Placer Valley - Spencer Glacier
26 April 2012
42 kms, 2:40

The weather and crust conditions were beckoning, but the question was: could I fit in a 42 km ski and a 2 hr drive and still make it to my 10 am meeting at the office?  I decided to give it a try.

I left Anchorage at 5:20 am and started skiing at 6:20.  I made the turnaround on Spencer glacier at 7:45 and was back at the car at 9:10.  Guess what ... I was 10 minutes late for my meeting.  But it was well worth it.

Panorama looking west from the Spencer Glacier

Route from Portage Valley, up Placer Valley and up onto Spencer Glacier.

Kickstep and Tincan Mountains at the Head of Placer Valley

Skookum Glacier and Carpathian Peak

Nice crust conditions above the confluence with Skookum

Crust was so solid this morning that I ventured about a km onto the glacier (with nothing but skate skies for safety)

Bergs in the Spencer Glacier terminal lake.

Early Bird Special

Placer Valley Crust Ski, April 28th, 2009

With the encouraging weather forecast I decided to get up at 5:30 am and try the crust skiing at Portage. I skied on relatively good crust for about two hours and was off the snow before 9:30 am when the snow was starting to melt. Some sloughs are starting to open, and the snow is starting to get sun-cupped - otherwise very good crust skiing. And there is no sign on ash-fall from Mt Redoubt. Up on the Skookum glacier I started punching thought he crust already at 8:30. It seems that it froze harder on the valley bottom than up on the glacier.

Looking up the Placer valley. Skookum valley is the first left hand valley entering the Placer valley.
Looking down the Placer valley towards the Turnagain arm. The prominent mountain in the center of this photo is Blueberry hill.
Skookum Valley.

The prominent peak at the head of Skookum Glacier is Carpathian Peak (5856 ft).

Sunrise on the Skookum Glacier.

The Skookum Glacier.

Looking down the Skookum valley from the toe of the Skookum glacier.

Southern panorama showing Skookum valley on the left and Placer valley on the right. The pronounced saddle on the far ridge (in the middle on the photo) leads over to Center Creek. The highpoints on the ridge on the right include Kickstep Mountain and Tincan Peak (popular back-country skiing peaks accessed from the Turnagain Pass.