Weekend Warrior Classic

11/2/24-11/3/24

Recent snow from a Halloween storm opened up both Hatcher Pass and Turnagain in early November of 2024. While the snow left sharks hiding beneath the snow, the early season bravado took over and I decided it would be best to try to ski both passes over the weekend. I texted a friend Olga, and she was game to ski both days and explore the early season backcountry.

With a plan set, we loaded into her car Saturday morning and began the hour drive to Hatcher Pass from Anchorage. Clearing skies along the drive only added to our hopes for the day, and upon reaching the parking lot it seemed we weren’t the only ones who wanted to reap the rewards of the new storm. Unsure of where we wanted to ski in the pass, we drove up and down the road scouting out what looked best. To nobody’s surprise, Hatch Peak and April Bowl seemed to be holding the most snow. We join in the gaggle of cars all parked tightly in the parking lot beneath the peak, and swapped into our ski boots.

We elected to take the scenic way to the top of Hatch peak, that is all the way up Hatcher Pass before ascending the peak. We saw parties skiing the common face, and even though it was rather tracked out, it looked like a blast. As we approached the top we decided we would add to the backcountry moguls that were being formed by skiing the common face.

After a great ski through consistently boot deep powder, we knew we had to go back for more. We swiftly transitioned and made our way back up to the peak. As we neared the peak this time, I asked Olga if she was interested in skiing April Bowl, and the lack of traffic in the bowl drove her to say yes. This time upon reaching the summit, we skied an untracked line into April Bowl which provided even better snow (largely due to the lack of tracks). From the bottom of the bowl we took the short hike to allow us to ski out to the road, and enjoyed the rest of the snow we could before reaching our car.

We headed back to Anchorage and got the rest we needed to start early the next day. Before the sun could begin to light the skies as it does so slowly this time of year we were up and on our way down to Turnagain Pass. Our plan was to ski the oh so classic Tincan Common Bowl. We were unsure of how visibility would be and the trees on Tincan always provide a good backup plan.

As we got to the parking lot we were shocked to see a lack of cars. This was in stark contrast to the day before in Hatcher. The bottom 1,000 feet of Tincan was in horrible slushy conditions after receiving rain, but as we began to gain on the rain line the snow started showing signs of improvement. Quickly the slush turned into bottomless Chugach powder, able to consume my entire ski pole on any given pole plant. Broken clouds provided hope to ski the upper bowl, but upon arrival we found ourselves in poor lighting conditions. Once we had transitioned and were ready to ski, the light was marginally better so we set off into the bowl. The skiing was soft and playful with very consistent conditions throughout the whole alpine portion of the run. By the time we reached the trees our great conditions were deteriorating and we found ourselves in challenging slush on top of a hard crust.

We took our time getting back to the car through the poor snow and thick alder fields, and by the time we finally made it we were happy to have only taken one lap. While the skiing was not as good as it was the day prior, it was nice to fully leverage the benefits of living in Anchorage by skiing on both the north and south sides of town in a weekend.