Eddies Ski

11/24/24

With poor weather in January, I have had lots of time to reminisce on the incredible November we had in Alaska. Late in the month, we were treated to great conditions above 1,500 feet with a storm dropping over a foot in the mountains. Being a weekend warrior when the conditions are so obviously good can be challenging, so on this Sunday we decided to go somewhere with a thin approach that hopefully acted as a barrier to entry to most. If there is ever a barrier to entry within Turnagain Pass, it has to be Eddies. The approach is long, flat, and leads to a slope not much better than anywhere else in the pass.

I met up with Caroline and Cam at the Tesoro Mall outside of Girdwood and we loaded into a car together. Also heading out for the day was Raven and two of his friends; they said they were going to Magnum to skip the thin snow down low. Soon we were entering the pass and exiting our cars at one of the first stops available. As we were gearing up for the day, Raven’s car came screaming into the lot from the other direction, and he informed us that the Magnum lot was already packed so they asked to tag along with us. Naturally we were happy to have them join, and once everyone was ready to move we began down the flat approach.

Eventually we were beyond the flat entrance and were working uphill. Here we watched the snow gradually gain depth until we were skiing on deep, soft powder. We toured to just beneath a slope-wide glide crack guarding the upper reaches of the main face. Here we transitioned and enjoyed a lap down the upper bowl, being sure to take every roller with speed to feel some air underneath our feet.

A second lap up saw the group split. A few of us had never seen the famous spines off of Eddies from above so we decided to head to the top of the ridge to look down upon them while the others skied a similar lap down the bowl. I was amazed at how long the ridge was and how many spines came down off of it, but unfortunately today was not our day. We found decent snow off the top, and after skirting around the glide crack we found ourselves back in the upper bowl where the snow was phenomenal. From there we made our way down following our skinner as we exited, and after pumping through the flat approach we reached the car with burning legs and cups full of stoke. Everyone was happy to share such a secluded day together while the rest of the pass teemed with skiers.