What is it like in the morning, before the crowds of skiers?

Everyone who lives in Girdwood knows it exists for a reason–skiing (present day). Those who work at the Resort are here to serve that purpose. Sometimes there are wonderful days when all the guests are nice, happy to be here, and loving the outdoors. Sometimes, unfortunately many times, the guests are whiney, ask for more than their share, rude, dangerous, and demanding. Because of those guests, I  myself enjoy this moment, the quiet before the storm. This morning the sun bursts between Mount Alyeska and Max’s Mountain as if it was shot forth by a giant slingshot between the two mountains. The billions of groomed crystals on the ground sparkle under the bright sun, fresh, un-carved terrain. All that riotous color belies the quiet in the air. The calm snow, the trees still, the sun warm, I could just lie down and take a nap. 

That is not to be, as its a great day for everyone to drive into Glacier Valley to hit the slopes. The afternoon will be filled with bull wheels being turned by closet-sized motors, skis and snowboards slipping over the firm snow pack, kids laughing and having a good time, and lots of requests for lift tickets accompanied by beeping computers and printers grinding out the tickets. Throw in three, four, or five dogs romping around the base, parents pulling little ones in plastic sleighs, boots and binding clamping down and clicking off, and the random mix of music in the daylodge and you have a wild mix of audible waves. The evening will be closed out with hundreds of cars crunching in the gravel on the way down Alyeska Highway back to the Seward Highway. By 9 pm, the town settles back down to one or two cars humming up or down the road, being a Friday, maybe they just returned from a night out in the big city. 

Spring Break up no fools for April 1!

No kidding, it is spring, again! I have lost track of how many springs there have been in Girdwood this winter. However, considering it is April now, this could be the real spring. Where do you think the above photo was taken? The Yukon? Tanana? Nenana? Campbell Creek? No, none of the above, its a road!

Though the day began cool and overcast. break-up was happening on all the roads. This side street in Girdwood could have been mistaken for a small river when viewed up close. As I was walking home, I could see the gravel on top of the ice thinking “wow, thats the road surface already.” Not so fast, once I turned the corner and saw this vast crevasse, I was stunned at how thick the ice had built up over the months. 

There is plowing all winter, not on a regular schedule, but enough. And as referenced many times, spring has come upon Glacier Valley enough to melt the ice on the creeks, but this ice road would not let us forget our valley is the snowiest in the state. 

Some other ice and snow features I find fascinating are the waves that roll off roofs in this community. Just looking at it, my monkey brain processes that as snow on the roof, and my simple brain thinks I could just go up there are knock that wave off. Fat chance, that snow is packed to a mini-glacier state. And it flows of the roof at a glacial pace. Very cool looking, and, very dangerous, never stand under one of these. 

Here is another cool snow phenomenon, the ripple snow blanket sliding down the roof. This snow blanket has a large pile of snow already built up below the roof line so the snow does not have space to form a wave. The snow at the base of the roof stops moving and the rest of the snow ripples up against the pile. I find it fascinating how it looks like fabric. 

Ah, the perfect winter day... in March!

Here I present the perfect winter day. Although, by some standards (re: the calendar our whole country clocks dates with) we are several days into spring. Ok, then this is the result of a country-wide phenomenon - the spring storm, Alaska version. 

Girdwood is the beneficiary of perfect geographical location for winter sports by way of abundant snow accumulation. Merely 20 miles west of Prince William Sound as the raven flies, Glacier Valley and Girdwood, Alaska is the repository of hundreds of inches of snow that falls from storms that swirl in the Sound with a westerly flow. Due to the locations of crevices and cracks between the vast spread of Chugach Mountains, the weather systems sneak through the mountains and rest on our valley and the Turnagain Arm. Snowboarders, resort skiers, back country skiers, and nordic skiers all are endeared to Glacier Valley for its diverse opportunities to ride the snow. 

Here once again, my favorite snow gauge in town, the picnic table in front of Girdwood Fire and Rescue. Today it is nearly invisible, in fact it took me a few passings by to be sure that was the table. And how gorgeous is the sky today? Of course it indicates the temperatures will be extremely cold tonight. I for one and happy to endure the cold for the beauty of retaining the white-white snow. The snow is so blindingly white and clean at this temperature and just after the fall. Once the temperature warms up, the snow dulls, grays, and becomes slick and icy. Not the prettiest landscape. 

Today, I enjoy the tremendous piles of snow resembling our nearby beloved glacier filled mountains, both sparklingly white. 

Blue bird day over the softest snow ever

The most beautiful day of the season. The lightest snow of the season. The softest snow of the season. 

The perfect day for a dog mushing adventure. Local dog musher takes guests for a ride in the soft, quiet snow under a blue bird sky.

Alyeska's upper tram seen from Moose Meadows.

Heavy spring blizzard lays it down on Girdwood

Well, how about a little spring blizzard to shake up the town! Wow! When we went to bed Sunday night it was quiet, cold and a little snow falling, enough but quiet. When we woke up Monday morning, BAM 10 inches of fresh powder! This is how the weather prediction goes for Girdwood. When there is snow predicted for an accumulation of 3-4 inches, that usually means 4-6 to 8 inches for Girdwood. When there is a blizzard warning with accumulations predicted of 4-6 inches, there is no limit for Girdwood. This early spring blizzard is a classic example of how difficult it is to predict weather when mountains collide with oceans and jet streams. 

At 9 am there was 10 inches of fresh snow at the T in Girdwood as seen in the photo of my foot on my driveway. Visibility in Glacier valley was low, I could see a quarter mile down the road but good visibility was only one eighth of a mile. Above is a photo of a car turning onto a road that is literally one house-lot away from my driveway. Usually I can see all the way to Crow Creek Road. This morning I cannot even see the bridge over Glacier Creek. Below is a photo taken from the front of the Daylodge toward Alyeska’s live christmas tree near the wooden sign. We are talking white out conditions. 

As for the skiers and riders, those who loved powder were in for a treat. By the time they made it back up to the top on the lift, the snow had already filled in tracks from the previous run, instant refills they call it! Cute. The fat skis were out en masse today!

Looking down Arlberg Avenue at 9 am, the Jade Shop is on the right past the green sign.  Below you can see the snow stacking up on snow.

The large solid wood sign marking your arrival to Alyeska Resort (this is the back) is my favorite part of the resort. It is heavy, strong, does not change and will not let you down.

Here is one of our few front end loaders clearing a back road. It is about 4 pm in this photo, still near white out conditions. Alyeska ski patrol had to close the upper bowl for fear of avalanche danger. I can’t wait to hear the counts of snow feet on the upper mountain! As for my house, by time I returned home after 4 pm, another 10 inches of snow had fallen. Thankfully, our driveway was cleared for a second time. Below is the afternoon view down the Alyeska Highway, very close to the same location of the first photo in this post, just from the other side of the road. Glacier Valley and probably all of the Turnagain Arm was experiencing this white out view.

The snowfall was relentless, heavier at times than others but never letting up until nightfall. The flakes were small too, not big fat ones. Usually when flakes are small they are wet but these were just falling so quick they did not have time to build up extra rings of crystals. Never-the-less, they were powder-riffic indeed! the piles of snow were soo sooo soft and fluffy. Below is one last view looking back toward Max''s Mountain, its there somewhere, really!

Snow! Perfect snow, powder day

Snow! Light, fluffy, white, and slow moving, real snow. Not wet, not sloshy, nice soft snow. When the snow piles up on the boughs like seen above, we know its quality. As we all have known since we were children, snowflakes have six points on them. This gives them "loft". Loft means the flakes stack up on each other at different points leaving space between flakes. When the air temperature is colder, 32° or below, the snow in Girdwood is drier with lower water content. This is what makes our snow so powdery, fluffy, and lofty. 

Its a beautiful day in Girdwood, all the skiers and riders have got to be loving it! The temperatures in Glacier Valley are just at freezing and they are expected to fall this evening and tomorrow. 

Wind effects on mountain top snow

All day Thursday there were ferocious winds through Glacier Valley, Portage Valley , and the Turnagain Arm. Gusts were as high as 70 miles per hour, the bulk of the wind blowing continuously. When the wind blows for extended periods of time with little precipitation falling, the snow is being blown around. Not only is the snow blowing around, its moving very fast. These high winds, and wind in general, happen frequently in the Chugach and Kenai mountains. After the storm dies down, if there is not further precipitation, we can see crusts that have formed on the mountain tops. 

Above is a photo of Mt. Alpenglow and nearby mountains. There is a light spot visible on the ridge of the mountain coming toward us in the photo. Below is a photo that points out the area I want you to see. This is a snow crust. Although it does not look like it in this representation, when I saw it originally, the snow crust was very bright due to the sunshine. The clouds were moving enough to change the effect of sunlight as I watched. Some clouds were moving east, some west. There is still a big disturbance over the Gulf of Alaska today. 

Basically, the snow has polished itself. I found this to be the case in Moose Meadows today as well. A late afternoon attempt at cross country skiing left me thinking I almost needed ice skates. The surface of the loop was extremely glassy making a good deal of scratchy noise against the skis. Yikes! I wanted toothed grippers on my poles too! The afternoon was lovely never-the-less due to some blue sky in the west past the Glacier Creek valley. I have added a new resource site in the list below. The National Snow and Ice Data Center, very informative for us in snowy climates.