Mary Rand heading south for an afternoon lap on day two with camp as a tiny blip bottom right. HOME IS WHERE YOU PITCH IT Camp, at about 4,500 feet of elevation, appears below as a small web of trails, kicked in by co-guide Jonathan “JC” Cahill, Danny Wilkin-son and Ryan Thomford. Danny and Ryan, snowboarders from Colo-rado, were clients during the first year of Tour Camp. They liked it so much they signed on as employees for subsequent seasons. There are platforms where the tents and kitchen will go, along with a stack of gear, long-lined in by the bird that morning. “What do you think?” Champ asks. He waits with equal parts pride and concern for me to take it all in. From a relatively straightforward westerly ramp to mellow turns to the south and an imposing, steep face bisected by a couple of chutes due north, our immediate vicinity holds enough diversity to stay busy through most conditions. Farther to the north, the glacier shows its icy teeth over a roll then carries on to some steeper ridges. Beyond that, the Chugach, forever. “A lot of options,” I reply. Once camp is set up, Mary, Blair, Champ and I set out to ascend the closest target: the western face. It’s smooth going up the gut and the ridgeline to our left waits in the afternoon sun. Halfway up, we stop for a break, looking down upon camp, now a tiny blip on a mas-sive expanse of ice. “I can see my house from here,” Blair says. Post-holing up a crusty old sluff track, we top out on a craggy ridge. Across the next glacier is a large avalanche crown, kicked off by a group of heli-boarders that morning. It changes the mood, but we still feel confident in the face, having ascended the middle of it. The other three begin skooching toward the far shoulder while I wait to docu-ment their descent. Then clouds roll in. In the Alaskan alpine, you need light. It is our first sign of weather and transforms what we hoped would be deep, fast turns into a blind creep down our ascent track. On the plus side, Danny has the grill firing on the glacier. In the morning, we’ll chop blocks of snow to fortify the kitchen and our three tents against the wind, then head out for some turns when the sun breaks through in the afternoon. In between, we’ll learn a bit about glacier travel from Champ and JC. The next day, we’ll do the same, mi-nus the sun. Forecasts are calling for weather, but it doesn’t look too bad. In retrospect, we probably should have spent more time building those walls. THOMPSON PASS 073
The Snowboarder's Journal frequency 17.2: Page 73
