1997 Gates of the Arctic Ski Trip

Marcia and I had such a wonderful time on our 1996 ski trip to Gates of the Arctic National Park that we decided to do another one. We planned a different route, starting in Annatuvuk Pass (as we had in 1996) but ending at Bettles. We also recruited Craig Rowley with whom we had done several other trips with (e.g., 1988 Denali and 1992 Denali).

When our plane arrived in Annatuvuk Pass, it was either below zero or, at best, single digits above. It was also blowing a bit. Nevertheless, we started out south from Annatuvuk Pass aiming for the Inukpasugruk Creek drainage.

The going was difficult because of the foot or more of unconsolidated snow we were having to break a trail through for ourselves and the sleds. When the sun dropped behind the ridge, the temperature really began to drop, and we made our first camp, perhaps 2 miles from Annatuvuk Pass.

I recall the temperature was 30 below by 5 pm that evening. The gas stove (MSR XGK) struggled against the cold to heat water. The candle lantern would not work because the flame could not melt the wax sufficiently to draw it up the wick. It was easily the coldest night I had ever experienced and showed the limits of the gear we had. The temperature recording device I had only went to 40 below, where it stayed all night long.

The next morning, we warmed the stove fuel bottle for a half-hour inside our sleeping bag before putting it on the stove and making breakfast. It was a unanimous decision to abort the trip at that point. To continue in that cold, with those trail conditions on a route we were unlikely see anyone, we felt was foolish. In retrospect, our 1996 trip might have been a fluke and not typical of spring skiing above the Arctic Circle.

We headed back to Annatuvuk Pass. Fortunately, the NPS Ranger Station in town was manned and the ranger was kind enough to let us stay in a bunk room used by summer work crews (he probably figured that was easier than rescuing us or doing a report about our deaths).

We salvaged some fun from out trip by flying from Annatuvuk Pass to Bettles for a few days. We stayed at the Bettles Lodge, saw the Northern Lights and Comet Hale-Bopp and skied a few miles to Old Bettles. We joked about the trip being our “weekend ski trip to the Arctic Circle”.

1996 – Gates of the Arctic Ski Trip

This has to go down as one of the best trips we ever took.  It started innocently enough, some Alaska Airline travel credits from a cancelled trip (not even sure to where) that would expire in a short time.  The first idea was to fly to somewhere in Alaska where we could see the Northern Lights.  That idea slowly morphed into a full-blow ski trip across the Gates of the Arctic National Park.

The trip involved flying to Anaktuvuk Pass, a native Alaska community north of the Arctic Circle. From there we’d ski about 120 miles, up the Anaktuvuk River, over Ernie Pass, down the Koyukuk River, turn right over Delay & Glacier Passes and out to Wiseman and the haul road that goes to the north slope.  There was even scheduled flights from Fairbanks to Anaktuvuk Pass and Coldfoot (just down the road from Wiseman).  We expected the trip to last about 2 weeks

We had done cold weather camping on Denali and skiing with sleds in Yellowstone but this trip was committing as we didn’t expect to see many, if any, other people along the way.  We did take flares along with us in case we thought we needed to wave down a passing airplane.

One quandary was whether to take a firearm in case of a hungry brown bear along our route.  When Marcia asked a NPS ranger for the park that question, his response was that the bears “would be the least of our problems.”

Despite those ominous words, everything about the trip clicked well.  The scenery was spectacular, the weather about as good as we could ask for, and the route not too difficult to follow.  We saw three sets of people along the way: a group of local hunters on ATV’s on day 2; a group of skiers going the reverse of our route on day 5; and, a two miners on snow machines on day 8.  When we reached Wiseman at the the haul road, Marcia knocked on the door of a cabin that had smoke coming from its chimney and we were invited in for hot tea and able to get a ride the 8 or so miles to Coldfoot which had a motel and an air strip for the flight back to Fairbanks.

Skiing along the big open valley bottoms, in sun, at a temperature in the low teens with no wind was magical.  It was utterly quiet except for noise of my skis, sled and breathing.  The solitude was so complete it is difficult to describe.

		1996 Gates of the Arctic VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

1982 – Mt Garibaldi Ski Traverse

(As this trip was more than 40 years earlier than when I am writing this description, I may have some details wrong)

This was a Mountaineers Club ski trip led by Dan McGuire to ski across the Mt Garibaldi Park in British Columbia. I believe the route is what is called the Garibaldi Neve Traverse. I found a nice description of the route here: Garibaldi Neve Traverse. A topographic map showing the route is here: Map of Garibaldi Neve Traverse.

The trip was a 3-day/2-night ski trip staying in two cabins, Elfin Lakes and Sentinel Bay. along the route. We drove up to Squamish near the start of the trip the night before and stayed in a motel. Since we were staying in cabins, we did not carry tents for overnight camping. We did have adequate gear for emergency camping (winter sleeping bags, stoves and shovels for snow shelters) and appropriate cold weather clothing. Most (all) of our group of nine had touring skis with 3-pin bindings. Not sure how many had metal edges to the skis. I know I didn’t as I used my Epoke 1000’s.

The first day to the Elfin Lakes cabin was mostly uphill on a well-marked route. We put climbing skins on the bottom of the skis to make it easier to ascend without slipping. The weather was clear and sunny. The Elfin Lakes cabin was quite nice and had nearby slopes on which to practice our ski turns while wearing a pack.

The next day started as a lovely day and the route was above the tree line and often on a glacier. It being winter and the glacier not being particularly active, we did not travel roped. Between the sun and traveling with heavy packs, adjustments to clothing were frequently necessary to avoid overheating and the associated sweat (never a good thing in winter). Some of us skied in shorts, at least on the uphill portions. The route took us near the summit of Mt Garibaldi, but we did not detour to the summit. As we descended from the high point along the route, the wind picked up and high clouds moved in, dropping the apparent temperature significantly. The accommodations at the Sentinel Bay hut were more spartan than those at Elfin Lakes.

The third day had us skiing across Garibaldi Lake, reentering the forest and skiing trail and road to the parking lot at the traverse’s end. A car had been left here two days earlier and it shuttled the group’s drivers back to start where they retrieved the cars for the group’s return to the Seattle area.