Sunday Photo – AK Rager

| September 7, 2008
Enduring a raging storm in a remote mountain range can be fun if you are prepared for it.
Fun & Games - Ben Ditto and Lorne Glick enjoying the scenery (or lack of it) on the Bagley Icefield. April 2008
Fun & Games – Ben Ditto and Lorne Glick enjoying the scenery (or lack of it) on the Bagley Icefield. April 2008

After flying around the Wrangell-St.Elias Mountain Range the year before, it seemed like there was excellent potential to do a combination kiting/skiing trip in the area as there is no shortage of peaks and icefields.  Our plan was to use kites to move down the Bagley Icefield, then tick off ski descents along the way.  It kind of worked, but there was either no wind, or it was a howling blizzard like in the photo above.

Alaska storms, especially in the areas right near the ocean, can dump prodigious amounts of snow in a short time and are the stuff of mountaineering legend.  This was a short but intense storm with 45mph winds for a twelve hour period – enough to bury the tents and stop us for the day, but nothing very serious in the big picture of Alaska ragers.

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Category: Sunday Photo

About the Author ()

Andrew McLean lives in Park City, Utah and is a gear designer, writer, photographer, ski mountaineer, climber, Mountain Unicycle rider and father of two very loud little girls.

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