Harp Peak Ski

5/2/25

With blue skies, I wanted to take my friend Josh up Harp Peak to get him views into the Western Chugach. I had him meet me in Eagle River after a day of work, and we swiftly made our way up Hiland Road where we started our tour.

From our parking spot, we picked out a gully that held snow off the peak proper and was the most continuous line on the slope. We started our tour with our boots on dirt, but eventually put skis and skins on. We quickly realized booting was significantly quicker than skinning, so in no time our skis were back on our backs and we were nearing the top.

Upon reaching the summit, we enjoyed endless views of the Chugach. I was eager to point out all the peaks I knew around and share my motivations to ski as many of them as I could. After gawking at the views, we began finding our way into our line.

From the top, we could tell there was a thin choke riddled with shallow rocks, but nothing too worrisome. I let Josh ski off first, and was impressed with his composure in linking steep turns. We slowly leapfrogged down the line until it opened up beneath us. From here, we began party skiing, and the snow went from firm snow to delightful corn. We let our skis enjoy the fall line, and before we knew it we were approaching the dirt at the bottom of the slope. 

We did what we could to milk out our ski, but eventually had to pack the skis up and walk down the trail back to the car. While the day was a simple after-work mission, the views and time spent skiing with someone I had only known from the summertime made it a great day in the hills.