Japanese Trees

2/12/34

After a storm cycle had halted any ideas of skiing bigger terrain, my friend Cam and I decided that low angle skiing in Summit Pass was going to be the best way to spend his last day of visiting Alaska. Checking the weather stations and observations online indicated that as per usual, Summit had received less severe weather than the rest of the area, particularly Turnagain Pass. I had only skied in Summit a few times and in similar scenarios, but I was eager to explore these so-called “Japanese Trees” I had read about in a few limited trip reports and observations. With this zone in mind, we headed off in the morning both agreeing to take it easy that day and to not poke the dragon that was a January facet layer underneath new snowfall. 

Arriving at the parking lot and seeing other cars gave us a slight sense of relief; we weren’t the only souls traveling out in this zone today. We started up from a parking lot almost directly under where we had planned to ski, and began heading upwards immediately. After a bit of a climb, we pulled over to dig a pit at 1800’. The results did not surprise us; a slab had developed above a layer of faceted snow 1’-2’ in depth.  In our extended column test, we had a propagating failure on the 10th tap. This information was consistent with what we had expected, and told us once again very clearly to avoid avalanche terrain. 

After filling in the pit, it seemed like we should enjoy the fruits of our labor and ski about 200 feet of low angle alders and birch to feel out how the snow was underfoot. Satisfied with the skiing, we reapplied our skins and started back up quickly, this time heading higher and finding a place to eat lunch. While eating, we had the pleasure of seeing a snowshoe hare stroll by (our second hare sighting of the day). 

After lunch, we started back up. On our emergence from the spruce trees that provided us a refuge to eat in, we realized we had walked our way underneath a roller of avalanche terrain. We decided it would be safer to go underneath and then around this bit of terrain and then ski off the far side where the pitch is below 30 degrees instead of skiing into tight spruce trees. Movement through this terrain was not great on the nerves, but we made quick work through it and transitioned on the top of the roller. 

There were two options to ski, and both looked incredible. There was one line that was closer to the fall line with alders marking a path and another in an opening in the alders to the right that was slightly lower angle. I chose for the slightly steeper line (just grazing 30° for a couple turns) and skied it to a safe spot underneath the spruce and out of Cam’s fall line. What glorious turns they were, fresh storm snow that felt bottomless. Cam followed soon after and got a few amazing turns down his open panel amongst the 25° alders. We hooted about how great the snow was, and then continued on down towards the road. 

The snow quality, quantity, and slope angle were all in such great alignment on this day. We were able to make turns the whole way down and had a playground of alders to jump through. As we got closer to the road and the end of our skiing, the alders gained some neighbors as birch began to become more prevalent. This combination of the beautiful, lightly coloured trees in contrast to the white snow made for a unique and very scenic ski down. I have never been to Japan, but as a lover of snow, I have dreamt of it many nights, and I think the lower part of our run might have given us just a tiny taste of what skiing the birch forests there might be like. 

Arriving on the road with a huge smile on my face, I turned around to see Cam looking the same. We talked and agreed that one more small lap needed to be had, so we transitioned once more for our extra credit. This time, we only went to the birch line, and found an amazing meadow within the trees to transition and begin back down from. More great low angle powder skiing left us both satisfied when we reached the road, and from there we loaded back into the minivan and started back to Girdwood.

I later dropped Cam off at the airport where he caught a flight back to Denver. We were both happy to have a safe day in the mountains.

Since then, news has come out about an accident very close to where we were skiing that unfortunately resulted in a death. This news is devastating and I wish the best for everyone involved and their friends and families. 

This accident has made me think about our time out in the Japanese Trees. Did we make all the right decisions? Likely not, and I feel responsible for that because I was taking someone unfamiliar with the area out. It is so hard to get feedback on your decisions in the backcountry and right now that is very apparent to me. I am learning from this whole situation, and I am glad to be here writing about my time in the mountains, which is something I hope to do for some time through proper decision making and a manageable level of risk tolerance.