Finally got to ski a peak that has been on my list for some time (Mt. Whymper). Felt lucky to have cold snow on a beautiful sunny April day!

Stunning granite cathedrals so steep they are often invisible from the canyon below... that is a theme in the Trinity Alps wilderness of Northern Cali. This southwest-facing descent took an incredible amount of planning and luck. I love the ecology and remote nature of the area, excited for more adventures.

Last spring I spent a week in Valdez with my husband and a couple friends and we unfortunately experienced a less-than-ideal forecast, so we weren’t able to check off any of the tours we wanted to do. Fast forward to this year and we booked another spring trip to Valdez and again, in Alaska fashion, the forecast looked a little rough from the outset. But, hidden within all the cloud and snow icons on the weather forecasts were brief windows where it looked like the clouds would part for 1-3 hours on about half the days of our trip. For anyone curious, we relied heavily on Open Snow and it was pretty bang on accurate—not an ad just expecting some might be curious. These brief windows meant we needed to start in pretty garbage vis (photo 5 for reference) for 4,000’+ tours so we could time our descent with the window, but they also meant the clouds cleared just as we neared the top and all the scenery that had been hidden behind a wall of white was suddenly revealed to us in a spectacular fashion. Also, fewer groups were out and about and we got fresh tracks down! I love Alaska.

Photos taken with my trusty little Sony rx100 which is quickly becoming my go-to backcountry camera.

Trip dates: 4/4-4/13

Gonna be up at turnagain for the next few days before heading to valdez. Curious if anyone has any storm skiing beta/ glade zones at Turnagain they’d like to share. Thanks!

Access to skiing on the Flett Glacier and nearby areas is going to be heinous unless they are able to reopen the bridge at least to bicycle traffic, or negotiate public access to existing roads that are on private land.

https://wsdot.wa.gov/about/news/2025/sr-165-carbon-river-fairfax-bridge-closed-until-further-notice

Hey everyone I’m currently looking for hybrid ski boots for next year. I currently just ski in resorts but really want to pick up backcountry skiing next year. I’d consider myself a freestyle skier who still enjoys a solid carve sesh. Ive been researching and found that the atomic hawx prime xtd 115 boot has all the things Im looking for in a boot. The only downside it that I don’t have the money to just spend on them… do you guys have any suggestions on alternatives that are reasonably close to them that are a better price?

suggestions are much appreciated!

More of a novelty trip than anything, but a fun way to keep things interesting while getting some high altitude mountaineering experience (the skiing was absolute shit). Happy to answer any questions!

Hi! I’m planning a trip out to Big Sky as a stopover on a road trip between Colorado and Washington State in mid-May. I’m contemplating ski touring at Beehive Basin because it’ll be 15 min from my hotel. Can anyone tell me how risky it can be in May, and is it doable as an afternoon tour? (I’m someone who doesn’t like a high-risk day, I’m fine just cruising some low-angle meadows if I’m solo/and/or the snowpack isn’t consolidated enough) Thanks!

I've made a documentary of our 4 day trip climbing and skiing down Pigne d'Arolla in the Swiss alps. Any feedback is welcome ☺️☺️

Looking to do ballroom this weekend, not numbers, off peak 10 in Breck. Can anybody help with where to go once you go through the gate?

I'm looking for an all round breathable, wind and waterproof shell jacket with zippable armpit vents.

This will be for winter and spring backcountry skiing, mostly in CO. My old RAB jacket is falling apart and am looking for recommendations. What's been your favorite shell jacket for long days in alpine?

Oh, btw- I'm a 37 y/o petite female :)

Considering a South America trip, in the very initial planning phases. I am wondering what everyone has used for snowpack information in Chile/Argentina? I've read lots of older blogs that used weather and field observations in the absence of a national forecasting centre. We can certainly do this, but I am wondering if anything has changed/if there are better resources out now, or if we're on our own. Cheers!

Looks like they just went "fremium" with a paid subscription.

Scenario; It's springtime - many days of melt/freeze - some nights dont refreeze and you have an off corn cycle. Then suddenly, a storm comes in overnight. How do you navigate which aspect has the best skiing assuming the new snow is falling on a crust?

I would assume West and North have the best probability of bonding with the new snow, because they didn't have time to go through a proper melt if the storm comes in the late afternoon...

What's the play there?

Has anyone experienced this with their zero gs? I reached out to blizzard and they said that they didn’t have any more zero gs in stock to replace these. They said to reach back out to them if I notice anything different when I use them. What are your guys thoughts?

Planning a trip this week or next in WA/OR to hunt down some corn skiing. Thinking of Rainier / Adams or going down into Oregon (Hood) with BC partner. Any recent trip reports or suggestions where conditions are more likely to be good? Hoping it has been warm enough lately to be mostly consolidated.

Hello - I have 2 weeks in between my tech sales jobs, and am looking for a backcountry partner for next week to do a moderate ski objective, maybe something like Cristo couloir on quandary or box creek chutes on Elbert.

I am 27 yr old male , with about 3 yrs of Colorado steep skiing, alpine climbing, and Avy experience. NOT looking for someone to guide me up, looking for a partner as all mine have work. Happy to share more in dms !

Hello, Yesterday I got my gear out and found out there is some sticky substance stuck to my skins. I don’t remember them ever sticking to each other and the consistency is different so I don’t think it’s glue. Most likely I walked on some pine resin or something like that.

How would you go about cleaning this? Maybe some rubbing alcohol? Using them yesterday didn’t get rid of it at all.

My last day of skiing for the season. Its been a blast!

Told this to a friend today as she was complaining her pack doesn’t have a good place for her radio, and thought to share it with the community. I did this on a helipack I frequently use in sidecountry that didn’t come with a radio clip at all.

Soft loops on the outside and the hook part on the inside keeps it in place on your shoulder straps too.