Our fourth day of our AMGA ski-mountaineering course, Valdez, Alaska. We skied a peak called “R.F.S.,” which apparently stands for Really F(*&ing Steep. We tagged the summit at 6041 feet, then skied the Not That F*&^ing Steep east face, between snaking around to soft snow and great turns on the north. We drained that to the car at 1700 feet. After the winter we had in Colorado, I’ll call that a damn good day of skiing!
Great feedback from our instructor, Larry Goldie, both on the up and the down. I pulled the last up leg to the summit (pretty straightforward bootpacking, though I veered a little close to a cornice for Larry’s liking) and fun, wide open turns on the down. More tomorrow!
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- Drew Daly, of Stanley, Idaho, guiding the last leg to the car…wayyyy down there on the road, at mile marker 34, Thompson Pass.
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- Sara Lundy, also from Stanley, about to get the goods on the down.
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- This was my leg to guide, right from the summit. After the bulletproof pucker-fest we had yesterday on the Cherry Couloir, this felt positively awesome.
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- Sara and Larry Goldie, atop RFS, 6041 feet.
