Gordon Lyon Ski

5/1/25, 5/5/25

With the days long, I found myself chasing after-work laps more often, particularly in the Eagle River and Arctic Valley drainages. This time of year also meant that lots of guides were in town getting ready for their respective seasons, giving me a near endless pool of partners to rope into the fun. With these elements all lining up, I went on an after-work bender and skied day after day, always after a day of work. 

Many people were skiing Arctic Valley this time of year, and I did not want to take my friend Rob to a bust spot, so the kick-off to these days was held on Mt Gordon Lyon which lies directly across from the ski resort. We made our way up to the pass that splits Rendezvous and Gordon Lyon, and took a left upon reaching the pass. In no time, we were approaching the summit and chatting about how we wanted to tackle the skiing off the north face. With the days getting warmer, problems of wet-loose were on our mind so we agreed to take our time while traveling through the steeps at the top. I dropped in first, executed a ski cut, and found a pocket of safety to watch Rob leapfrog past me. We continued this strategy until the slope eased up and we could open up a bit more. From there, we did some party skiing until the snowpack thinned out enough to not inspire any more skiing. From here, we began our way back up to the ridge where we would ski back to the car. 

The hike out from the bottom of our skiing involved skinning, booting, and even attempted frontpointing without crampons into frozen tundra. We joked that we were ski mountaineering, but all good jokes have some truth to them…

Upon reaching the ridge, we enjoyed a mellow and continuous ski back to the car. This ease of exiting inspired me to head back just a few days later, this time with Mitch. I had been working in Eagle River nearly daily at this point, and during the drive to and from, I had scoped out some chutes I wanted to ski. With a place in mind and a partner on my side, Mitch and I met up after work and began climbing towards the Nike Missile Site. This time we were not going to the peak proper, but instead to a rocky, chute-laiden outcropping off of the ridge. 

Once we reached the chutes, we began shopping around for the most appealing one. Within a few minutes, we had found one that drew us in. Nervous of a massive cornice guarding the line, I down climbed into the top of the line to see how the snow felt. While the snow did not inspire a load of confidence, I was pleased to find at least edgeable snow. After I got into my position and got eyes on the cornice, I gave Mitch the okay to strap in and sneak the cornice on his board, and once he was in the line we were ready to begin working through the chute. I took off first, jump-turning my way down the upper choke. Mitch followed and leapfrogged me, stopping where the chute opened up for a bit before choking down for an exit. As I skied past him towards the exit, the snow became much softer. I let my skis get pinned and enjoyed GS turns throughout this section before needing to scrub speed with a skidded turn above the exit choke. Beneath the chute, I waited for Mitch to exit; once he emerged, we enjoyed a delightful party ski down the rest of the slope until running out of snow. From here, we transitioned and began the trek back to the ridge.

Upon reaching the ridge, we quickly put our skis back on our feet and enjoyed one last party ski back to the car, just as continuous as it was a few days prior.