Welcome elkamino, I have had Alaska on my radar for years. What is the deal with "road pass skiing"
or is it just hike and skinning up there?
@elkamino
I love to ski Alta too... OMG Little Cottonwood and all that Wasnatch glory! Good stuff man and I miss the hell out of that Greatest Snow on Earth, sigh...
Road2road skiing isn't much of a thing here, far as I can tell in my 4 years skiing here. I was in MT for 20 years before. Most people skiing the AK b/c are motor-assist, far as I can tell. Those NOT using snowmachines mostly ski off a handful of passes- Turnagain, Summit, Hatcher and Thompson. There's no road 2 road skiing at Turnagain or Summit passes as the road takes a mellow route with no switchnbacks. Great skiing tho- here my babe doin her thing at Summit Pass, shit you not! A run off a mtn called Tri-Tip. You go girl lol!
There is a short blue-green road to road option at Hatcher that parallels a downhill mtb route. I've never skied that line but I've biked it, the terrain is mellow alder-packed and boring but still a good way to hitch runs without climbing. That said if you're already up at Hatcher you're surrounded by truly extraordinary terrain ABOVE the roads (see below), and that shit beckons if conditions allow. Not that my lady or I ski much scary shit anymore, we're in our 40s now and just try to have a good time getting after it in beautiful places with good friends.
This pic was 2 years ago, late April at Hatcher Pass. Note the parking lot far right, down low, and the Rae Wallace Chutes to the left, all easily approached from the other side. We're on a spine called Microdot.
Lastly there's some "road assist" skiing at Thompson, but not any lines really worth doing without at least some hiking. For to-the-car skiing its as good as it gets anywhere, terrain and snow and access are all off the hook.
Here's Thompson Pass, early May last year. OMG that terrain right?!
Can't wait for the season!