A June Ski Adventure

As someone who has lived in and out of Anchorage for years, I still have a lot of things I want to go do in our very own "front range". The 'S' Couloir on Ptarmigan has been one of those things for years that despite different attempts has never happened for me. So when thinking about what I wanted to do with my day off on a dreary summer day, this seemed like a good option....

Ry, Sonja and I parked down Canyon Creek road and then hiked and skinned down the rabbit lakes trail.

The Joys of Skinning in June

 

So the trail alternated from dry summerish, to wet spring mud, to deep spring snow pretty much all the way back.

The Approach

 

Looking up the 'S' Couloir

 

Unfortunately after going almost a thousand feet up the 'S' couloir, avalanches started coming down uncomfortably close to where we were. After the second one rumbled down, all wet and sloppy we decided to turn around. As we were putting our skis on another avalanche came down just to the left of where we would be bootpacking if we went further up...bummer. It was a fun corn run down from where we were.

I'm not sure why Ry was wearing my coat, but it looked outdoor/clubber/sassy on him.

Ry Modeling my Coat

 

Ry

 

Sonja with the Arm in the Background

 

So even though we didn't get to ski what we wanted we still got 3 bonus runs for taking the awkward approach.

Looking Down a Run of Corn