We should start off by mentioning that Alyeska received 48 inches of snow the Monday through Thursday prior to us getting there, with 24 inches of that falling on Thursday night, the evening we checked into our Asian Motif condo.
We woke up Friday morning ready to ski. Glenn had a good friend, Joel, that was down in Girdwood for the weekend, so we had the privilege of an experienced 'guide' to show us the way of the mountain on Friday. Joel had heard that the lifts weren't going to open until 11:30, which was what the resort had posted on their website. We decided to show up for the regularly scheduled first chair, and, sure enough, they opened the lifts early. This thwarted the morning crowds, and allowed us an hour or so of fresh tracks in knee deep powder on the east access of the mountain.
After over hearing talks of the patrollers opening the North Face (the North side of the mountain that is steep and completely ungroomed), we decided to go wait by the gate for them to open the North Face.
Again, we were pretty lucky, because as soon as we skied up they opened the gate, allowing us access to the face of the mountain that hadn't been skied all week.
Let's just say 24 inches of powder overnight leads to fresh tracks all day and face shots following every turn. It was Epic.
We didn't take many picture while we were actually skiing (that would be foolish, because nobody stops on a powder day), but here is a glimpse of our trip:
A birds-eye view of our condo. Pretty awesome Kitchen!
Imagine my dismay when I went to tap the keg and the tap handle was BROKEN. Thankfully, the men were able to utilize a hair tie and enable the tapper to push through about 6 oz of beer every 10 minutes. Sam flew in the next day into Anchorage, and was able to pick up a new tap from the Moose's Tooth, which worked.
The entrance to our Condo. Ski in, Ski out, with a couple blocks of urban streets (lined & covered with snow) to navigate on the way to the ski hill.
Gearing up to ski.
Yeah Toast!!!
Waiting for the rest of the group to get ready, Jackie and Bri climbed the MASSIVE snow bank next to the driveway.
The streets of Girdwood.
A shot of Glenn and Bri on the lift behind us. Turnagain Arm (saltwater) can be seen in the background.
After an EPIC day of powwwwder shredding, we hit Turnagain Arm for the sunset, a beer, and some hacky sack.
Looking South down the arm towards Moose Pass and the Kenai.
Our good friends Glenn and Bri. They are getting married in Cordova in June.
Sending my parents a picture message.
The crew.
My beverage of choice for the Sunset. A Chatoe Rogue First Growth Pumpkin Patch Ale, probably the cleanest, crispest Pumpkin ale I have had in years....
Final shot on the ARm. Pink Clouds.
Saturday= Drink whiskey and night ski. Walking to the mountain.
Night lifts! Quaffing an Alaskan White and PBR while we ride.
Did we mention it was night powder skiing?!
The wicked shot Bri scored of Jackie during night skiing evening #2. It was blowing and snowing. Hard.
The meat eaters bought several pounds of bacon at Costco, and griddled the rest up the morning of departure. Yes, it was smoked peppered bacon.
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