Girdwood and Portage, make it a two-fer!

Such a lovely blessing this high pressure continues to bring to south central Alaska. The bright blue skies, the blindingly white mountain tops, the clear air. Most of the air that is, with the exception of roadsides. Pedestrians are victim to the gravel dust being disturbed by everyone one out for a sunlit drive. 

If you need some encouragement for taking a scenic ride this weekend, the Portage Glacier Daylodge is open Fridays through Sundays in April until full time opening in May. Your lovely hosts are baking delicious treats such as cookies and cinnamon rolls and steaming up frothy lattes for your morning respite. If you are going to Alyeska for Slush Cup, just add an extra hour to your morning. The Portage Lodge opens at 10 am, you can have a quick late breakfast. Afterward, head back to Alyeska, the mountain does not open until 11 so nothing will be missed. The Portage Daylodge is only 15 miles from Girdwood, and a beautiful drive. Above is the view in Portage Valley with the Portage Daylodge to the right and the Begich-Boggs visitor center ahead. Below, Byron Glacier is still covered in snow as seen from the Portage Daylodge. 

While soaking in the views on your sunny jaunt through the mountains, be aware of the traffic. Our neighbors to the south are already streaming in for early season specials and all the adventure the great land has to offer. I have seen numerous small RV’s already camping out in Girdwood. On my drives along the Seward, there are countless boats being shuttled to water (mostly from the Valley I am guessing). Also be aware of late season snow machiners heading toward Turnagain Pass. The high pressure weather system has been holding the night temperatures down enough to keep the snow from melting rapidly. I imagine most of the snow is just evaporating under the dry air and sunny skies, oh, and the incredible winds. 

Excellent skiing conditions, quiet with the crowd gone to Iditarod

How about this gorgeous blue bird day in Girdwood! With crisp temperatures and perfectly groomed trails, skiers had a delightful day and night skiing at Alyeska. Glacier Valley hovered just around 34° today under clear skies. The skies are clear tonight so the temperature should drop into the low 20’s. All the surface snow will firm up and form frost crystals tonight. 

Our weather benefactor has been the edge of a high pressure zone over western Prince William Sound. Clouds will ease in overnight and a bit of snow should fall over Girdwood late night or early morning. For those wanting some quiet skiing, tomorrow should be sweet as lots of regulars will be at the re-start of the Iditarod. Saturday was fairly quiet on the slopes as well during the ceremonial start in Anchorage. 

Birds were quite active around the valley today; magpies, redpolls, stellar jays; kind of the usual with lots of high energy. 

Get  ready to start your garden and flower seeds!

Its time to start thinking about getting your seed flats ready to get starts going inside. This type of sunny day makes a great light to feed your flats. There are still a few days to gather supplies, here is what you want to start collecting: small 4” pots or flats you saved from when you purchased annuals last year; or bio-degradable pots and trays to keep them on; select your seeds- remember we want plants adapted to our cooler climate; and starting soil. 

Seed starting mix, or soil, should be fresh and sterile. Most products you purchase ready mixed are sterile. Many products will be labeled as starting mix which makes it easy for us because the soil will be light enough for tender roots to form. If you purchase your starting mix already made, it is important that you buy fresh soil mix. In other words, do not purchase mix that has sat around in a store for over a year. 

It is possible to mix your own seed starting solution from raw materials. Starting soil needs to be very light weight. It is usually made with a high percentage or 100% vermiculite. As I mentioned above, seed starting mixes need to be light and airy so it is easy for new roots to move and grow. Contrary to what you might think, starting mixes for seeds do not need to be heavy in nutrients and fertilizers. In regards to sterility, this indicated the soil should be free of weed seeds, insects, molds, or any other disease mechanism. Another ingredient to avoid is your own garden soil, which of course you cannot dig up right now anyway. Soil straight from the outdoors may contain insects or diseases and it will be too heavy for young tender roots to grow through. 

Here is a sample mixture: 1/3 vermiculite or perlite, 1/3 sand, 1/3 sphagnum moss. The one case where you could use your own soil is if you cook it first to sterilize it. You want to spread the soil out on a cookie sheet and cook it around 200° for about an hour. Then mix it this way: 1/3 sterilized soil, 1/3 sand, 1/3 vermiculite. I would err on the side of more vermiculite or perlite than any other ingredient. 

Fill your vessel of choice: flats, 4 inch pots, pie pans with holes in the bottom, whatever you want it should be about 2 - 3 inches deep. Then you need to have a tray the soil containers can sit in. The reason for this is watering the seeds. Seeds and seedlings are so tender you will not water them directly on the soil. You will fill the tray the soil vessels are resting in with water so the plants absorb the water from the bottom. 

OK, get your plan together and start selecting seeds! 

Girdwood, snowiest place in the country!

Snow continues to fall lightly and perfectly making the ski experience in Girdwood phenomenal this week. The temperature today has ranged from 30 to 35° and snow was falling off and on. Despite the above freezing temperature, the snow has not been wet. Above is a photo of two Mini Mite children’s ski groups on the 4-trax heading over to chair 3. Does that look like fun or what?! The children that participate in Mini Mites love it, the children just adore their instructors! 16 Sundays of all day skiing for $400, that is $25 per day, come on parents, its an awesome deal! Sign up for the next season in November. 

At points in the day the clouds thinned out and made a gauzy haze over the sun. Not quite bright enough to light up the snow so skiing was probably a little flat. That did not deter the fit skiers that hiked the Traverse for the tall ski down Alyeska. 

NOAA’s forecast for Glacier Valley and Turnagain Arm is for more snow throughout the week. It does not look very heavy but steady, that is good enough for us!

Due to the back and forth temperatures over the past few weeks, houses are growing vast crops of icicles. This view is out one of my windows and the frame is 36 inches tall! Our houses really endure some tough wear over the winter in Girdwood. Last winter, even some metal roofs fell victim to the weight of the snow becoming compressed into ice. The ice being denser weighed more on the roof and as it migrated, much like a glacier, the ice tended to crumple joints in the metal. Only the lowest angle roofs this winter may suffer in Glacier Valley. Roofs with any angle steeper than 25 to 30° have routinely sloughed snow in the cycles of high temperature. 

Nice dry snow all day in Girdwood

It has been a wonderful day of snow all day long! Perfect dry snow, nice fresh powder snow on the mountain which is perfect for skiing. It was quite a busy day at Alyeska, the Alyeska Cup races were going on, lots of school kids, and ski clubs. But it was well worth it for all of them due to the great conditions. 

The morning started out a little warm at 32°, however it had dropped to 27° by sunset. The snow just keeps falling. Into the night, I would say by night fall the base received at least 6 inches of new snow in the last twenty four hours. For some reason the Alyeska Snow Report on their web site is not listing any snow. But believe me and these pictures, it is snowing. 

Tomorrow is a holiday, I expect a lot of travelers coming to the slopes and back country for some super fun skiing. Be sure to check CNFAIC for back country conditions and Alaska 511 for road conditions. 

Fresh powder, great afternoon for skiing and riding

Attention all skiers and riders, today is the day to be on the slope at Alyeska! About 4 inches of fresh powder snow has dusted the base this morning. The flurries seem to be tapering off around noon. With a few blue patches showing in the sky, the snow may be done for the day as the forecast calls for sun this afternoon. The forecast also calls for more snow tonight and into tomorrow. The temperature in Girdwood this morning is 29° and is expected to hold perfectly for snow in the next few days.

At this point in the season I would advise skiers and riders to change your work schedule. Glacier Valley seems to be in a repetitive weather pattern, great snow during the week and sloppy on the weekend. Very similar to the huge weekly storms south central Alaska experienced in the 2011-2012 winter season. One slight difference, last season was epic, I believe this is an appropriate instance to use that descriptor. 

Here is my view of Max’s Mountain from two blocks away, the air is full of small, light weight flakes. Check the highway conditions and make a short run to the mountain this afternoon, the conditions will be well worth the trip.

Snow returns to Glacier Valley

I awoke to the silence, an alarming surprise

and a glorious sight to my weary eyes

The snow piled up, nearly twelve inches high

The air was filled with tiny white flakes

Soon they would turn to large puffy shapes

Earth and trees I knew would rejoice

And skiers alike will think the day choice! 

If you can ditch work, today is the first best powder day to do so. Not that there hasn’t been fresh snow this season, but this is a decent layer of the good fluff. It is Wednesday, Alyeska is open until 6, but make plans for Thursday when night skiing runs until 9 pm. 

The temperature is holding at 30° thank goodness. The eaves have stopped dripping. And suddenly today there is a blizzard warning for Western Prince William Sound. The estimate was 3 to 6 inches of snow, but Girdwood has received at least 9 inches at the T. Yipee!

Bird Notice:
Yesterday while in Anchorage, I observed some Common Redpolls visiting bird feeders. Redpolls are small finch size songbirds that spend their winter in our range. Here is a link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology with an image. If you are interested in attracting birds, or helping them obtain food during the winter months, putting out a feeder is a simple way to do so. You can even just set out a tray of seed, a fancy feeder is not necessary. The benefit of the feeder is in keeping larger birds from eating all the seed quicker than smaller birds. Feeders have varying sizes of dispensing holes and perches. It is really hard for a magpie to get seed out of a thistle feeder. Speaking of magpies, they have been very active in Girdwood lately. Be aware of placement of your feeder as it will attract moose. Bird feeders also attract bears, as a result many folks remove and store their feeders in the summer. 

A break from rain, for now, temperature still warm

Its verging on blah today, however, the absence of rain puts the enjoyability of the morning one step above. It is 35° in Girdwood at the T this morning. The snow is still slush and it is still dripping off the roof. The forecast is for the temperature to rise to 40 before plunging into the 20’s tomorrow. Even with the increased temperature, NOAA has cancelled the flood warning. Since there are so many microclimates created by the mountains and the ocean, we should all still be aware of the surprises that can occur outside where it is hard to make a blanket forecast.

Here is a photo of Max’s Mountain this afternoon. Alyeska snow safety was performing avalanche mitigation this morning which they do to induce slides to alleviate dangerous conditions for skiers. On the north side of Max’s, facing the resort, you can see evidence of a slide. Since mitigation usually starts before daylight, it is not known if this was caused by that, the warm air, or possibly the earthquake on Sunday. This is just to show that the snow and the environment is always “alive” and active even though we don’t see it as a “living being” such as us. Use caution in the back country this week, it has been a strange weather season.

Looking up Glacier Creek this evening. The water is flowing well and thankfully not flooding!

Expect at least three more wet days in Girdwood

This morning it is 35° and drizzly rain yet again. My coworkers that drive in from Anchorage tell me its cooler and drier there, so be prepared for wet roads when you round the bend on Turnagain Arm. Our forecast is for this same warm weather at least through Wednesday. Who can believe this low pressure is hovering for so long?

For those who love fresh snow, there is some, 11 inches worth, at the top of Alyeska. The resort opened chair 6 yesterday and it will be open again today. Check the snow report for the most accurate information. Winds are very light so there should be no stopping the lifts. The poor aerial tram, however, is going to be closed for a long while. These tram cars are made in Switzerland so that should give you an indication that they and their parts are not items you just go to town to buy. Just a warning to expect a wait for Alyeska to have repair the tram that suffered an accident in high winds.

The skies really tried to give us snow today. The precipitation was back and forth, rain, snow, rain, and at one point big fat flakes. Sadly, they turned to liquid upon landing in the puddles all over the base of the mountain and in the parking lots. The temperature this evening is still 35°. The snow is trying to stick, here we can see the snow piled up from the driveway that was melting and turning to ice. It has a nice layer of snow settled on top. Reports from the active ones, it was like spring skiing today.

Warm temperatures create icy roads and melt snow

Yesterday the snow was still on the trees through the morning even though the temperature was warming to 33°. By 3 pm, the temperature was up to 34 and it was raining. The ground surfaces, roads, driveways, sidewalks, were all ice. Nothing but ice. It was very difficult to drive or walk without cleats. 

December 27 look at the difference:

December 26

By 6 pm, the temperature was 36° and I heard skiing was very wet.

Today, Thursday, we woke to the day at 36° and all the snow is off the trees. All the icicles have melted off eaves, and most roofs have shed their snow load. Currently there is a mix of rain and snow, the snow being very wet. The local road crew has switched to the road grader to break up the ice on Alyeska Highway. Yesterday and this morning numerous rounds of ordinance fire where heard from the Resort in attempts to set off avalanches before opening. Yesterday I was informed by an aid room attendant that numerous avalanches kept sliding all over the Alyeska ski area, both natural and man-made. Again, a warning to check the back country conditions before heading out into uncontrolled conditions. Some folks who attempted to snow machine in Turnagain Pass on Wednesday told me it was very messy, sloshy and hard to maneuver in. Check the CNFAIC for advisories. There are avalanche advisories with professional Forest Service employee observations and evaluations. 

If you are driving the Seward Highway, check Alaska 511 for status. Check the box to show the web cams and then click on the camera icons. This will bring up a current weather condition box, very handy.

If you are in Anchorage or are traveling to town from remote areas of the municipality, take your christmas tree in for recycling. See this Anchorage Daily News article for information.

Be safe and enjoy the day off!

It was a strangely foggy day today. It was hard to tell if the snow falling was natural or combining with the mountain snow production to create our own little vortex of snow on the south side of Girdwood. Since the snow making machines have been going so long, they may be creating their own ecosystem. Above is a view of Max’s. If you concentrate you can see the sun lighting up the snow on top. 

I hope everyone had a bountiful and hearty Thanksgiving. There were not many skiers out today, I don’t blame them, I am waiting for more fluff. Sticking to the nordic trails for now. Here is a look down Alyeska Highway from the T, you can see what I mean about the questionable snow - fog. Again, if you look carefully, you can see the sun shining on the top of Penguin Ridge in the center right.

Here is another photo by my husband and his Blackberry, amazing view. You can see how frustrating it can be sitting under the fog when I know this is the scene above. This is some serious flight seeing weather! Those visiting should forget shopping tomorrow and take a helicopter ride. 

Are we the luckiest snow valley in skidom right now? Last night on my last look at the weather forecast, the prediction was for clear skies today. It snowed most of the night and it is still snowing this morning. All the tire tracks are covered in our driveway, I am going to estimate about 4 inches of new snow. The temperature is 20° and the snow cannons are going on the mountain. Looks like it will be a great opening day for Alyeska. Above is Penguin at 9am. You can see its snowing enough that I can barely see across the valley.

Had to make a short drive this morning, the snow is feeling the consistency we like for skiing, the dampness is going away. Here is Max’s.

I have heard from other locals that they had been cross-country skiing for several weeks now. This morning I saw some on the bike path near Moose Meadows. The muni has been grading the path from Arlberg to town along Alyeska Highway infrequently, but enough to make it not a regular ski path. The times I have walked from Alyeska Highway to the Resort, the trail has not been cleared. That and the fresh snow made a nice run for these folks today.

For the best trails, look into the Girdwood Nordic Ski Club. This is an aggressive organization developing, maintaining, and working to keep safe and clean nordic trails in the community. Please consider joining to help cover the equipment and volunteer efforts. 

By 11am, the sky is starting to clear, temperature is 22° and road graders are out all over. My amateur weather station is located 20 yards from the T in Girdwood. You will find that temperature varies through town and may see different temperatures listed on the Resort’s website, the CNFAIC, and area web/weather stations.

It's still snowing!

We woke to cloudy skies, surprising considering how clear it was last night. Then between 9 a.m. and 11 or so, there were some fat flakes falling. The clouds were thin, however, I was able to see faint blue patches here and there. By 11:30 there were some large openings of blue to the east and north east. Above is Penguin early. You may not be able to see the flakes against the structure in the bottom left, but notice the snow curl off the roof. That will give you an indication of how the temperature has been combined with the damp slippery snow of recent days.

Talking to family in the mid part of the country, they are always amazed that it is snowing already. Even though some of the family we talk to on a weekly basis, they have been told it started snowing in October, they seem to forget. As with any subject you know well, like the weather here, you forget that others don’t. We are so caught up in the subject and see it day-to-day we just think everyone knows the subject like us. That is one reason for putting this little ditty on-line. I want to help visitors and friends from Anchorage get a sense of the difference just a 45 minute drive makes. And a bunch of huge mountains too!

I can see the outline of Max’s better this morning than the past few. The top is looking good as you could see from Alyeska’s Top of 6 webcam. The middle is so-so, I still see lots of alder. But the snow cannons were going full last night and are on again today. I heard the howitzers go off, don’t know if they are still training or mitigating. Either way its a good thing. 

Today we are helping Girdwood Fire and Rescue conduct EMT I testing. My husband is a proctor and I will play victim, again. Yes, I did it for last year’s class and we helped the Whittier EMT program, so I have developed a great victim acting skill set. The Fire Department has one of my favorite snow gauges, the picnic table out front, check it out.

Another favorite site in the winter is the Girdwood Playground. The castle motif plays off well against the mountains. Here are some spires and Raggedtop.

Looking down Glacier Creek toward the Turnagain and Mount Alpenglow in the distance. Still pretty cloudy in that direction. Maybe we will get some more snow and not be laden with 4 inches of hoar frost today.....currently it is 20°

At 4 pm it started to lightly snow again. Just goes to show, it is really hard to predict the weather around these mountains and in this valley. Everyone is happy for the snow, and the temperature is great 19-20° making the flakes nice and dry. Good temperature to keep the snow cannons going as well. Keep up with the resort's mountain report to be sure opening day will be in fine condition. The timing wasn't so great on this post, I am trying to work on getting it on in the morning....