Powder Photo Archives
Another quality day in the backcountry has hopes high for a good season. Clint Butler, Simon Evans, and I skied Turnagain Pass on Sunday, December 4. In the last week 12"-14" of new snow fell in the Girdwood and Turnagain area. Recently temperatures have ranged from –10 F to 10F. There’s a healthy supply of nice light snow but the low temps have also created a substantial surface hoar in the area.
Our long-term outlook regarding this snowpack is a little sketchy. Snowpack layers consist of depth hoar, wet snow, surface hoar, rain crust, and now a couple feet of cold, light snow. Add some wind and things could get interesting. Yesterday we got lucky with weather and line selection. It bluebird with no wind and we skied a fairly stable aspect. Conditions are thin, I hit a couple rocks but it's still early in the season. Overall, a quality day free of incident.
- Jason Scheben
TGR hit the East Coast with force this year with stops from Portland, ME on down to Philly. Dave Hudacsko, TGR Tour Director, did a grueling 10 shows in a row keeping up with the local partiers at each stop. The Tangerine Dream was well recieved across the board with the best party at the Avalon in New York City. Along for the ride to keep the party hoppin' this year was Mixmaster Mike along with other music acts including J-Live. The Tangerine Dream Movie Tour wraps up this year with a stop in Park City on Dec. 9th. Finally, it's time to ski....
-Chad Jackson
Photos by Ian and Julian Fohrman
On November 12th we headed up to Turnagain Pass to ski some more early season Alaska backcountry. The area had received about a foot of new snow. Fueled by the suprisingly good conditions a week ago we had to check it out again.
It was a perfect day--clear, no wind, and about 20 degrees F. A bluebird day in AK always blows the mind! We skied some steep north facing lines and with the foot of fresh, snowpack was still stable. Clint Butler skied the most filled-in line and charged it with confidence. Conditions are still thin--being cautious and light on your feet is wise--but considering it's mid November, the stoke is easy to find. - Jason Scheben
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Slashing some early season turns? Email tess@powdermag.com with pics and a report.
Photos by Matt Niederhauser