Back on Thompson Pass, we rustled up a few snowmobiles and spun party laps for a day. Here, Eric Jackson digs in. LIFTOFF The thrum of an incoming helicopter stirs me from a restless sleep. I open my eyes to yellow-tinted light as JC pops his head through the vestibule of our tent. “Your ride’s here! First four ready to go, load up!” He’s wide-eyed, but not panicked—moving efficiently, as a guide should. The skies behind him are gray. It’s still snowing lightly. I can’t see the mountains. Liam and Blair begin milling around the tent’s little propane heater, assembling gear as the mole hole crew departs. We hear the helicopter again before we can see it. I’m surprised the heli came back for a second load. Everything’s moving so fast. We scramble inside. I close my eyes and feel liftoff. Count to five, count backward to one. Slow down the count. I hate these fucking machines. I love this helicopter. We swoop and bounce through eternal white. My mouth still tastes like sleep. The ride smooths out and I open my eyes. There’s a snowbound river below, then some bare ground. Then the parking lot in a time warp. It’s a ghost town, save for a few remaining ASG staff who are packing up operations for the season. The heli is grounded, waiting for another window to pull Champ, JC, Ryan and Danny out of the field. It won’t come until tomorrow morning. E-Jack turns on playoff hockey in one of the RVs. There are deci-sions to make. It just snowed a ton. We sat through the storm. The sun is coming. We need a heli, a pilot, a guide, snowmobiles, money to pay for all of it. We need a plan. Couldn’t it be as simple as gla-cier life? Anxiety creeps back in. I’m bored of the internet within an hour. We all are. We can see the mountains, and there is hardly a track on them. A huge thank you to Jason Champion, Dave Geis, and the rest of the Alaska Snowboard Guides crew. To book you own AK adventure visit alaskasnowboardguides.com. THOMPSON PASS 079
The Snowboarder's Journal frequency 17.2: Page 79
