Cool, we need to stay in touch for this winter when I come up. I did`nt know about Alpenglow. I knew there was Hilltop, but heard it was small and flat. I hear a guy talk about Hatcher, maybe if we can get together we can plan to do it if the snow is good. Its nice to have a local guide for that kind of thing...
Last year a buddy of mine on this forum (Ak-Man) began snowboarding and was getting lots of advice here on the foorum and we started talking. I am an instructor at Mt. Hood Meadows. He was going to come down here, but things changed and he paid for my travel up there to teach him and his kids to snowboard. What is cool is he had access to a condo untit literaly right across the parking lot from chair 4. We would sit and wathc the grooming cats on the hill from the condo! Every day we would ride and I would do some teaching then after lunch I would hit the entire mountain. Would spend all day up on Chair 6 until night then it was laping Cahair 1. My favorite run was the gnarly rocks/pillows down Gear Jammer. I would play around on picnic rock on the way down to the midway loading point of Chair 1 then down Gear Jammer I would go! Love that run.
I did a lot of High Traverse as well as the north face when it was open. Yes I dropped Christmas chute multiple times and I have a fun video of me dropping it after it got icy in the narrow section. Ski patroller Jeff took the vide; he had just opened it for the day and we were the first two to ride it. they later closed it due to that ice.
My friend and I are planning another meet this winter but will do it later this time in order to try to get a heli day out of Chgiatch Powder Guides. I was there over Christmas and no heli/cat boarding was up and going yet. I had some awesome powder. I flew in on Christams eve and as you know we got good snow that night. They had 26 inches of fresh at the top of the tram. Everyday it snowed a few inches so I had some very, very good pow days...it was the hardest thing to do to get on that plane and leave!
Ak-Man was generous enough to loan me his pickup to drive to Fairbanks so I had a very nice new 4X4 with studded tires to make the trip up. It was mild that week and I only saw -30 one day, the rest of the time it was around -15. Fairbanks had a sucky year for snow and Moose was not open. Mt Auroa was a real surprise to me at how good the terrain was. Had there been about another foot on the base it would have been epic riding. I loved the birch tree runs and really the whole place has a great fee to it. I wrote a report about it and posted here as well as on my blog. I highly recomend you give a try some time. Steve and Linda at the Fairbanks Creek Lodge (also own Mt. Auroa) are wonderfull people and the stay there was so much fun. They feed you a gigantic breakfast and have northern lights viewing at he lodge at night so you can sit by a warm fire and watch the northern lights through floor to ceiling north facing windows!
I loved Chena! that rock pool with all the rime ice formations and colored lights is awesome and I spent a couple of hours in the pool then had a Prime Rib dinner. Also, next time yo get to Fairbanks, you have to eat at the Chena Pump House Saloon. It is right off the Parks HWY as you get into town before the airport. off Chena Pump Road...one mile south on the left. Awesom food and the bar is awesome. After dinner I enjoyed a hot Brandy and a $20 cigar that was to die for!
Ah shit, I love the place so much I get carried away talking about it...Ill shut the hell up now...here is a link to the photos I took up there as well as the video of Christmas Chute and northern lights and the resort review for Fairbanks!
Christmas Chute
Northern Lights over Chena Hot Springs
Alyeska 12/25-12/28
Road Trip to Fairbanks
Alyeska 01/01-01/05
Mt. Aurora Skiland Fairbanks, Alaska Review
Mt. Aurora Fairbanks
Top of Chair 6 ready to drop Christmas Chute
