Indian to Arctic

On the spur of the moment and with a good weather forecast, Per Arne and I decided on Friday evening to ski the Arctic to Indian trail the next day.  To simplify the logistics, Per Arne started at the Arctic (North) end and I skied from the Indian (South) end.  We met at the middle and exchanged car keys. 

I have done the Arctic to Indian traverse many times before, but always as touring with a group of people.  This time I decided to make it a workout.  Going fairly light but with back-country skies, I used 3:45 on the roughly 20 mile traverse.  Rode Multigrade wax gave good grip all the way except the last hills up to the Arctic Valley trailhead.  A blue-bell day, about 25 degrees F at the start, and 2 inches of fresh powder at the pass made it a fantastic traverse.

Map of the Arctic to Indian traverse

Looking up Indian valley early in the morning.  The mountain in the mist is Avalanche Peak.

View of Turnagain Arm from high in the Indian Valley.

Powerline Pass with Homocide Peak on the left and Avalanche Peak on the right.  One of my favorite crust-ski gully is the right-hand gully leading down from the low-point on Powerline Pass.

Halfway across I met up with Per Arne for a brief rest stop and exchange of car-keys.

Arctic to Indian - March 2009

Arctic to Indian - 16.5 miles
March 14th, 2009

The Arctic to Indian traverse crosses the Chugach State Park East of Anchorage. It is a 16.5 miles mellow ski from Arctic Valley North of Anchorage through the woods of the Ship Creek drainage and over the Indian Pass to the Indian Valley on the Turnagain Arm South of Anchorage.

I joined Chris, Danielle, Mitch, Colleen, Sarah, Erin and Lee for the traverse on a beautiful March day with soft powder and great conditions.


The group skiing up along the Ship Creek
Rest stop along the Ship Creek.

Chris showing the fine art of Beaver house skiing.

Lee talking a tumble while trying out a short-cut.

The upper part of South Fork Ship Creek looking North.

On the Indian Pass looking South towards the Indian Valley

And then on one of the fun downhills about 2.5 miles from the trailhead, I overestimated the strength of my recently operated knee and my current skiing abilities. An "emergency" stop ended in a wipeout and wrenched knee. Good thing my friends had an avalanche probe and plenty of duct-tape. With this splint I managed to ski out under my own power; otherwise we may have had to call for a rescue.

My doctor tells me it is a partially torn and separated MCL (Medial Collateral Ligament) and ruptured miniscus. So now I will be suffering for my stupidity for the next couple of months or so. I hope surgery will not be necessary!