PMS Bowl Ski

11/11/24

After a storm cycle dropped feet of snow south of Anchorage, a few clear days appeared in the forecast. From the reports, the storm snow was bonding well to the previous layers and avalanche concerns were low. These factors took us out on a mission to ski steep terrain in Turnagain Pass. 

Hopes of skiing Gold Pan or Superbowl took us to the Bertha Creek parking lot where we were met by a fierce bushwhack. As we finally emerged from the dense alder and spruce forest, the new snow began to build. Within the next thousand feet we watched the dusting turn into bottomless powder that we broke trial through. As we entered the high valley between Magnum and Cornbiscuit, a group behind us caught up to us. They offered to break trail for a while, but told us they were heading up Magnum. After an hour of breaking trail, the thought of doing the same up Superbowl and Goldpan seemed perilous. It was here we transitioned our plans and elected to follow the group up Magnum. 

The south face of Magnum was riddled with glide cracks, so we ascended without stopping until we had cleared the cracks. Above the glide cracks, we only had a bit further before reaching the ridge. I scurried ahead of the group and snuck a short lap in on the southwest bowl off of Magnum. After regrouping, we headed up the ridge and took a break, deciding how we wanted to proceed. I popped up on the ridge and walked it down to PMS bowl and found incredible conditions. From here, I radioed the rest of my group over and began to transition. 

With everyone at the top of the bowl, we began to scout our lines. A spine skiers left of the main spine caught my attention, and I claimed it as mine. Everyone else was going to ski the main spine. I dropped in first and worked my way across an extremely steep gully with a looming cornice. Passing the terrain trap, I was on the top of my line. After a few turns to feel the snow, I gained trust and opened up on the spine. I rode it to the bottom where a small nose marked the ending of the line. A sloppy landing found me in the soft apron of the wall where I found a few more fast and deep turns. Sluff poured down the gully I had crossed on my entrance beautifully rolled to a stop on the apron.

I watched as my friends each earned their fresh turns down the lines they had selected, and upon reaching the bottom of PMS Bowl, we decided it would be a good time to head back to the car. We worked our way back to the bushwhack that we entered on, being sure to hit one last small cliff as a group on our way out. An ugly ski through the forest spat us out at the road, still counts as car to car skiing.