Archived
Reports from the 2004 Season
Update for season end: MAY 15, 2004
A season to remember! I
said all season what a difference a day can make. Now that the
season has been over for almost 2 weeks I can reflect on a bunch of
things that come to mind. I have just heard it was the 3rd wettest
winter season in Alaskan history. For some of you, you were able to
witness that first hand, making it some of the deepest snow you have
been able to ride in. I can think of one crew that could only come
for 3 days and nailed all 3 with perfect conditions. Others came and
were anxiously awaiting just one of those perfect days. Virtually
everyone that came this year was able to at very least get to see
what the zone looks like. That alone can create dreams and passions
that can last a lifetime. Believe it or not, those that did get just
get a brief moment in the Chugach have already committed to return
next year with great hopes to venture even deeper into the zone.
Many of you are wondering about Dean Conway and his status. Lets
just say, they do not make them any tougher. He has recovered from
his fall down Full Support and needless to say already fired up to
get back out in the zone. In his own words, "I looked over my
shoulder several times and saw nothing. The sluff came from nowhere
and just pummeled me. I am humbled". Conway is on his way to Mexico
for the summer to surf and then back to Anchorage to live for the
summer with Stephanie. He is feeling about 90%. I think Dean should
of been a bull rider.
How about the day at the beach? For those of you that were not
present on this excursion, we were able to get 5 groups into the
zone to ski only to be shut out by the weather around noon and then
proceed to get all 70 plus people (staff, pilots and all guests) to
the beach. This was a day I will remember for sometime. 19 people in
the water surfing the northern most point of the Pacific. 70 plus
enjoying the large bonfire and many of you just enjoying the beach.
North Stars new owner John Hemmingway was even in on the action
proving he had been to a party or two in his college days. Needless
to say flaming Zambooka will never look the same.
The Warren Miller crew wrapped up its trip the last week of the
season as well. Look for our segment in this years fall release. We
were able to capture Pontoon in the late alpenglow. It should be
really good. How can you go wrong with Tom Day filming and world
class athletes and friends such as Micah Black and "big air" Dan
Treadway going off. Dans first turn in AK this year was a solid 50
foot air off the meat of the Strudel cornice landing. Many of you
know where that is and the size of it. It was captured on film and
should be a great part of the segment. Micah skied as solid as ever
and we look forward to the future of more projects together. Both
Micah and I have been working together now for almost 6 years on
various projects. The future has some big plans for us if we can
only make the weather work out. Both Jessica and I will be on tour
with the Warren Miller crew promoting PNH and do look forward to
seeing many of you in your home town. As we get closer, remember to
please drop us a line if you plan on going to the show. We would be
fired up to see you.
As for the future, we have some big plans going on here. A press
release will come to you in the next month or so on just that. Lets
just say "PNH 2" is just around the corner and planed for this
coming spring 2005. I do highly encourage many of you to get your
time scheduled. We are going to busy again and do hope that all of
you will be joining us if not in Cordova at our new location to be
announced soon. Start thinking of names for the many first descents
that await you. Have a great summer and make certain to keep in
touch!
APRIL 23, 2004
Hello to everyone. My apologies
for not staying on top of the reports. The last week has been
crazy around here. Sucker holes, deep snow, 3 helicopters and a
whole lot of people riding the Chugach. Needless to say the
daily report ended up on the back burner. Everyone in house has
been out in the zone. We are all now waiting for the last week
of the season to go blue to the end...we hope. The current
forecast does not look to be in our favor, however as we have
done all season, we will continue to stay positive.
To highlight a few of the past
weeks events, the Warren Miller crew was able to capture Pontoon
in the late alpenglow light with great snow conditions. It
should make for an impressive segment in this falls film. The
Quicksilver crew has been chipping away at their project. Happy
B-day to Bill Silliman, our 62 year old mono mad man. He got to
ski on his birthday. Dean Conway is recovering quickly from his
2000' fall down Full
Support that left him with an extremely sore back and a broken
jaw. We are fired up to see one of our fearless leaders back on
his feet. Lee Dube is recovering as well from his crash and sore
knee. He should be back riding soon. All of us here learned some
big lessons this past week. The Chugach demands respect!
I will leave you with that for now. Here are some great photos
from the past week...Quinner/PNH
APRIL 21, 2004
APRIL 20, 2004
Grey skies have
moved in this morning with some precip up high. After the last 3
days of 10 plus groups moving around the field, the Chugach
needs a cleansing. We actually have tracks everywhere you
look. Overall conditions have been superb! Boot top powder top
to bottom with some good sluffs running on the steeper aspects.
Overall stability on the aspects we are skiing is rated MODERATE
to GOOD. I feel as though every run in the Chugach carries at
least a moderate rating. The cold clear nights have solidified
the snowpack making for really good stability. We are seeing
huge naturals releasing on the south aspects due to the solar
radiation. They are cool to watch from far. Virtually every
south aspect in the zone has slid. The current weather forecast
is calling for the next 36-48 hours to be overcast with some
light precip. Winds are to remain calm. Today everyone is
resting up and getting ready for the next big day. Most are
headed to town or going fishing with the good Dr. Buddy Love.
This morning we had 3 paragliders soar off the ridge for
sunrise. I would like to also welcome our newest guide to the
team, Tal Fletcher.
APRIL 11, 2004
As I continue to say, "what a
difference a day can make". We have sat for sometime, 9 days to
be exact, but it is sure good when its good.
Yesterday we woke up to a partial
clearing and around 9am it went severe clear. All 10 of the
groups were sent into the Chugach like a fire drill. Everyone
came back with lots of runs and of course, huge happy faces. The
speech at dinner was an energetic one, to say the least. With a
weather prediction of 99% positive for blue skies in
the morning, everyone was in bed by 11:00 for breakfast at 7:00
this morning.
Overall snow pack was
considered MODERATE. We did see huge naturals running on all
south aspects everywhere. It is a pretty cool sight to see
mother nature working.....from a distance. Snow conditions were
boot top to shin deep perfection. Powder skiing top to bottom
above 2500' was consistent. We did ski some runs down to lower
elevations to see what we had, but by the most part, everything
below was a bit variable. We kept all the groups in the higher
alpine for the good ski conditions. As most of you know, the
majority of the Chugach ski runs end up on a glacier somewhere
around 2000'-3500' above sea level.
APRIL 5, 2004
Hello to all of you!
We are starting to create quite a
following with these reports. Thank you for your support!
Currently this morning clouds are
still lingering. The current satellite shows a strong low
pressure moving onshore this afternoon. That means more snow.
Imagine that?!*? Everyone went to the local ski hill yesterday,
Mt. Eyak, and found some really good riding. We received about
20cm or so on the upper mountain from the night before. Lower
elevations at the local hill saw rain and snow mix.
Accumulations mounted to about 4cm of the heavy white stuff. The
forecast is not letting up on us. Extended outlook is for more
rain and snow with the wind picking up this afternoon. We are
assuming that overall stability in the zone now is HIGH due to
the high freezing levels and heavy precipitation. We anticipate
seeing another 2-3' of new snow in the zone when we do get back
out. Trying to stay positive here. When we have been out, it has
been the best we have seen. Truly. Extremely deep snow and
perfect conditions top to bottom. The spring jet stream is about
to change on us any day bringing more sunny skies. Everyone is
anxiously awaiting. Today everyone will be back at the local ski
hill Mt. Eyak waiting for the sunny man to show back up. Others
will be out fishing with the good Dr. Buddy love fishing for
winter kings. Yesterday J Kelley caught a 25lb King. Dinner was
good last night needless to say. Fat camp is in full effect!
APRIL 2, 2004
Hello to everyone checking in!
We finally were able to access the zone yesterday. Hurray! Needless
to say we have been sitting for a bit. Riding our local ski hill,
Mt. Eyak every day has been great, but we are all here for the big
mountains of the Chugach. After 6 or 7 days of down, the bright blue
sky and 10 plus feet of new snow in the zone that we woke up to
yesterday was a huge relief for everyone. We pulled the power on the
A-stars at 7am and everyone put their best effort out to ride until
almost dark. Needless to say the 12 hour ski day was a big one. All
groups came back with a ton of runs under their belt and large
smiles. Some Chugach veterans claimed it was the best they have ever
seen.
As I mentioned, the down days we have had, have been good. Everyone
has been riding the local ski hill and conditions have been all
time. Here at the PNH base we have received over 3 feet of snow. The
top of our local ski hill received over 6' plus, at 2000'. Now just
imagine how much new snow we saw yesterday in the fly zone. It is
very hard to determine how much is out there, however, we are "guestamating"
there is around 8-12', depending on were we dug up our data. The
Chugach has so many micro climates that each area we ventured to was
different. Overall stability was MODERATE to CONSIDERABLE. We did
see a few isolated pockets on the NW aspects pull out as we
anticipated. Everything that we did see let loose had no factor on
the groups moving around in the field. Needless to say, when the
Chugach is that good all you can hope for is a few days in a row
like that.
Current weather today back to the grey bird. Currently raining &
snowing sideways with gusts to 50mph out in front of base. The
current satellite is showing a strong low to be on us for awhile.
Lets keep our fingers crossed that it blows through quickly. I just
watched on an Anchorage news station last night that the snowfall
for this past March, was the 4th highest on record. We don't need
any more snow! Enjoy the photos. I believe they speak for
themselves...PNH / Quinner
MARCH 26, 2004
Hello and good morning from the
PNH base. Today is day 2 of low clouds and precipitation. Snow
line is around 500' The top of our local ski hill had 3-5 inches
of new snow yesterday and has continued over night. Thompson
Pass is reporting 8-10 inches of new snow in the last 36 hours.
That means the zone has been freshened up! The current satellite
shows rain and snow for the next day or so. Temps are supposed
to drop below the freezing mark. All of the guests are keeping
themselves busy at the local ski hill and many have found the
halibut fishing as of late to be rally good out in front.
Justin "Droop" caught a 21lb halibut last night along with a
smaller one close to 10 pounds or so. Stay tuned for
more.
MARCH 23, 2004
The last two days have been pretty
darn good! As I mentioned in the last update, it is amazing what a
day or two can make. We went from riding hard wind pack conditions
(not that they still don't exist), to classic Chugach POW with big
sluffs in area's. It is crazy how many different micro climates the
Chugach can hold. We ventured out around Pontoon the last two
days and rode most everything it has to offer. Everyone came back
fired up for tomorrow. The forecast is calling for clear
skies tomorrow however, I think the weather man is still not looking
at the Satellite. On the coast and in the mountains clouds have
moved in. We were virtually pushed out of the hills today due to
clouds and flat light. Hopefully it comes in with some
precipitation. The zone could use a new blanket of the white gold.
Overall stability is rated as MODERATE-GOOD. SOUTH aspects and those
aspects around it, are shedding heavily due to warm temps on the
glacier. Stability is rated at HIGH on those aspects. Enjoy the
photo's. Pontoon is the large peak. As I mentioned, we skied most
everything it has to offer, high and low........Quinner
MARCH 21, 2004
Hello
to everyone!
MARCH 19, 2004
I first
want to thank all of you for checking in on us daily. I have
spoken to many of you about the daily updates and how important
they are to you. The only way we can grow in a positive
direction is by your good reference. I will try to update this
page as often as possible, so make certain to check in daily so
you don't miss out on anything exciting going on here. Truly,
thanks again for everyone's support. This page is for you and
all of those heading to the Chugach.
This
morning we woke up to huge winds out in front here at base.
Winds at 4000 feet are gusting to over 80 mph. The forecast is
showing the winds to diminish after midnight with light and
variable winds for Saturday the 20th. The high pressure that has
moved over our area will persist through the middle of next
week. We should be back skiing by AM tomorrow.
MARCH 16-17, 2004
HOLY
CHUGACH! How many ways can you say UNREAL!
When we
travel all year promoting, one question always come up. When is
the best time to come? Well St. Patrick's day did not let us
down again. 6 years running it is still the single best day of
the year! Both days, the 16th and 17th were truly as good as it
gets. No wind, chest deep snow and an extremely stable snow
pack. All of the guest got to get after it in a big way.
Everyone came back with smiles that could light the town. One
guest said he had no words to describe his emotions. Another
simply said, "I knew it was going to be good, it's Alaska, but I
never imagined it would be like that." Ivar and the Volkl boys
just smiled and shook their heads.
MARCH 13, 2004
Good
morning from Snowy Alaska. Last night we went to bed with high hopes
for a small window of high pressure. Needless to say, that window
closed in on us over night and we woke up to dollar bill sized snow
flakes. It is dumping here at sea level. Current temps are hovering
around the freezing mark here at base. Yesterday everyone went to
the local ski hill, Mt. Eyak and found about 18" of new snow. It was
pretty heavy, however deep and smooth was a refreshing treat from
the heavy rain we have had down low. WE DO NOT NEED ANY MORE SNOW!!!
We have a ton in the zone. Everyone has their long snorkel and scuba
tanks ready for the next fly day. It is going to be DEEP! The
campers are all going thru some good emotions waiting for the sun.
This has been one of our longest down day spells in sometime.
Hayley and Jane had a great day with the good Dr. Buddy Love on his
boat. They came back with a 26 lb. King Salmon. Overall, everyone is
getting out and still having a good time aside from the snowy
weather. It looks as though we are in for a few more days of the
grey bird. All of the forecasts for next week are showing a high
pressure system to prevail. We have our fingers crossed.
Here are some images from the other day. We can't wait to see
how much snow has fallen on top of this as soon as the weather
breaks!
Thought we would add some images from our early morning weather check
team below. Actually these are simply amazing shots of what is
going on above Alaska in the early mornings!
MARCH 10, 2004
Currently snowing at sea level. Skies appear to be clearing. Last
night we recorded 130 mph winds for about an hour or so. The
aircraft spun around 180 degrees on the heli pad. Quite a sight.
Current temps here at base are hovering around the freezing point.
Everyone here at base has headed off to the local ski area for the
day. The forecast is calling for cold and drier conditions. We will
see.....Here is a shot from this afternoon's clearing. The other two
photos are from our last ski day, two days ago. Stay tuned.
MARCH 8, 2004
Good
afternoon Heli-Skiers!
We woke up today with deep blue skies and over a foot of fresh
snow here at sea level. After venturing into the zone we found
over 2 feet of new snow plus. Needless to say, today was one to
remember. I feel for all of those who come to Alaska praying for
a day like today and get weather instead, being left to wonder
if the trip is really worth it. After today, I assure you, it is
well worth the wait. All of the guests have come back stating
the same thing......WOW.. The forecast has been torturing us
this season, but we have been able to get out a bit. The Chugach
is set up like we have not seen in years. Huge sluffs and deep
snow have made remarkable conditions. Our only wish is that we
get more sunny skies. We have plenty of snow.
Overall snowpack stability today would be considered
CONSIDERABLE. We did have a large slide rip out in "Butter bowl"
today. Luckily everyone was alright. The slide peeled out on the
old snow surface creating a 2 foot soft slab running about 1000'
into the valley. The skier that triggered the slide was the 6th
rider on the slope and the 1st rider in the second group. This
goes to show that skiing 1 by 1 in the backcountry is very
important. We never load a slope with more than 1 rider at a
time, ever. No other activity was witnessed, aside from the
common small point releases on the south facing slopes. The
satellite appears to be bringing us clear skies tomorrow,
however the predicted forecast has been wrong everyday. I would
really like to meet the guy who produces the forecast reports. I
wonder if he is even looking at his data or simply guessing.
Anyhow, life in Cordova is good and all of us have had to loosen
our belt buckles another notch, thanks to our great chefs and
the grey skies we have seen as of late. Stay tuned for more
reports from the zone as the season progresses. Enjoy the
photos....PNH
MARCH 3, 2004
Good
morning from the PNH base. Currently skies look to be lifting
after the last 4 days of heavy precipitation. The outlook for
the weekend is shaping up to be quite good. We are guessing that
the zone has received over 2 feet of new snow above the 2500'
mark. Current temps here at sea level are averaging around 34 F,
winds are calm. Stay tuned for the update once we get into
the zone.
GOOD NEWS TO ALL CLIENTS COMING. Points North is now offering
wireless internet access via DSL @ 802.11. Bring your laptop
and your smart card and you are connected. This is huge for us
as we are now the ONLY heli-ski operation in all of Alaska
offering its clients wireless DSL access to the internet. The
season is getting ready to fire off to a great start and we are
extremely excited with all of the current events. Deep snow, a
new 87 foot boat with heli-pad, 3 A-stars and now wireless
internet. Its good to be setting standards. Points North is the
place to be this spring. We look forward to seeing everyone
soon.
FEBRUARY 27, 2004
Currently snowing at sea level. The current temperature at sea level
is 30 degrees. We feel as though this weak front will be gone by
Sunday leaving the fly zone with new snow everywhere. 1-3 inches of
snow is forecasted for Cordova today. That means another 6-12 inches
in the zone. Keep checking back.
FEBRUARY 26, 2004
Today
was one of those days to remember. PONTOON IS OPEN! The PNH staff
have been blessed all week with great weather. Skydives and deep
Alaskan pow have put smiles on the entire staff. Its too bad that the
guests don't arrive for another week. Each year we arrive 2 weeks
prior to guests so that the PNH guides can train and get a good
grasp on the snow pack, but not like this. The entire PNH staff has
been able to venture into the zone and get cold face shots,
literally for the past 3 days. The Chugach snow pack is set up now
like never before. Cold clear nights have stabilized the snow pack,
allowing us to pursue those big, steep, 55 plus degree faces.
Needless to say, we are extremely fired up for the season to begin.
We have been getting a lot of calls regarding the weather forecast.
We have A saying up here in Alaska. "If you don't like the weather,
wait 15 minutes". The forecast called for rain and fog all week. We
have not seen a single cloud for a few days. It is important to
remember that the forecast for Cordova is not always accurate to
where we fly. A lot of times we are far above the marine layer and
bad weather that is taking place here in town at sea level. The
current weather discussion is predicting high pressure to develop in
about 60 hours, after the weak low pressure front that is
approaching tonight passes through . I feel as though from the look
at the current satellite, that the forecast discussion is pretty
accurate. The storms SW of us appear as though they are going to
pass underneath us. Lets keep our fingers crossed for sunny skies
when the guests arrive.
FEBRUARY 24, 2004
Today was a bit drizzly and we were unable to get out into the zone
with the helicopters. Of course, that means another fresh coat
of snow out there when it clears. However, that doesn't mean
we didn't play as hard as we could. What else would you expect
at this camp for big kids? We packed up the heli with three
skydivers and a paraglider. Pilot Ken fired up the heli,
causing a wave of excitement on the front deck of the NEFCO.
With the heli loaded, we were off. After four amazing drops,
and a few photos to capture the smiling faces, it was time for
another. As the sun was thinking of dipping under the
mountains on the other side of the Sound, we could here Quinner
yelling at Head Cook J. Kelley - "Pack up your rig...let's go
again!"
FEBRUARY 23, 2004
Today skies are overcast with light precipitation falling. The
forecast for the rest of the week is looking to be in our favor
starting Wednesday.
FEBRUARY 22, 2004
The Zone is officially open! Today proved just we have been thinking
here at base. HOLY SNOW! It is definitely a different season. Each
year that we return to the zone is always a treat. This year in
particular, as we are seeing the zone look different than we have
seen in the years past. All of the true NW, W, SW and South aspects
are loaded heavily. More snow in places than we have seen in years
if not ever.
We skied 4 runs today on 4 different aspects. Our snow
profiles looked outstanding. We did see old releases that took place
on virtually all aspects around the 1800' - 2000' elevation as we
were flying into the zone. An additional 2 plus feet of snow fell on
top of that and proved to be stable.
We did some serious digging today and all of our pit profiles
appeared to be close to the same report. All pits were 400cm deep
(overkill, but we needed to see everything) we had a moderate sheer
at 76cm down from the top. The entire column above and below the
76cm mark proved to be very solid and could not produce any sort of
sheer, even after tossing the entire column down slope and rolling
as one big block for several 100 yards. Due to the extremely deep
snow, sluffs were at a minimum and all of us that went out came back
with the same conclusion. The overall snow pack that we experienced
first hand is very deep. The overall stability from yesterday is
logged as moderate.
FEBRUARY 21, 2004
Heavy
rain at sea level. Snow / freeze line is around 1800'
Wind is 20-30 with gusts to 45 mph from the SE.
Heavy snow is reported above 2500' with white out conditions.
Thompson Pass is reporting heavy snow.
It looks as though we could have a break in a day or so. The storm
appears to be moving in a northern direction and we are hoping that
some clear skies are to follow from what we see on the satellite. We
are optimistic. Make sure to checkout the new web cams on our site (see
right sidebar) to see
for yourself what we have going on up here!
FEBRUARY 20, 2004
Points
North is proud to announce it's newest edition to its fleet...The
Maritime Maid. This beautiful 85 foot vessel can take you to
places no other heli operation in the world can. You and 7 friends
can have this adventure all to yourselves for a 7 day adventure of a
lifetime.
FEBRUARY 19, 2004
We were very pleased with 2 1/2 feet of fresh on top of High Voltage
yesterday. Mountains are looking covered and ready for the
season. We have also received fresh snow here at the base.
FEBRUARY 17, 2004
I think J. Kelley summed it
up best. "Quinner, the mountains look swollen!" From down
here at the lodge it looks as though
their is a ton of snow up high. More than we have seen this time
of year since our first season. The ski area is also looking pretty
good. Kip and I went up AJ's
yesterday for a hike to see how things were looking. We found 4-6 inches of
perfection to almost the tree line. There are no signs of any
natural slides that we can see. There is nothing new here at
base, just cold. Driving over Thompson Pass was 14 degrees F
and it was 34 in Valdez. We had some great ice climbing in Keystone
Canyon just outside town.
The Heli's arrive tomorrow! Yes
it is the earliest that the heli's will have arrived since PNH
started. We are anxious to get things going. It has
been BLUE BIRD since we arrived in Cordova. Looks to be changing however as we speak. Still really
cold. Forecast is claiming snow.
Zone Reports
2007 Reports
2006 Reports
2005 Weeks 5 thru 9
2005 Weeks 3
& 4
2005 Weeks 1
& 2
2004 Reports
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