Anchorage Daily News

After a week of snowfall that deposited 10 feet of fresh snow on Mount Alyeska, managers said Monday they will open the North Face to skiers and boarders this morning.

Expect powder.

"The North Face is like in-bounds heli terrain -- heli skiing without the heli," gushed Brian Burnett, the former local ski racer who now works as mountain services manager at Alyeska.

The 2,350-foot North Face boasts the longest, continuous, double-black diamond run in North America.

Skiers capable of skiing it love the North Face. Skiers uncomfortable with expert terrain, however, will want to stay away.

The run can be downright intimidating, and with so much heavy powder now blanketing the slope, it is easy to lose a ski in a fall. Lose a ski on the North Face, and it's a long, miserable struggle back to the lodge.

Lose two and, well, the ski patrollers who found a matched set as snow melted off the North Face this spring gave serious thought as to whether they should start searching for a body, too.

"It's absolutely spectacular terrain," Burnett said. "Thigh-deep blower powder.

"I ski it in all kind of conditions. I've had a pass at Alyeska since 1965, and I've never seen the North Face like this in December."

The 212 inches of snowfall that Alyeska has seen this season put it ahead of most ski resorts.

• Mount Baker in Washington, which set a snowfall record of 1,140 inches in 1999, has yet to open and needs 20 to 36 inches before it can.

• Snowbird in Utah has had 64 inches of snow, but hit a daytime high of 44 degrees on Monday.

• Whistler and Blackcomb in British Columbia, the largest ski area in North America, has 59 inches at mid-mountain, but temperatures ranged from 43 degrees at the base to 30 degrees at the summit.

Monday's measurement at Alyeska showed 106 inches at the summit (snowfall gets compacted and melts throughout the season), 74 inches at midway and 38 inches at the base. By mid-afternoon, temperatures were headed toward single digits. Groomers have been working on most of the runs.

"Pretty much anybody who loves the mountain loves it when they (open the North Face)," said Sparky Anderson, the UAA assistant ski coach for alpine skiing who was program director at Girdwood's Alyeska Ski Club for seven year before joining UAA. "The first week of December is pretty crazy, though."

Burnett said he's seen expert powder hounds get down the North Face fast enough to catch the same tram that took them up the mountain.

"Only if you're hoofing it on a good day," he said. "That means you're jogging up the stairs (to the lift) and you're banging the runs.

"You've got no friends on powder days."

Contact reporters Mike Campbell at mcampbell@adn.com and Craig Medred at cmedred@adn.com.

ADVERTISEMENT