphasis was moved from hucking the hugest air to an overall more fluid, balanced approach to the line. That fluidity stems almost exclusively from the development of fat skis. At resorts like Alyeska, moguls all but disappeared because nearly everyone was one was on either fat skis or a snowboard and with that comes a longer turn radius and higher speeds, leaving the mighty mogul basically extinct.

I was not into jibbing. I respect it but I fear injury (the old severe injury vs. assured death syndrome) and I felt I was too old and set in my powder skiing way to bother suffering the curve of learning to stomp a ‘Corked-7’ (720 spin on horizontal axis). The top of the mountain is where I longed to be so I strove to find the surest way to the top.

All of this skiing techno-babble is merely the analogy for life. Existence! I am thankful to be breathing right now. Because I never got buried or broke a bone while on skis, I have come to the conclusion that I am supposed to alive for some reason. Whatever divine source you want to refer to had ample opportunity to snub me out. Just like that.

You know when you are 18 and you look back with wisdom to when you were 16 and boot-packing straight up 2000ft faces without beacons or shovels? (cringe…) Or when you are 19, looking back to being 17 when you and your buddy triggered a slab avalanche 20ft thick and 300yards wide because you decided to boot-pack straight up a wind-loaded face only 12 hours after 100 mph winds. Funny how we were so surprised to find ourselves at the bottom of a giant terrain trap, sitting on top of a Winnebago sized chunk of snow. Or when you are 21 thinking back 3 hours to when your little Australian Shepard ski dog ricocheted down the mountain 1500 ft because you called and called and she finally got the courage to follow and its your fault she fell?

Whoa! Getting heavy.

The following pages are somewhat personal but at same time, deep down, are we not all the same? Same fears concerns and dreams? This story can be read as fiction because I feel like my life has been a fairy tale thus far. You know how fairy tales always have some sort of deeper meaning? A social example that is being promoted by the author. What am I pushing? Love, peace and all of that, but more importantly learning to recognize the power of passion and the mediums through which passion can operate.

The sport of skiing became different things to me in different times of my life. The actual physical activity of skiing took on increasingly intangible rewards and motivations. There is an old saying ‘the worst day of skiing/golfing/fishing/biking etc is better then the best day at work.’ I took that message to heart and began to understand skiing as offering varying degrees of ‘freedom.’ I have mapped out the individual levels of my perceived freedom in the form of chapters based on specific dates in time where some sort of event catalyzed a paradigm shift.

These levels do not completely represent solid rungs on a ladder but more of a ‘yo-yo ascension pattern,’ as a truth is first contemplated, reviewed and then either assimilated or discarded. While being careful not to make the pre-supposition that I am now a permanent resident of said ‘top levels.’

Evolution described in context of levels of my own devise to describe what I see.

1)Physical Freedom: (late 80’s-early 90’s) Skiing experienced as fun. Whee! Exciting to the senses, heightened sensation and awareness. Skiing seen as a special occasion. Challenging outlet for a little kid. (X)

2)Escapist Freedom: (1993ish) Physical enjoyment as fun while emotional development as hobby. An increase in ability equated an increase in fun. Escape from developing social pressures of school etc. Grounding effect. (X)

Volume 1

3)Societal Freedom: (Oct 1996) Hobby develops into excuse for social nonparticipation. Superiority complex. Become grounded in skiing as means of self-identity. (page 8)

4)Interior Freedom: (July 10, 2001) Find self as individual. Begin searching for interior motives, drives, beliefs, fears, prejudices etc. “Who am I?” Skiing becomes less grounding by means of keeping me out of trouble and becomes more deviating as in distracting me from getting real job etc. (page 62)

5)Economic Freedom: (July 13, 2003) Find self deeply rooted in skiing. Decide to exist through what I love to do. Discovery of creative process. (page 145)

6)Hierarchy Freedom: (January 19, 2004) Pole shift in acquired logic. Perspective on my function in the whole. Saw big picture of politics, religion and world scene. Complete de-centering off cherished beliefs. Profound inquiry and confusion at every bend. (page 162)

Volume 2

7)Creativity Freedom: (May 15, 2004) Develop skills based in creativity to work towards sustainability. Understand principals of giving/receiving. Work on remaining grounded in something other then the physical. (X)

8)Sustained Freedom: (October 17, 2004) The eternal present. Infinite moments of being. Application of the moment as experienced in extreme conditions to the moment as experienced anywhere, anytime. (X)


Some say that it may be a bit much to map out ones existence based on a silly sport. That is true but skiing was not a silly sport to me. When it become the reason you get up in the morning for months on end with no real monetary reward and your only concern is of how much snow fell the night before you are synthesizing sport with life, with existence! Every turn becomes a metaphor. Every crossed tip is a lapse in maintaining complete awareness. The physical represents the mental and the mental defines the physical and balance is achieved.

Where you mind goes, your eyes will follow.
Where your eyes go, your body will follow.

In the perfection of the turn you see that the human body is extremely fragile but still manages to accomplish amazing feats. Overcoming the paranoia in the physical sense was easy. My body became my temple of transportation. Bending the laws and maintaining control was the effect of itself. Laws could not be bent if there was no control. Lack of focus equated lack of perfection. Lack of perfection equated sin. Sin understood as driving principal behind practicing to perfection. Not a bad thing. We are born into suffering and are motivated to move beyond its reach. Meditation by force. Pushing physical limits equates pushing mental limits. Riding the circumference of an imaginary circle. D x Pi. Diameter is affected speed. Pi is constant. Speed is determined by reading language of physical features and applying experience to instantaneously decode the message written in the variables affecting the turn.

Is the meditative state induced by physical concentration on the object or something more simple like the massive release of natural drugs from the adrenal glands?

What happens when you take drugs away from a drug addict? Withdrawals. There is no center to strive for if the circle is not spinning. Gravity is no longer being focused and steered. The particles of thought can disburse freely, not dictated by speed or direction.

Chaos.

These are my ‘Meditative Conclusions’ and this never-ending story is my dream of enlightenment.

The following text of Volume 1 can be seen as a 'binary foundation' with me on the way to understanding Societal Freedom in context to Me. I could not have been more robotized by my obsession with improving on the snow. Now that I was free of the time constraints of public education I could completely devote my attention to the mountains through the heart of winter. It was an amazing prospect.

The rabbit hole deepens...

Societal Freedom
(Volume 1)

August 10, 1998
I attempted Goat Mountain solo today. One and a half hour to the saddle, another half hour to the 5500ft. level. Turned back by 8” fresh snow, white-out conditions and being by myself, I figured it would be in my best interest to stop. I also anticipated increased technical difficulties on the ridge to come. Descended off of the saddle onto Milk Glacier. I was very hesitant about crossing summer snow along the edge of the glacier. Crossed carefully. Descended down to Crow Pass trail and to the car.

August 11, 1998
Hoping that the third time would be the charm, Abe and I attempted Goat Mountain again today. (The first time was with Abe, Katy and I a year ago). We succeed my previous high point by about 500 vertical feet over a mile of semi-technical ridge. Our main problem was the ever increasing amount of snow as we gained elevation. From the 4500ft saddle, the ridge is fairly flat with little elevation gain. At 5900-6000ft level the ridge abruptly steepens. We turned around at the 6000-6100ft level due to knee-deep fresh snow, no snow gear and increasingly difficulty in terrain. We were not sure how far to go or how long to push it because we really did not know where we were. We stopped on rock pinnacle 2000ft above Goat Glacier. It seemed as if we were in mid-winter wonderland. Descended the same route from the day before. Ran into very large goat.

August 13, 1998
I Climbed Flattop with Janine. It was a nice day and I wanted to show her the city. I was able to converse with her surprisingly well (Swiss exchange girl). She is almost as excited about the upcoming snow as I am.

August 14, 1998
Abe and I climbed from the top of the Tram, up and around Glacier Bowl, past Center Ridge, over Big League and down off of Orca. The day was sunny and very nice. Took us three and a half hours to reach Virgin Creek Bridge. Some very technical sections made tougher by loose, rotten rock. Good climb.

August 18, 1998
First snow seen on the Anchorage mountains. Took Tilly up Flattop.

August 19, 1998
Got cabin cleaned out. Took incense and car fresheners to get rid of porcupine smell.

August 20, 1998
I ran 10k today. It was easy. I’m in better shape than I thought. I decided to get in good shape. I have no reason to sit around like a lump.



August 21, 1998
Started weight training today. Ran 10k, biked one hour. Up Crow Creek Road, up Chair 7, down Chair 3.


The more improbable the situation and the greater the demands made on the climber, the more sweetly the blood flows later in release from all of that tension. The possibility of danger serves only to sharpen his awareness and control. – A. Alvarez




August 24, 1998
Katy and I climbed Flattop in driving rain. No visibility, very cold, not much fun.

August 25, 1998
Abe, Todd and I attempted to climb O’Malley Peak. We went up Telemark Ridge, across the Football Field and up to the high saddle just below the summit ridge. We were greeted at the ridge by 50-60mph winds and heavy snow/hail. Very uncomfortable conditions. Desired goggles. Turned around just above saddle.

August 26, 1998
Todd, Katy and I attempted Goat Mountain for my fourth time. Rained from the beginning. Soaked by the time we got out of the brush. Reached mist near top of point before saddle. It soon started to snow


At the saddle, the wind picked up and the snow increased. Very cold. Very wet. Had to change into warm gear. We decided to abort our little mission. On our descent off of the saddle, towards Milk Glacier, Todd decided to try and kill himself. He went running down the loose rocks and jumped on what he thought would be soft summer snow. It turned out to be really hard. As he began to slide, I saw him roll onto his stomach and try to dig his toes into the snow, just as he disappeared into the mist. At first, Katy and I were somewhat stunned as we continued to laugh at his previous antics. Soon, we realized that he was in a very bad situation. We tried to prevent any more rocks from being kicked down as we inched down to the snow. I yelled his name to no response. I started preparing myself for the worst. Than, in the hazy distance, I saw his figure staggering across the slope below. Seconds after I established contact with him a very powerful gust of wind started its prolonged blow. It picked up small rocks from the ridge top and threw them into the air where they hovered for about 20 seconds. It turns out that Todd slammed into a row of rocks, flipped through the air, and came to a rest below a second band of rocks. He than had to hide from the rocks that Katy and I could not stop from kicking down. Other than being shaken up, he was alright. Once we found and crossed the glacier, our descent was uneventful. It was, however, snowing down to the 3500ft level. Rain to the bottom. Todd was lucky. When will I try Goat again? I don’t know.



Sept. 1, 1998
I ran up Flattop in 18 minutes and nonstop to the bottom in 12 minutes. (30minutes total)



Sept. 3, 1998
Todd and I climbed up Flattop and back the ridge to Ptarmigan Pass. We than dropped out of the pass down to Powerline Pass trail and out to the car. It was kind of clear but cold and windy. 3 1/2 hours.

Sept. 4, 1998
Katy and I did the exact same trip as Sept. 3 but we dropped off of the ridge a little before Ptarmigan Pass. Windy. Snow flurries.



Sept. 5, 1998
Todd and I attempted to climb Flattop with 80lbs on our backs. We only made it to the box because we figured that our packs were too top heavy for the upper steep section. Very difficult at first, but my legs soon found their rhythm with the heavy weight.

Sept. 6, 1998
Abe and I biked from my house to Thom’s road (Girdwood) in 2 hours. It was fairly easy considering there was no tail wind.
MAX: 31mph
ODO: 1567.7
TIME: 2:19:43 (to Katy’s)
AVS: 16.7 (to Katy’s)

An hour later Abe and I climbed Tanaka backwards (as in actually walking backwards) in an attempt to make ourselves tired. Got wet in the grass. Good day.

Sept. 11, 1998
Katy and I climbed about 1/2 way up Wolverine Peak. We than swam 1/2 hour at pool. I felt sick.



Sept. 12, 1998
Katy and I walked around Girdwood for 2 hours. Later, after I dropped Katy off at the dorm, my car broke down at Eagle Hardware so I had to walk home. It took 1 1/2 hours. I still felt sick.

Sept. 16, 1998
I biked to the weigh station and back. 20 miles. Still felt sick.

Sept. 20, 1998
Janine and I climbed Alyeska all the way to the Monies. Partial rain/wind. Scouted potential skiing on Glacier Bowl. Possible date: 9/24. I got fat skis yesterday. They are 190cm Volkl Explosive II. Very stiff. I am happy.

Sept. 27, 1998
Todd, Katy and I went on an ice climbing trip to the Matanuska Glacier. We paid $30 and went with the Alaska Mountaineering Club. It was really fun. It was really easy also, except my hands got real tired. The best part was climbing around on the glacier by myself. I almost got lost in all of the hanging seracs and crevasses.

Sept. 29, 1998
Today and I climbed up Max’s (1 hour, 10min) than back up Center Ridge. At the most harrowing section there was 8” fresh that made things very slippery. It was kind of unnerving, but bearable.

One who fights will not fear—
One who fears will not fight.

Oct. 3, 1998
I started at the Falls Creek parking lot at 12:09pm. I made the summit of South Suicide at 2:15pm. That is 5000ft in 2 hours. I took a relatively easy pace. Had slight headache. Warm at lower elevation; mid-winter up high. Got to car at 3:50pm.

Oct. 6, 1998
Todd and I snowboarded at Hatcher Pass. The snow was less than mediocre at best. Some windblown, some crust. There were lots of exposed obstacles but was fairly good for first of season.

Oct. 8, 1998
I biked up Rabbit Valley to the base of Ptarmigan Peak. From there I walked to the base of the Windy Gap. I than climbed to the top of South Twin Couloir. The snow was hard wind packed to powder. I snowboarded without flaw. Great second run of the year thanks to the sunny weather.

Life is good


Oct. 10, 1998
Abe and I climbed South Suicide via the South Ridge all the way from the Falls Creek parking lot. It was nice and sunny. No wind. Lots of sheep, some were aggressive/curious. It took us 4 1/2 hours to the top with about 6500 vertical foot gain going along the ridge. We passed over 4 insignificant peaks on the way to the top. 6 hours for the day. Very nice day.

Oct. 16, 1998
Todd and I went to Hatcher Pass. It was 10x better than Oct. 6. We made our first run off of the point west of the parking lot. Than we climbed to the very top of Hatcher Pass. It was nippy up there. I found a pot.

Oct. 22, 1998
I climbed Alyeska to snowboard today. I was going to go all the way to the top of the Couloir above Glacier Bowl, but the snow at the base of the glacier was horrible. 1” crust on 1’ of powder. Very difficult walking. I rode from the top of 6 to the top of 4. Hard snow.

Oct. 24, 1998
Abe, Todd and I climbed Alyeska to find snow. It was raining really hard and Todd turned around at the top of Tanaka. The snow from the 22nd was completely melted. We didn’t get to ride at all.

Oct. 26, 1998
I was going to climb North Suicide today. About 1 hour up Rabbit Valley trail I was turned around by high wind and heavy snow.

Oct. 28, 1998
I biked to the lake at the top of Powerline Pass. I was going to climb Homicide or Avalanche Peak. Didn’t climb either. It was clear and very cold and windy. 40 minutes in, 20 minutes out.

holy text! got my work cut out for me

^^^ The previous 10 pages or so were mostly pictures so check em out!

In the meanwhile here is some reading music (with text)

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS7CZIJVxFY"]YouTube - The Fibonacci in Lateralus[/nomedia]

Nov. 7, 1998
It was a perfect day at Hatcher Pass today. It was warm and sunny with soft, stable snow. The first run, Todd broke his binding and Eddie hurt his knee. I climbed back up and met with Germaine and her sister Greta. We dropped off of a different part of the same ridge. It was very good. Germaine broke her ski binding and had to go on one ski.

Nov. 8, 1998
I walked all the way to Rabbit Lake. I was going to climb and snowboard North Suicide Peak, but at the lake I decided to turn around because it was very cold and windy. The snow was rock hard. I’ve noticed that I’m getting more and more confidant going out into the mountains by myself. Three mountains that I really want to climb are Williwaw, Homicide and North Suicide. I’m thinking of doing Williwaw on the 10th of Nov. It all depends on the weather and my personal motivation. I have to keep myself busy until the mountain opens. I have been going to the rock wall a lot but that gets old. The season pass-holders dinner is this Friday (the 13th), maybe it will bring good snow.

Nov. 12, 1998
I snowboarded off of the headwall behind the Glacier Bowl. It was a perfect warm and sunny day. I went with a guy named Arro. He is in my Wilderness First Responder class and lives in Girdwood. About half way up the ridge, he decided to drop off the ridge to the glacier. I continued to the coulior I was aiming for. From up high, I could see that he had lost a ski. There was nothing I could do so I continued my preparation for the descent. In the coulior, it was hard with cookies but once out onto the glacier it was smooth riding. I met up with Arro down low where he was waiting for me. I had to climb back up to get his ski for him than we sailed across the glacier.

Nov. 21, 1998
Todd, Travis, Josh and I went to Hatcher Pass today. It was kind of high overcast and the light was flat. I broke trail all of the way to the top, it was tough. I circled around the same ridge as Nov. 7. It was a pretty good run but I could barely see. I got to wear my new helmet.

Nov. 22, 1998
Todd and I went to Turnagain Pass. It was perfectly sunny and warm with knee deep fluff. We made two runs on Sunburst, they were sweet.

Nov. 29, 1998
First day at Alyeska! Alyeska opened Chair 4 today, Chair 3 was open four days ago but that is not worth the effort. First, I used my new snowboard, it worked real nice. I had no toe or heel overhang and I was actually able to carve with confidence on the ice. Next, I used my new skis. They are the best skis I have ever used. Fast and stable and they hold on ice. 10:30-4:00

Dec. 2, 1998
Alyeska on Chair 4 only. Lots of snow at mid-mountain. Warm-up day for the season.
10:30-4:30

Dec. 3, 1998
Chair 4 on tracked snow. Got bumpy real quick. Getting used to new skis and board.
10:30-5:30

Dec. 4, 1998
Alyeska on Chair 4 again. Chair 1 opened at 1pm. The snow was chest deep in places. Very fun skiing, more snow for tomorrow. 10:30-4:30

Dec. 5, 1998
Chair 6 opened for first time this season. I was first on tram and first on 6. Uncut runs down Gayle’s. W: clear T: 20deg S: deep and soft

Dec. 9, 1998
Alyeska. W: snowing T: 15deg S: fluffy

Dec.10, 1998
Alyeska. W: snow T: 8deg S: deep

Dec. 11, 1998
Alyeska. W: snow/fog T: 8deg S: soft tracked

Dec. 12, 1998
The traverse on North Face was open today. The snow was chest deep. Very difficult to maneuver snowboard because of excessive snow depth. W: heavy snow T: 5deg S: mostly untracked snow.

Faster! Faster! Until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death.

Dec. 16, 1998
Alyeska. 3:30-5:30. W: clear and cold T: 0 deg S: tracked fluff

Dec. 17, 1998
Alyeska. 10:30-3:30. W: clear T: < 0 deg S: hard

Dec. 18, 1998
Alyeska. 10:30-4:00. W: cloudy T: 25 deg S: tracked

Dec. 19, 1998
Alyeska. 10:30-3:00 W: cloudy T: 27 deg S: North Face was soft.

Dec. 20, 1998
Alyeska. W: high overcast T: 27 deg S: real good snow on Max’s

Dec. 21, 1998
Telemark on Alyeska. Hard snow. Clear skies and warm.

Dec. 22, 1998
Alyeska. W: clear T: 27 deg S: hard

Dec. 23, 1998
Arro and I found some good powder stashes. We named one “Journey In”
W: clear T: 23 deg S: hard

Dec. 25, 1998
Alyeska. MERRY CHRISTMAS! Skied from 1pm to 3:30 and again from 7pm-9:30
W: clear T: 19 deg S: hard

Dec. 26, 1998
I skied from 10:30-12pm because I could not ski any longer. My boot has been bothering me for a while. I took it to Gary King’s to get binding risers (to reduce leverage from wide skis), to move the binding forward 2cm and to get a pad for my liner. I skied from 5:15pm-8:15 without a problem. W: clear T: 20 deg S: hard

Dec. 27, 1998
Alyeska. Weather started to move in. Skied from 10:30-3:30 and 6:30-9:00
W: partly cloudy T: 15 deg S: hard

Dec. 28, 1998
Alyeska. 7” of new snow in the morning. 12” by afternoon. Snowboarded with Todd 10:30-3:30 W: snow T: 22 deg S: soft

Dec. 29, 1998
Alyeska. 15” of new snow. Dropped LoLo’s twice today. Good deep snow.

Dec. 30, 1998
Alyeska. 10” of new snow. North Face very nice.

Dec. 31, 1998
Last day of the year. Plenty of snow and lots of fun. W: snow T: 8 deg S: deep

Jan. 1, 1999
Alyeska. 16” of new snow. High winds kept snow untracked. 11:30-3:30 and 5:30-8:30
W: snow/wind T: 27 deg

Jan. 2, 1999
Alyeska. 10” of new snow. Skied 10:30-12pm and snowboarded from 12:15-3:30. Skied again from 7pm-8:30. 6hours. Boots hurt badly

Jan. 3, 1999
Alyeska. Snowboarded 10:30-12:30 and 2pm-3:30. 3 1/2 hours total. Last run on North Face was good. Plenty for tomorrow. Christmas break ends today all of the kids will be back in school!

Jan. 4, 1999
Alyeska. Today was a good day up until the point where I broke both of my skis. I’ll try to get some new ones tomorrow. W: clear T: 5 deg S: tracked powder. 10:30-3:00pm

Jan. 5, 1999
Alyeska. I continued to ski on my broken skis today. I wanted to break them completely. I bought some new skis: Rossignol CUT 11.5. I hope they ski well.

Jan.6, 1999
Alyeska. The new CUT skis I got ski very well on groomers and hardpack . They are a little sketchy on tracked and untracked powder. 1) I’m not used to them? 2) The bindings are too far forward? 3) Boots too loose? Hopefully I will get used to them soon…

Jan. 7, 1999
Alyeska. 16 laps on North Face. Got bindings adjusted at end of day.

Jan. 8, 1999
Another 13 laps on North Face. Snowboarded.

Jan. 9, 1999
Skied 9:30am- 8:30pm. Did ski patrol candidacy program. 11hours total. S: wet

Jan. 10, 1999
10:30-3:30. 8” fresh snow on top. End of 24 days straight on the mountain. Class starts tomorrow.

Jan. 12, 1999
10:30-1pm. Snowboarded in 12” fresh snow. Very good visibility. North face good to the bottom.

Jan. 13, 1999
Alyeska on snowboard in another 10” of cement on top of yesterdays. Many runs on North Face.

Jan. 14, 1999
Skied 10:30-3:00. 12” new snow. North face untracked. Getting used to new skis a little.

Jan. 15, 1999
Alyeska 10:30-2pm and 6-7:30. Very fast and fun snow.

Jan. 16, 1999
Candidacy program. Not much fun. 9:30-6pm.

Jan. 17, 1999
Alyeska 10:30-4:30. Skied Christmas Chute and upper North all day. Very steep sections. Fun.

Jan. 18, 1999
10:30-12:30. Very cold and not much fun. 7 runs total.

Jan. 19, 1999
12:30-3pm. It does not seem as cold as yesterday. Max’s face was good.

Jan. 21, 1999
I walked all the way back the snow-cat track today in 1 1/2 hours. I got to the very end of the trail. It ended behind the top of Cabin Ridge at tree level. 1/2 hour to ski out. I than made two runs on Alyeska.

Jan. 22, 1999
Arro and I climbed to tree line on Ragged Top in the morning. Alyeska in afternoon. Storm moved in.

Jan. 23, 1999
Skied from 9:30am-9:30pm with break from 5:30-6pm. Good night skiing.

Jan. 24, 1999
11am-3:45. Good, clear weather with fresh snow. Deep snow on Max’s.

Jan. 26, 1999
6-7runs from 11am-1pm. Very low visibility. Good snow. First into Christmas Chute

Jan. 28, 1999
Cold, clear and hard snow. 11am-2pm

Jan. 29, 1999
Cold, clear. Got new Dynastar BIGS. Very fun so far.

Jan. 30, 1999
9:30-1:30. The mountain was closed due to extreme cold, -78 deg wind-chill.

Feb. 2, 1999
Cross country skied up Glacier Creek to tram cable. Skied out to Crow Creek Mine and down to cabin pullout, past airport and through moose meadows. Ate at Bake Shop. On way home got distracted by 8” fresh snow on Tanaka groomers. Got a good 30 powder turns in.

Feb. 6, 1999
Candidacy program 9:30-6pm. Freeskied 7-9:30. Night skiing was very fun.

Feb. 9, 1999
10:30-4:30. 15 times on North Face. BIGS are very fast and stable in all conditions. Wax is very good for temperature of 0 deg.

Feb. 11, 1999
9:30-5pm. Traverse into New Years Chute open. Lots of deep snow. Temperature inversion, -5 deg at bottom, 15 deg at top.

Feb. 12, 1999
10:30-1pm. Cold condition. Sun is getting higher and higher everyday.

Feb. 13, 1999
9:30am-9:30pm. Candidacy program. Good 12 hour day.

Feb. 14, 1999
10:30-2pm. Lots of new, deep snow. High winds did not allow Tram to open. 6 shut down at 2pm.

Feb. 15, 1999
4:30-5:30. Deep snow, poor visibility.

Feb. 16, 1999
Snowboarded 10:30-12:30. Two feet of new snow. Hit Eagle’s, South Edge. Skied 12:30-2:30. Poor visibility.

Feb. 18, 1999
Skied 10:30-5pm. Clearing weather. Eventual clear. Chuck’s Line opened around 1pm. 44” of new snow, almost too much.

Feb. 19, 1999
10:30-2pm. Sunny and warm. Good snow off trail. BIGS are still holding up.

Feb. 20, 1999
Alyeska. 9:30-8pm. Candidacy program. Good snow. Started snowing and blowing in afternoon.

Feb. 21, 1999
Alyeska. 10:30-4pm. Overcast on windblown snow. Took BIGS in to get repaired, core shot is bad.

Feb. 22, 1999
4:30-5:30. Snowboarded, hard snow. Sunny.

Feb. 23, 1999
11am-3pm. Skied on old Dynastars. They are not very fun to ski on. Found someone to buy Rossignols.

Feb. 25, 1999
10:30-4pm. Found new powder stashes today. Skied perfect uncut snow all day with minimal effort.

Feb. 26, 1999
Good windblown snow. 10:30-4pm. Untracked each run.

Feb. 27, 1999
Avalanche course, 9am-3pm. Freeskied til 5:30. Good 8 hour day.

Feb. 28, 1999
Snowboarded New Years Chute 5 or 6 times. First time I have ever been in there. Mid way down, there is access to lower Monies. Good snow.

March 2, 1999
Skied 11am-1pm. Very cloudy, good snow.

March 4, 1999
Sunny and warm for good skiing. Skied New Years 10-11 times.

March 5, 1999
10:30-4pm. Sunny and warm, good snow.

March 6, 1999
Candidacy program. 9am-6pm than 8pm- 9:30. Sunny and warm.



March 7, 1999
10:30-4pm. Skied Max’s, New Years. Good snow in outer areas.

March 9,1999
10:30- 1:30. 3:30-5pm. Cold, cloudy, hard snow, not much fun.

March 11, 1999
24” of new snow over night, with another 20” over the day. Waist deep to chest deep in places.

March 13,1999
Candidacy program. 9am-6pm. Getting good at medical stuff.

March 15. 1999
30” of fresh snow. 78” total from last storm. Sprung tip of BIGS, they don’t ski very well now.

March 16, 1999
10:30-4pm. 15 runs on North face.

March 17, 1999
Bluebird day. 32 deg with good tracked snow. Chuck’s line had not been open since the last 100” of snow. I was first. I Skied the Salomon AK Rockets from 10:30 to 4:30.

March 18, 1999
11:30- 5:30. Storm condition, 10 or 11 runs on North Face. Deep untracked into the afternoon. BIGS are on the way.

March 19, 1999
20” of new snow. On first run off of 6, I caught my heel side on the snowboard. Left after next run with mild concussion. Actually went to Air Room.

March 20, 1999
Candidacy program 10am – 6pm. Freeskied 7pm-9:30. Very stormy day, 16” in morning. Additional 11” through day.

March 21, 1999
10:30-2:30. Good windblown snow. Sunny and warm, lots of wet slabs breaking loose.

March 23, 1999
18” of new snow just short enough of being able to cover ice bottom. Skied on Salomon AK Rockets. My new BIGS arrived.

March 24, 1999
HAPPY BIRTH DAY! 19 YEARS OLD. 18” of new snow. Skied new BIGS from 2:30-4pm. Snow is very slow and deep.

March 25, 1999
15” of new snow canceled first day of the Alaska Extreme Skiing Championships. Got to spend day getting BIGS dialed in.

March 26, 1999
First day of “Extremes.” I placed 3rd.

March 27, 1999
One run in the “Extremes” I am still in 3rd place. Todd broke his back as snowboard competitor. Huge 360 deg spin to flat. (body cast for 6 months)

March 28, 1999
Last day of the “Extremes”. I finished 2nd over all. I scored the highest run of the entire competition.

March 30, 1999
10:30-12:30. Cold and building clouds.

April 1, 1999
16” of new snow. Skied 10:30-2:30. Dropped LoLo’s 10 times. Mountain is filled in good.

April 2, 1999
Hans, Arro and I climbed Indianhead Mountain. 9:30 to 12:30

April 3, 1999
Last day of Candidacy program. I am now an official National Ski Patrol Member. Skied 9:30-6pm

April 4, 1999
Snow-cat skied with Chugach Powder Guides. 10 Runs in fresh powder. It was sunny and warm until afternoon when a front moved in.

April 6, 1999
12:30-5pm. 6” of new snow, soft on North side.

April 8, 1999
Hans and I climbed the lower section of the steep ridge on Indianhead Mountain
We got turned around by technical difficulties. Climbed 9:30-12:30.
Than we skied 1:30-5pm in warm sun.

April 9, 1999
First day of ski patrolling. 9:30-6pm. I will work harder tomorrow.

April 10, 1999
The whole work day went very well. I worked my first accident about 30 seconds into my first bump. I was surprised at how calm and comfortable I felt.

April 11, 1999
I went up with the snow safety crew this morning at 7:30am. It was fun cutting off 30” of fresh snow. The rest of the day went good.

April 13, 1999
I walked back to the Notch Club Cabin in 1 1/2 hours. Met Hans at the Cabin. He had stayed the night before. We built a pretty good kicker.

April 15, 1999
Hans and I rock climbed Sunshine ridge on free solo. Very sunny and warm. Later in afternoon, we built giant kicker on the skier’s left of Tanaka. Very big.

April 16, 1999
Patrolled from 9am-6pm. High overcast, it was an alright day.

April 17, 1999
Patrolled from 9am-6pm. Sunny and very warm. Worked on patient with broken ankle. After work, I went straight to the giant kicker from the 15th until 7:45pm. I tried 720 deg spin but only made it 1 3/4 spin.

April 18, 1999
Skied 10:30-12pm and then 2:30-5pm. Partial cloudy and warm.

April 19, 1999
Employee ski party. Skied 11:30-2:30 and did a 720.

April 20, 1999
Hans and I climbed and skied the classic route on False O’Malley Peak.
The snow was bulletproof under grey and blustery skies.

April 25, 1999
Patrolled from 9am to 6pm. The snow was hard all day long even though the sun was out.

April 26, 1999
Hans, Arro and I went on a good climb. We started in Rainbow and headed straight up the direct line on Rainbow Peak. Up near the top we ran into some good technical sections. On the summit, it was sunny and warm, with no wind. From Rainbow we followed the ridge back towards South Suicide. It was a most perfect day up there, especially towards the base of the summit stretch of South Suicide. Hans and I left Arro at the last col and made our summit bid. Perfect 360 deg view from the summit. We had a good shovel blade ride in the snow, 3000’ back down to the alders. 7 hours total with 6500’ gain.

April 29, 1999
Hans and I climbed to the summit of Penguin Peak. 2 and 3/4 hours with 4300’ gain.
It took us 15 minutes to get down via avy chute straight to highway. Sunny and warm with no wind.

May 5, 1999
Hans, Abe and I climbed Ptarmigan Peak from Rabbit Valley side. 3 and 1/2 hour round trip



May 13, 1999
Hans, Arro, Abe and I climbed at Pivot point and Upper Pivot Point. Worked on a 5.12, almost got the crux.

May 14, 1999
Rock climbed at Beluga Point, Service Rock and The Rock Gym.

May 15, 1999
Skied 11am-3pm. Sunny and hot. Snow turned to slush later in day.


May 16, 1999
Rock climbed at Red Gate. Led 5.8 route. Went to Upper Pivot Point to work on 5.12 problem.

May 17, 1999
Katy and I climbed at Upper Pivot Point. Sunny and warm.

May 22, 1999
Alyeska with rain and warm on slushy snow.

May 23, 1999
Alyeska with sun and warmth. Patrolled 10am-6pm.

May 25, 1999
Maddie (the dog) and I climbed to about 2000’ level on Bird Ridge. 1hr up, 1/2hr down. Maddie’s first real mountain experience.

May 30, 1999
12” of new snow fell over night, turning the mountain into midwinter scene again. The day was very wet and sloppy as I patrolled from 10am-6pm

May 31, 1999
The last day of the season was sunny and warm. It was a good season here at Alyeska.

June 5, 1999
A pleasant surprise lets me patrol at Boarderline Snowboard Summer Camp. Temperature in 60’s lots of fun.

June 6, 1999
Even warmer day, patrolled from 8am-4pm. Same as yesterday.

June 7, 1999
Not as sunny as yesterday, but just as warm. Patrol from 8am-2pm.

June 8, 1999
Hot again. All of the snow has now passed through the deep slush phase and is now into the good summer corn snow. Patrol from 8am-2pm.

June 9, 1999
Sunny, warm and good snow.

June 10, 1999
Sunny again. At the end of day I worked a spine injury. Skied 10am-2pm.

June 12, 1999
Ditto, ditto, ditto…….

June 14, 1999
Cloudy and partly raining throughout day. Nice change from constant sun.

June 15, 1999
Todd B. and I climbed Jewel Mountain. Sunny and nice out, 2:20 to the top. Witnessed giant avalanche come off of the backside of Ragged Top.

June 16, 1999
Partly sunny and warm. Patrolled 8am-2pm.

June 17, 1999
Last day of lift riding at Alyeska. Rain and wind. Happy to have some free time.

June 18, 1999
Thad and I skied off the top of Alyeska Peak. Rain with good corn skiing.

June 19, 1999
Abe and I biked out to Gull Rock and back. 50 minutes in, 50 minutes out. Good technical ride.

June 21, 1999
Thad and I skied Big League. Starting from the Tram, it took 50 minutes to the top of Alyeska Peak. Skied across Virgin Glacier to the base of north face of Big League. We climbed and skied north face/coulior. 45 deg (steepness), 1000 vertical feet. Summit of Big League, 1hr 45min. 45 minutes back to the Tram.

June 22, 1999
Thad and I skied Big League again in premium conditions. Took exactly the same amount of time to reach summit. At the summit, the clouds broke and it turned to bluebird. Finished out glacier and skied “Fast Boy,” my second descent.

June 24, 1999
Hans and I made 3-peat on Big League today. All the same times up the mountain. I got into a little slough action that was about knee deep. Scoping lines in next row of mountains. (Petersen Headwall)

July 3, 1999
Thad, Hans, Abe and I went skiing on the kickers up on Alyeska. They were fun.

July 10,1999
Climbed Explorer Peak for the first time today. Very entertaining mountain. Real steep with many different route variations. From summit got super view of Byron Peak, Carpathian and Prince William Sound.

July 11, 1999
Maddie and I climbed spillway, one of several technical routes up Max’s. It was one chute to the climbers right of Rudy’s. Some very steep tree and moss climbing. Maddie made the whole route with little trouble. She is getting into better shape every day. This morning she ran while I biked 40minutes.

July 12, 1999
Maddie and I climbed up to creek crossing via Waterfall on Alyeska. She was tired from yesterday.

July 13, 1999
Abe and I climbed to the climber’s left of the climb from the 11th. It was steeper but with more trees. Pretty fun.

July 14, 1999
Thad and I walked to the snout of Byron Glacier scouting potential climbing routes for the future.

July 16, 1999
Today was a sweet day. After working out at the hotel for an hour and a half, I biked to Anchorage. After biking, I worked out again and then climbed Tanaka. (I got a ride back to Girdwood with Katy)

MAX: 28.5
ODO: 1870.5
DIST: 40.18
TIME: 2:14:30
AVS: 17.8

July 18, 1999
I climbed up and around Glacier Bowl in rain and clouds, not very fun.

July 21, 1999
Hans and I climbed Max’s in 1 hour than circled around to Center Ridge and Glacier Bowl.

July 22, 1999
Abe and I ran up Alyeska via Race Trail in 33 minutes and down bowl side in 14 minutes. Destroyed legs and feet with the running.

July 23, 1999
Went up Tanaka side and down past Base of 6. Very sore.




July 28, 1999
Goat Mountain has been conquered!
Abe, Thad and I finally climbed Goat, this being my 5th attempt. We started at 8am, taking the same route as before… It took us three hours to the summit. We got splendid view of all the surrounding country. We could see all the way north to McKinley, all the way south to Prince William Sound and beyond to the mountains behind Cordova. Goat is easily the highest mountain for quite a way. Next one up is Carpathian Peak.

August 10,1999
I attempted a solo climb up 4710’. Started at 1pm at top of Tram. 1/2 hour to top of Alyeska Peak. Decided to avoid technical ridge that leads around to Big League so I dropped down into Virgin Creek drainage and went around the downhill side of Big League. I climbed the first grassy ramp that led to a hanging plateau which gained the ridge behind Orca. At this point clouds obscured the route beyond so I turned around and retraced my steps to the Tram. 6000’ in 4hrs.

August 11, 1999
Thad and I climbed Byron Peak. First attempt, first summit. We followed valley up to high saddle then followed exposed, semi-technical summit ridge to the top. 3hrs. Bluebird view of Prince William Sound and Carpathian. Very fun mountain to climb. Possible route to follow on north facing glacier to steep headwall.

August 15, 1999
Abe and I made a nice recon of Fish’s breath. We climbed from Crow Creek parking lot, past the switch-backs than dropped across to the other side of the valley. We back-tracked out the valley on the other side, aiming for the high saddle behind Ragged Top. We hit the saddle in 2 hrs even. At this point we were soaked from the wet grass and intermittent rain so we decided to turn back as more clouds rolled up the California Creek drainage. But what we did see looked promising.

August 17, 1999
Climbed up Tanaka with Maddie. Resting after Fairbanks trip in preparation for trip tomorrow.

August 18, 1999
I got my August skiing in for the year. I soloed up to the climbers right of Byron Saddle. The snow was very firm and sun-dimpled. I had to crampon and ice-ax my way up the final 500ft of 50 deg snow. There were several crevasses I had to dodge. My new tele setup works great. About mid way down a rock section between two snow fields, I slipped and bashed my wrist on a sharp rock and deeply cut myself. It bled pretty good until I covered it with a bandana for the last hour to the car. Drove one hour to emergency clinic in Anchorage. Did not need stitches.




August 22, 1999
Abe, Hans and I drove up to Weiner lake and rock climbed on some very good boulders. After a couple of hours we drove to the Matanuska Glacier and walked around on the ice for a bit.

August 23, 1999
We got up and tried to climb on the ice but the tools we had were too dull for the ice. We drove back south to Weiner lake boulders and climbed around for a couple of hours. In the afternoon, we drove south to Archangel Valley and were planning on camping but it was raining heavily so we called it quits and went home.

August 24, 1999
Abe, Hans and I started up from Crow Creek parking lot at 11am. We climbed up to the high pass behind Ragged Top. We dropped off of the pass and crossed a glacier towards the base of the summit ridge of Fish’s Breath. The mountain is called Fish’s Breath because, as the story goes, this old miner was out working his claim in the bottom of the California Creek drainage. He was walking through the brush doing one thing or another when he, all of the sudden, came up face to face with this monsterous Grizzly bear-- face to face—so close he could smell the fish on it’s breath.
Anyway, we surmounted the ridge and made the top in 3:15 from car. We continued south to the next peak, California Peak, and then wrapped the corner back to east as we rolled off of Alder Mountain and to the valley floor. Total time, 8 hrs 20 minutes.

August 27, 1999
Thad and I went all the way to Crow Pass cabin and Raven Glacier Overlook. Nice little 2 hour outing. Maddie got lots of exercise chasing ground squirrels.

August 28,1999
I climbed about 2/3 up Explorer Peak with intentions of circling behind Middle Glacier and descending out Byron. I decided that light was running out too quickly so I retreated.

August 29, 1999
I made another solo attempt on 4710’ in perfect weather today. I hit the summits on 8 peaks with 10,500’ foot elevation gain. I made the top of Big League in hour and half along technical back ridge. Then it was up and over a couple of mountains. Base of 4710’ in 2 and 1/2 hours. I got about 2/3 up technical south ridge until I decided I did not want to die. Was not sure of descent route while being positive that I did not want to come down this ridge from any higher. Very exposed 5.3/5.5 climbing. Not fun to down climb. I retraced my steps back until Big League where I hung south down into Virgin Creek valley. I climbed up to the pass behind Max’s and downclimbed to the Tram. 6 hr 10 minute total.

August 30, 1999
Andy H. and I free soloed Sunshine Ridge (5 pitches?) for the first time. Very fun, an eye-opener.

Sept. 7, 1999
Todd B. and I endured an epic trip up Goat Mountain. 6 and half hours to top of the couloir. It took so long because we were carrying overnight stuff and winter ski gear. We skied down off the top of the couloir down the back side past Peak 6380. As I rounded the point I saw an Alpine Air airplane sitting at the runway used for the Olympic Cross-Country Training Center. I skied up and saw that Scot from the Pond was in the group. I found out from the pilot that there was not much food in the center. Our plan until this point was to stay in the center and use their sleeping bags and food. The problem now was that the actual center was a mile in the wrong direction for us if we were to be descending off of the mountain RIGHT NOW. Did not want to waste time double checking on any food while our precious weather was turning to shit at the same time. As the plane took off, we decided to descend down Goat’s east flank. After almost dropping into Upper Glacier Valley and its impenetrable forest, we found our way to the correct ridge after the clouds lifted. We really did not know EXACTLY where we were for 1/2 hour. Scary. Another hour of scree and wet bushwacking to car. 11 hours total.

Sept. 11, 1999
Hans and I hitchhiked down to Seward and camped on the night of the 11th. The next day, in pouring rain, we climbed Mt. Marathon. We passed the race finish 1/2 way up as we aimed for the true summit beyond. It, however, proved to be too difficult in the prevailing weather and lack of proper gear. 3 and 1/2 hours. Wet, wet, wet.

Sept 21, 1999
Andy, Hans and I went rock climbing up north to Long Lake and Puritan Creek. We had a day of good weather and we got 5 good routes on solid rock.

Sept. 27, 1999
Thad, Ryan and I skied off of the west shoulder of Goat Mountain. Bluebird day with
3-4” of fresh on summer ice. We got into some steep avy danger areas going up the shoulder. Skied from 5500’ to 3000’.

End of October 1998-1999 ski season. 143 days total.

Oct. 9, 1999
Hans, Todd B. and I climbed up Jewel to ski but were stopped short at the glacier due to storm conditions. Skied 500ft.

Oct. 11, 1999
Hans, Fred B. and I returned to Jewel with mostly clear conditions. Skied off summit of Jewel two times in optimal snow, 2000ft of pow turns. 6000ft of climbing total.

Oct. 13, 1999
Fred and I drove to Hatchers in snowing whiteout conditions. We made the summit of Hatch Mountain in one hour. Met up with some friends and continued to the top of April Bowl. Skied April Bowl than traversed back to Hatch than to car.

Oct. 14, 1999
Fred, Hans, Todd B. and I had a great day up at Jewel. Fred and I skied a pretty steep line off of Summit Mountain. We had to ski cut on belay because it was breaking out foot and half thick with exposure. The run was 1500’, on 45 deg to glacier straightline. Followed by two pow runs off of Jewel.

Oct. 15, 1999
Fred and I were going to try to climb North Suicide peak but fierce headwinds one hour up turned us around.

Oct. 16, 1999
Went hunting for stuff. No luck. Fred had to take shit. Later, while we were not paying attention, Maddie ran over and started eating his poo! Horrible ride home as she panted on us from the back seat.

Oct 17, 1999
Went skiing to Hatcher Pass. Got about 50 yards up Hatch Mountain before raging winds and snow turned us around.

Oct 18,1999
Went to hatchers again, this time made it to top of Hatch Mountain in slightly better conditions. Sloppy run, very unstable.

Oct. 19, 1999
Hans and I explored the trail that goes along the base of Orca. Than walked back up the highway. 2 hours total.

Oct. 20, 1999
Fred, Hans and I skied Sunburst. No snow until hanging valley. Two and half hours to Taylor Pass. Skied first shot on left.

Oct. 21, 1999
Todd and I climbed False O’Malley Peak, 3 hours to top. Maddie did good on technical stuff.

Oct. 22, 1999
Fred and I skied 3 runs off of Marmot in Hatcher Pass. About 7000ft of climbing and skiing. Bluebird day with the most perfect snow conditions you could ask for.

Oct. 23, 1999
Thad, Fred and I skied off “Nip in the Air” on Government peak in Hatcher. Bluebird day with 2pm start. Had to go fast to beat diminishing light.

Oct. 24, 1999
Hans and I skied South face of Marmot. 3000’ of powder. Crashed and cut forehead on ski tip.

Oct. 25, 1999
Rest day, just rock climbed at gym.

Oct. 26, 1999
Skied from base of Chair 6 to bottom in waist deep fluff.

Oct. 27, 1999
Hans and I skied from the Roundhouse, through the bowl to the bottom. Very deep snow. That was at 10am. At 6pm we skied from top of 6 with Fred and Thad by headlamp. Very deep, very fun.

Oct. 28, 1999
Rest day/rock climbing.

Oct. 29, 1999
First day as Pro Ski Patroller at Alyeska resort. Did some stuff. Skied off top of mountain at 8:15pm in perfect conditions.

Oct. 31, 1999
Skied off top of 6 at 8pm with a bunch of people. Super visibility, super snow.

I made a solo attempt to break through the alders into upper Virgin Creek. Right when I thought I was in the clear, they closed out for good. (until more snow at least)

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._4142082_n.jpg

Another day at work. Guinea Pigging new jumps before opening the terrain park.

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_0L_kNIWYU"]YouTube - Guinea Pigging[/nomedia]

Nov. 2, 1999
Hans, Fred, Thad, Ryan and I found good jump at base of Chair 4.

Nov. 3, 1999
Fred, Thad, Kyler, Ryan and I skied Max’s Chute at 9:30pm in snow conditions by head lamp. Rocky and bare in chute but good below.

Nov. 4, 1999
Fred and I skied off the top of Alyeska at 12:30am in very deep snow.

Nov. 5, 1999
First patrol day on the mountain in lots of deep, heavy snow. Got some slide action on South Face.

Nov. 6, 1999
Snow safety stuff. Route selection, beacons, avy drill. Wet heavy snow.

Nov. 7, 1999
Clear and warm. Got 3 runs off of Gayle’s. Good snow, more avy work.

Nov. 10, 1999
Set up on the lower mountain.

Nov. 11, 1999
Set up on the lower mountain.

Nov. 12, 1999
12pm- 4pm straighten things up.

Nov. 13, 1999
First day open to public. Chair 3 and 4 open. We set up on the upper mountain.

Nov. 14, 1999
More set up on the upper mountain.

Nov. 16, 1999
Skied off Kitchen Wall 2 times on Tincan Mountain under heavy skies.

Nov. 19, 1999
More set up on the upper mountain.

Nov. 20, 1999
Upper Mountain open to public. Good snow.

Nov. 21, 1999
A good day of patrolling. Good snow, good vis. with not so much work to do. Did some ski cut exercises on North Face.

Nov. 23, 1999
23” of new snow made for 2-3 good work runs. Super fluffy snow.

Nov. 24, 1999
Good, deep snow. Did lots of skiing today. Ski cut Fairbanks, South Face, Wicks. Clear skies with 25” fresh.

Nov. 25, 1999
Skied good tracked snow. Didn’t get as much freeskiing in as yesterday.

Nov. 26, 1999
Ski Patrol. Helped cut West Line.

Nov. 27, 1999
Ditto

Nov. 28, 1999
Ryan and I created a trail that connected the North Face exit trail with the pond below the Tram. Used to contact poachers.

Nov. 29, 1999
Ran 5 miles in 40 minutes.

Nov. 30, 1999
Ran 5 miles in 35 minutes

Dec. 1,1999
Lots of skiing on patrol. Skied nonstop 9am-6pm. I did my first ski cutting on North Face.

Dec. 2, 1999
Good skiing holding up. Clear skies, good snow, warm temps.

Dec. 3, 1999
Patrol day. Nothing to note in particular.

Dec. 4, 1999
Open Chucks Line on lower 1/2 only. Good snow.

Dec. 5, 1999
Patrol day.

Dec. 6, 1999
Skied Goat Coulior! An epic run to say the least. It was the combo of good snow, bluebird skies and crazy location that make this run stand out. We got dropped off by the plane at 12pm, hiked 1hour to top then skied from 6000ft to sea level. A day to be remembered.

Dec. 8,1999
Patrol day.

Dec. 9, 1999
Patrol day, skied Christmas Chute.

Dec.10, 1999
Patrol day.

Dec. 11, 1999
Patrol day.

Dec. 12, 1999
Patrol day.

Dec. 15, 1999
Patrol day in 15” fresh snow.

Dec. 16, 1999
Patrol day. 3 sweet North Face runs in knee deep fluff.

Dec. 17, 1999
Freeskied 10:30am-3pm. I broke binding out of BIGS on second run. Night ski patrol on 223cm DH skis. Very fast.

Dec. 18, 1999
Climbed and skied 5000’ in Sunnyside Bowl. 2 laps on Sunnyside and 1lap on Cabin Ridge. Deep snow in increasing storm. Night skied 3 hours.

Dec. 19, 1999
Skied 11am-3pm, good snow.

Dec. 20, 1999
Patrol day, big storm.

Dec. 21, 1999
Patrol day. Tram and Chair 1 didn’t run until 1:30pm. Storming snow up high and rain down low.

Dec. 22, 1999
Only 4 and 3 ran today. Lots of rain, good spring-loke skiing on groomers.

Dec. 23, 1999
Frozen crud. Very bad skiing today. Temp. went from 40 deg to 4 deg overnight. That is no good.

Dec. 24, 1999
More frozen crud. Upper mountain not so bad. Groomers fast and icy.

Dec. 25, 1999
Skied 2pm-4pm then 6pm-8pm. Telemarked on BIGS until they broke. 4th pair of skies in one year.

Dec. 26, 1999
Snowboarded 11am-1pm. 6 shut down due to high winds. Skied out to Powder House in 2 hours.

Dec. 27, 1999
Patrol day 9am-4pm. Fred and I then skied out to the top of Sunnyside in the dark.

Dec. 28, 1999
Patrol day 9am-4pm. Fred and I skied up Notch Mountain in dark.

Dec. 29, 1999
Patrol day. Long and cold.

Dec. 30, 1999
Patrol day. Nothing special.

Dec. 31, 1999
Patrol 9am-6pm then Torchlight Parade for New Years Eve.

Photo of the day! Do I win a hoodie?

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._5006834_n.jpg

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q909sPqAH6A"]YouTube - Pow in Park edit.mov[/nomedia]

Jan. 2, 2000
Fred, Hans Tory and I made an attempt on North Star. We made it to the base of the chute in 3 hours but lack of daylight forced a retreat. Good day though, skied 6000’ with about 12 miles of cruising.

Jan. 3, 2000
Patrol day, many North face runs.

Jan. 4, 2000
Patrol day, ditto.

Jan. 5, 2000
Ditto.

Jan 6, 2000
Ditto.

Jan. 7, 2000
Skied 10:30-12:30 then broke binding. Patrol from 3pm to 10pm.

Jan. 8, 2000
Skied 10:30-2:30 then patrolled from 3pm to 10pm.

Jan. 9, 2000
Freeskied 2 hours on new Fischer RC4 telemark ski that World Cup gave to me. Ski very well for a skinny ski.

Jan. 10, 2000
Patrol day. Only made 4 runs but one was down the facet sign line. Super sweet.

Jan. 11, 2000
Patrol day was very cold but on good snow.

Jan. 12, 2000
Patrol day.

Jan. 13, 2000
I skied Max’s south face in perfect conditions. 2 hours on the resort later

Jan. 14, 2000
Patrol day.

Jan. 15, 2000
Night ski patrol.

Jan. 16, 2000
Fred, Crazy Craig and I skied Silvertip Mountain. 4000’ vertical climb on super slabby snow over 3 and1/4 hours. Lower 2000’ was good skiing. Later, that night, 7 of us climbed and skied the headwall. I skied Slowboy #1 at 12:30am by moonlight.

Jan 17, 2000
Patrol day.

Jan. 18, 2000
Patrol day. Max’s face was opened for first time this year.

Jan. 19, 2000
Patrol day.

Jan. 20, 2000
Skied 10:30-12:30. Climbed 1000ft up Indianhead Mountain. Turned around because of shitty snow. Skied again from 3pm-5:30. At 7pm some of us rode the Tram up to look at the lunar eclipse. Rode our shovels down the mountain. We then finished the day off by climbing up to treeline on Max’s to ski down. Good day.

Jan. 21, 2000
Patrol day. Freeskied 6pm-9:30.

Jan. 22, 2000
Freeskied 12:30-3:30. Went to town to climb and ski Flattop. Bad snow. Skied mountain from 7:30-8:30pm. Crashed hard, lost ski, hurt shoulder, neck and hip. Not good.

Jan. 24, 2000
Stormed so much that the mountain could not open. Patrol skied from 9am to 12pm. Very deep snow.

Jan. 25, 2000
Turned bluebird. Good pow day.

Jan. 26, 2000
More storm, more snow.

Jan. 27, 2000
Partly cloudy after more snow.

Jan. 28, 2000
Freeskied till 2pm. Chair 6 shut down early. Patrolled Chair 4 till 10pm.

Jan. 29, 2000
Avy control work from 9am to 12pm. Freeskied to 3pm then from 5pm-7pm. Storm total was 84”.

Jan. 29-Feb. 4, 2000
Went to town to see movie with Katy in evening. On our way home we saw that the road was closed due to avy danger on highway. Ended up being stuck in Anchorage at a hotel that Katy’s mom paid for. The road was closed for 5 days. Storm total 200+ inches. The mountain never opened and the town of Girdwood went into marshal law and they tried to stop people from buying alcohol. Sounded like fun.

Feb. 5, 2000
Night ski patrol. Nobody on mountain.

Feb. 6, 2000
Fresskied 2hours.

Feb. 7, 2000
Hans and I climbed Indianhead Mountain. 3hrs up and one hour down. Nice technical ridge to top. Saw coyote stalking sheep.

Feb. 8-22, 2000
Nothing but patrol days. Lots of coffee drinking. On the 10th I moved out of my house into tiny, 1/2 cabin in the middle of the woods. We built the place a few years ago in anticipation of it serving just this purpose. We named it the ‘Glacier Creek Climbing Compound’ or The Compound for short. My plan is to climb Mt. McKinley in May so I need to brush up on my winter camping skills. What better way then living outside in the middle of winter full time? I have a good setup with Ski Patrol though. I keep all of my ski gear and whatnot in the heated locker room. Nonetheless, I am outside for almost 24 hours a day.

Feb. 23, 2000
Hans and I skied 2 laps on Tincan Proper.

Feb. 24, 2000
Patrol day.

Feb. 25, 2000
Hans and I skied Fish’s Breath under blue skies. 2500 vertical, 45 deg pool table. Hans made some huge turns and crashed while I zippered the whole thing.

Feb. 26-March 3, 2000
More patrol days. Some hot cocoa and coffee.

March 5-8, 2000
More patrol days. More coffee.

March 9, 2000
Hans, Thad, Ryan and I skied west face of Pyramid Peak. 3300’ foot of pool table. More concave than Fish’s Breath. Lots of turns down to Seattle Creek than skated on sea ice back up beach. Maddie vomited on Hans on the way home.

March 10, 2000
Hans and I skied Big League Proper. 5o deg at top, 2000’ in chute. Another big line checked off of the list. Patrolled at night.

March 12, 2000
I freeskied 10:30-4:30. Very good day.

March 13, 2000
Patrol day.

March 14, 2000
Patrol day.

March 15-17, 2000
Patrol days.

March 18-19, 2000
Freeskied.

March 20-24, 2000
Patrol days.

March 26, 2000
I went to eat Easter Dinner with Katy and her mom at the Pond Café. Hans was our waiter and unbeknownst to me, he dosed my Shirley Temple with LSD. Crazy shit transpired.


March 27, 2000
Patrol day.

March 28, 2000
I got to forerun the course for the Red Bull World Freeskiing Championships that is being held at Alyeska Resort. Even though I was not an actual competitor, the judges said I would have scored in Top 3. I got to ski fall line off of “Pad’s Birthday”. There was write-up in Outside Magazine about me. That was cool.

"At about 1pm, the first skier comes down. Aiming directly for a minefield of rock looming at 50 degrees over the gullet of Christmas Chute, he punches his hands forward to accelerate and, without moving his tips from the fall line, knocks off three butter-smooth turns on vertical scraps of snow, floats over ten feet of reef, and disappears down another chute. It's exactly the type of skiing I'd hoped to see, and the judges rank him in the top five for the day. (I rank him first; he skied the hardest line and he isn't even competing. He's a 19-year-old Alyeska ski patroller named Jake Young, who fore-ran the course for the hell of it.)"
Outside Magazine, April 2000.

March 29-30, 2000
Patrol days.

March 31, 2000
Freeskied. 2:30-5:30.

April 1, 2000
Freeskied 10:30-2:30

April 2, 2000
Freeskied 10:30-11:30

April 3, 2000
Patrol day.

April 8-9, 2000
Freeskied.

April 10, 2000
Patrol day.

April 12, 2000
Thad and I went to Whistler/Blackcomb, B.C. Hot, sunny, spring conditions. Huge mountain.

April 13, 2000
More sun on Blackcomb.

April 14, 2000
1 foot of new snow to cover moguls.

April, 15, 2000
Another foot of snow.

April 19, 2000
Back in Girdwood, skinned up Alyeska.

April 21, 2000
Freeskied Alyeska on 1’ fresh, good snow.

April 22 ,2000
Freeskied in sun.

April 23, 2000
Skied 1 hour, climbed Sunshine Ridge.

April 25, 2000
Skinned in to camp at Rabbit Valley but weather moved in and the snow was bullet proof so we bailed.

April 26, 2000
Hans, Maddie and I climbed Max’s in the sun. Good corn snow. I then biked to town in 2:45:00. Good day.

April 27, 2000
Maddie and I climbed to 3000’ level on Rainbow Peak. Nice day.

April 28, 2000
Thad, Jared, Maddie and I climbed Indianhead Mountain to ski prominent southwest facing notch. At the top we decided to drop in to the Northwest face and ski out of Falls Creek drainage. I made 3 turns into the run and saw that the snow was way harder than on the south side, and WAY steep. Could not even really side step back out. Had to call Maddie repeatedly to come down to me so we could traverse together into the safer chute 100’ to skiers left. She finally came to me. I than kick turned and started to traverse slowly. One second later I see out of the corner of my eye, Maddie ricocheting down the mountain, 100’ at a time. She then disappeared off of 500’ cliffs and ended up crumpled at the bottom of the run, 1500’ down. It was too icy for her, we should not have been there. She was dead when I got the bottom 1 minute later.

Mountains have the power to call us to their realms and there, left forever, are our friends whose great souls were longing for the heights. Do not forget the mountaineers who have not returned from the summit. ---Anatoli Boukreev

April 29, 2000
Skied Alyeska to clear my mind.

April 30, 2000
Freeskied Alyeska again.

May 3, 2000
Skied Tican from heli pad. Bluebird

May 4, 2000
Skied Tincan from heli pad again. Weather moved in.

May 6, 2000
Skied Tincan under perfect skies.

May 7, 2000
I had to go back up to Falls Creek to move Maddies body from the trail. Apparently, last week after I had carried her body as far as I could, the snow had melted and I had actually left her right on the trail that I did not know made switch back right there under the snow. Someone read her name and # from her collar and called to say she was in the trail.

Went and skied Telemark Ridge in pm.

May 8, 2000
Ryan and I skied Tincan under blue skies. Ryan caught his cheek with his ski tip and it required 7 stitches.

May 9, 2000
Worked out at the Glacier Creek Climbing Compound. That is the squatters cabin I built a couple of years ago that I have been living in since Feb. 10, 2000. Ryan is moving out to join me so we have to build an edition.

May 11, 2000
Skied from top of Tanaka. Climbed Rainbow Peak, went back ridge a ways, crossed McHugh creek drainage and gained ridge behind McHugh Peak. Descended off of McHugh Peak to parking lot. 1 hour walk to car. 7000’ day.

May 12, 2000
Finished Ryan’s Compound edition.

May 13, 2000
Skied Alyeska. Sunny, hot.

May 15, 2000
Abe, Ryan and I climbed about 2000’ up East Twin Peak in Eklutna.

May 16, 2000
Skied Tincan with a bunch of people. Very avy prone. Nice day though.

May 17, 2000
Skied magnum with Ryan and Abe. Good 2000’ run. Found good kicker, I tried backflip and rodeo. Crashed.

May 19, 2000
Skied on kicker on Tanaka for 2 hours. Skied kicker in Turnagain in evening.

May 20, 2000
Patrol day on Alyeska. Good corn skiing in warm weather.

The only consolation the oppressed have is the superiority they have over their tyrants.

May 21, 2000
Freeskied Alyeska for 2 hours. Snow never softened up.

May 22, 2000
Abe and I climbed some mountain up Highland Road. 1 hour up, shovel ride down. In the evening I skinned up Alyeska, 45min to Roundhouse.

May 23, 2000
Skied Alyeska from 1/2 pipe down. Security caught us. Canoed Glacier Creek from Compound to Tesoro.


May 24, 2000
Skied Sunburst in sunny conditions.

May 25, 2000
Skied sunburst again. Sunnier.

May 27, 2000
Soloed up Pastoral in 2:10:00. 65 deg.

May 28, 2000
Started up towards Kickstep by myself but had no energy.

May 29, 2000
Skied Alyeska. Hot, good, snow.

May 30-June 11, 2000
Lost track of days. Skied the prominent, north facing line of Explorer Peak. Ran a couple of times, did intervals up Tanaka twice. 3 laps, 4:00, 3:30, 3:20. Hard. Going to do intervals 3 times a week. Bird Ridge race is in 2 weeks. Hope to not be sick like I was for Eklutna Race (today) Very lazy last 2 weeks. Up 12ish something here something there. I need more focus. I think I am just worn out from 2 months of physical exertion with poor nutrition. With mountain climbing, skiing, mountain biking, running, weightlifting on my agenda, I better start fueling myself better.

June 15, 2000
Been sick for about 5 days. Trying to get over it by not doing anything. Still managed to play soccer/Frisbee/football for 2 hrs last night. Today Ryan and I smuggled our skis up the Tram and skied Slowboy #1. Dropped in around 11:30pm.

June 16, 2000
Skied DF Couloir. First time for me. About 4ft wide in gut. Good run.

June 17, 2000
Skied All-Star Peak and Judge’s Chute by myself. Cloudy, good snow.

June 18, 2000
Abe, Ryan and I skied Big League and then 1/2 of All-Star then Judge’s Chute. Shitty weather, good snow.

June 19, 2000
Abe, Ryan and I went to Seward to camp at Caines Head. Pouring rain so we turned back. Saw otter. I moved out of the Compound and back to Anchorage where I am taking some summer classes at the university. (never made it to McKinley)

June 20, 2000
Abe, Ryan, Ben D. and I went to ski in Whittier. Shitty jungle climbing with skis on. 1000’ ski down. Mandatory river crossing. Abe got swept downstream 200yards. Funny.

June 21, 2000
Ryan and I skied from the toe of Byron Glacier. Nice snow. Ryan straight lined 100 yards of glacier ice.

June 23, 2000
Ryan and I skied on the jumps up in Glacier Bowl. I did my first backflip, 720, almost 900, 360 Screamin Semem, Misty 360. We got it all on tape.

June 24, 2000
I biked Gull Rock trail. 45min.

June 25, 2000
The Dudley’s and I biked to Bench Lake from the north trailhead of Johnson Pass. 1:20 in 1:00 out.

June 26, 2000
Abe and I climbed up the Ramp and then across Ship Pass and off of the Wedge. 4500’, 12miles, 6 hours.

June 28, 2000
I successfully ran myself into the dirt faster then ever. I climber Alyeska 5 times. That is 10’000 ft in 4 and half hours. (1/2 hour for Tram downloads) With nothing but a bowl of oatmeal in me, I climbed to the point of hallucinations on the last tram ride down. Fun, I suppose, but I was very hungry. Went and ate Chinese food then played soccer for an hour 10pm-11pm.

June 30, 2000
Climber Alyeska one time. Biked Winner Creek trail. 40min in, 40min out.

July 9, 2000
Fred and I climbed Williwaw Peak. Went up Football Field, up Middle Fork Drainage, up snow couloir. We then descended into Ship Creek drainage and climbed up and out Shop Pass. 6:20:00 with 7500 vertical feet.

July 16, 2000
Fred and I went for South Suicide Peak but were turned back by 60+mph wind and driving rain. 3hrs, 4500 feet.

July 22, 2000
I biked 3 laps on the 24 Hours of Alaska race with Fred, who was competing. 3:45, 33miles. Sore from not biking in month.

July 23, 2000
I biked up to Powerline Pass by myself and climbed Avalanche Peak.

July 25?, 2000
Climbed up saddle of O’Malley then across valley to the saddle of Flattop. Three hours total.

July 28, 2000
I climbed Wolverine with Ryan and Abe. 1 and 1/2 hour up.

July 30, 2000
Fred, Abe and I climbed Pioneer Peak. 6910’? 3 and half to the top.

July 31, 2000
I took Po up Flattop Mountain. His first mountain ever. He did real good for being 12 weeks old.

August 1, 2000
Fred, Abe and I climbed the south face of Indianhead Mountain up to the sketchy section.
Windy and yucky out.

August 7? 2000
Abe and I climbed Alyeska 3 times. Very boring. 6000’, 3 and half hour.

August 9, 2000
Climbed 10 laps on the stairs at Hilltop.

August 10, 2000
Climbed 12 laps on the stairs at Hilltop.

August 11, 2000
Biked to rock wall 25min. Climbed 45min. Biked home 20minutes.

August12, 2000
Did Alyeska Mountain Run. 26min up, 38 roundtrip, 6th place. Very sore from down hill run.

August 14, 2000
Ran 1 and half hours with Amy D. around Kincaid. 1st run in a long time.

August 15, 2000
Ran 1hour at Kincaid with Amy. Later, ran on hilltop stairs 8 laps.

August 16, 2000
Ran 3 laps on Hilltop in am, Bike 2hours with Fred in evening.

August 17, 2000
Climbed at gym 3-4 then 8-9.

August 18, 2000
Swam for 40min.

August 21, 2000
Ran Hilltop stairs 10 times/ climbed at gym 1 hour/ swam 100 laps in 1 hour.

August 22, 2000
Swam 80 laps, climbed at gym 1 hour.

August 23, 2000
Finally got around to skiing glacier ice on Byron Glacier. Not fun and dangerous. Rock climber 1 hour, swam 1 hour.

August 24-Sept. 1, 2000
Either swimming, rock climbing or running every day.