Alaska Outdoor Reports

Archangel Road Today 12PM by Ed Strabel

3-6 inches of heavy wet snow. It gets lighter and deeper the further back you go. MSSC packed and groomed the non-motorized section for skating. State Parks will be closing the lower east side of the pass to snowmachines this Saturday. MSSC will attempt to pack and groom the full length of the road for both classic and skating early Saturday AM.

Archangel Road Yesterday 10AM by Kruser

Fair to good skate skiing to the bridge. No fresh groom but the grooming equipment is still staged. Froze enough to be supportable on the road but not off trail. Not punchy on the road for skate skis or poles. Some foot tracks but not enough to interfere with skiing. Flurries and accumulating above the beaver ponds. 5-15 mph outbound breeze.

Archangel Road Monday 12PM by Bobbo

Surprisingly smooth and fast below the motorized section, with just a pleasantly thin layer of softened snow just after noon that made for fun skating. Mostly sunny despite the mediocre weather forecast. By 1:00 the snow got sticky and slow.

Wall-to-wall snow machine tracks above where the motorized section starts; still skiable, though.

Glen Alps Monday 8AM by Gavin Kentch

Powerline Pass from Glen Alps, 8:30-10:30 a.m. Monday morning. Variable conditions all around, following no freeze last night. Snow was variable; skis were fine the whole way, but poles were punching in roughly one plant out of three in the first half of the valley, then fine above the German Bridge due to wind crust. Weather was variable; everything from sunny and calm to socked in and blowing hard with fresh snow. Any day you can ski through spindrift on April 23 is a good day.

Glen Alps Sunday 11AM by Cathy Wright

We were able to ski from the parking lot out to Powerline Pass, had to take skis off for a little patch then skis back on and headed down the trail on powerline pass. At the bottom headed out onto the valley floor and skied along powerline pass on patchy but nice crust. As we got aways out it turned into more soft snow than crust but was still totally skiable. Saw many ptarmigan! Fast but softening on the way back down at about 1pm.

Ruth Arcand Park Saturday 7PM by Loraine

A similar incident (broken auto window and stolen purse) occurred on Monday, April 16, approximately 7 p.m. at Ruth Arcand Park. Best to leave nothing valuable in your vehicle at all, including your garage door opener (take it with you). Make a photocopy of your vehicle registration and "white out" your address, mark the document COPY, keep the copy in your car and leave the original at home.

Archangel Road Saturday 7AM by Ashley Wise

Road groomed to motorized intersection. Excellent skate lane with 3 inches of new snow higher up on the road. No classic track set as the track ban was not working. Enjoy and support matsuski.org!

Far North Bicentennial Park Friday 6PM by Sus

Basher Drive Trailhead - Between 5:15 pm and 6:20 p.m. someone smashed the window of my friend's car and stole her bag off the seat. This is an unfortunate reminder to lock everything in your trunk before you leave the car, or if you have a hatchback at least hide your stuff from view. Luckily, nothing of value was in the bag.

Kincaid Park Friday 4PM by Bobbo

Other than the necessity of stepping across a few little streams, the snowmaking loops were still totally skiable this afternoon - with the exception of bare spots on the gong hill. Skiing there was lonely, however.

Kincaid Park Friday 8AM by MOA Nordic Map

NSAA groomed Kim Berg Biathlon/Snow Making Loop three - Last groom for the season; Snow Making Loop Number Three - Last groom for the season; Stadium (Snow Making Loop Number Two) - Last groom for the season; Stadium - small path through. Last groom for the season. Support grooming by the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage

Archangel Road Thursday 11PM by chris jones

Groomed for skate to sno-go crossing. Some kibbles n' bits, but mostly marbles n' cue balls. Late afternoon sunny day walkers post holing frequently. Bumpy. Donate to Matsuski.org

Glen Alps Thursday 11AM by Mindy B

Crust skate skiied up Williwaw valley. Hard work to get into the valley but beautiful crust once valley opens up. Starts to soften around noon.

Archangel Road Thursday 9AM by Jeff Kase

Oops, I groomed all the way to the upper gate.

Kincaid Park Thursday 8AM by MOA Nordic Map

NSAA groomed Kim Berg Biathlon/Snow Making Loop three; Snow Making Loop Number Three; Stadium (Snow Making Loop Number Two); Stadium - small path through. Support grooming by the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage

Chester Creek Trail Thursday 7AM by Brian

Three guys with pry bars and shovels were breaking up the slab of ice in the Lake Otis tunnel this morning. Thank you guys and thank you Muni!

Archangel Road Thursday 6AM by Jeff Kase

MSSC is headed up to groom the road to the bridge.

Kincaid Park Wednesday Apr 18 by MOA Nordic Map

NSAA groomed Kim Berg Biathlon/Snow Making Loop three; Snow Making Loop Number Three; Stadium (Snow Making Loop Number Two); Stadium - flooding at north end and icy tunnel, one groomed trail through the stadium. Support grooming by the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage

Archangel Road Tuesday Apr 17 by Mac

Got to Archangel Rd around 1PM. The road was a pockmarked and rutted mess, but the crust alongside it was surprisingly still awesome. Had a great time using the road to go from meadow to meadow as far as Reed Lakes Trailhead. Still supportive when I finished up at 2:30!

Kincaid Park Tuesday Apr 17 by MOA Nordic Map

NSAA groomed Kim Berg Biathlon/Snow Making Loop three; Snow Making Loop Number Three; Stadium (Snow Making Loop Number Two); Stadium - flooding at north end and icy tunnel. Support grooming by the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage

All Dirt Trails Monday Apr 16 by Tamra Kornfield

NSAA Operations will still be grooming the snowmaking loop until we are down to slush and dirt, get out for some last hurrah!

Hillside, Beach Lake, and Other trails are no longer groomable. As we head into summer trail work, PLEASE encourage everyone to stay off the trails with feet, paws, and tires until JUNE 1st (unless posted otherwise)

The more ruts on a trail the harder it will be to walk it, run it, bike it, and later to SKI it. The paved multiuse trails are being plowed, please use paved trails to get your active fix until dirt trails are dry. Help spread the word, share to a hiking/biking/etc. group

Turnagain Pass Monday Apr 16 by Mike Jens

Skated the crust from 10:30 to 12:30 today. The crust was holding up fine when we left and probably would have been good for another few hours. We started from the parking lot on the South side of the highway just before you get to the restrooms at the top of the pass. The crust would have been fine for fat bikes also.

Kincaid Park Monday Apr 16 by MOA Nordic Map

NSAA groomed Kim Berg Biathlon Range Area. Support grooming by the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage

Government Peak Recreation Area Monday Apr 16 by Lori

Skiing was great this morning. Thanks for the fresh groom, Jeff. First tracks yet again.

Government Peak Recreation Area Monday Apr 16 by Jeff Kase

I am headed out to groom the Mat, Su, and Pioneer loops. Maybe going to do an abbreviated/partial Denali loop.

Turnagain Arm Trail Sunday Apr 15 by Valesa

I've been searching for hiking trails that aren't muddy and slushy and icy. Saturday we headed to Windy and I was pleasantly surprised that there is no snow or ice on the trail to Rainbow. I was regretting wearing hiking boots.

We went back today and I wore hiking sandals. The trail was nice and mostly dry with just a few muddy spots near little streams. Considering that Friday night I was hiking through slush and over ice and snow at the Prospect Heights trailhead I wasn't expecting a clear dry trail. It was a perfect hiking day.

The trail was more crowded than I usually see it...probably because most trails are pretty slushy.

Turnagain Pass Sunday Apr 15 by Gil Carr

Crust skiing for days!! Or at least hours, get out by noon, ha!
Parked at the lot with the outhouses (Center Ridge) and went up valley. Good for skate skiing or biking, wide open spaces, perfect crust. A little bumpy with the runnels.

Hatcher Pass Sunday Apr 15 by Mac

Skate skied up past the mine starting around 10AM. Beautiful weather and good supportive crust. The best crust was higher up. Had a lot of fun crust skiing near Gold Cord Lake, despite an epic face plant!

Glen Alps Sunday Apr 15 by Eva

Tip for those interested in skiing crust in the Powerline Valley: the best way to access it (in my opinion, anyway) is to take the Powerline trail out a little ways to the "Valley open to snowmobiles" signs, then drop down. It's wide open from there to the pass. (The Powerline trail is a little lumpy-bumpy, but totally skiable.)

South Fork Eagle River Sunday Apr 15 by Pam

Hanging valley off from Symphony lakes has amazing crust skiing and zero people. I started at 0915, and I was out by 1130. It was just starting to soften at 1100.

Hatcher Pass Saturday Apr 14 by Dave

Road from Willow is open to the mine that is near the pass. Crust was great about 1/4 mile west of mine on south side of road. Looks like plenty of great crust all around. It softened significantly by 1:30.

Glen Alps Saturday Apr 14 by Katie Hickey

Started skate-skiing around 10, finished around 12:45...just as crust was failing. The ski down from parking lot and then SW to valley floor was a bit hair-raising on the ice, but well worth it. Valley floor was "God-groomed" shangri-la! Wide open crust with relatively few foot-step and ski gouges (poor souls who didn't get out early enough). Saw 1 white rabbit, dozens of ptarmigan, a couple bikers and lots of happy, happy skiers gliding about. Awesome day.

Glen Alps Saturday Apr 14 by Art Copoulos

Power line Pass Crust Skiing is excellent. Fast, fun, and still hard at 11:30AM @ 44 degrees. A little bumpy getting out, but it gets really good deeper in the pass and off the main trail.

Kincaid Park Saturday Apr 14 by MOA Nordic Map

NSAA groomed Elliot's Climb to World Cup - developing dirt and icy spots; Margaux's Lighted - water holes and icy spots, large puddle below upper tunnel; Snow Making Loop Number Three; Stadium (Snow Making Loop Number Two); Stadium - flooding at north end. Support grooming by the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage

Archangel Road Saturday Apr 14 by Jeff Kase

I am headed up to groom the road to the bridge and set tracks. Yesterday there was a snow machine that drove down the middle of the ski trail for about half the length of the non-motorized section.

Arctic to Indian Traverse Friday Apr 13 by Russell

Does anyone have any intelligence on the A to I trail? Or for those that went last week- do you think itÃ¢ÂÂs good enough for this weekend given the recent warm temps?

Thanks

Kincaid Park Friday Apr 13 by Heidi

I took my snorkel and skate skis to play at the Kincaid Water Park. The SML is deep and soft. Jodhpur, Margaux's, and Elliot's Climb were mostly soft slush, except where the trail went underwater for a moment. World Cup and the Stadium are partially submerged. Easy Street is done; I had to take skis off twice for mud. I was too soggy and tired to try Lekisch.

Kincaid Park Friday Apr 13 by Terri Pauls

A groomer said a day or two ago that Jodhpur was "good," and he was right! Waxless fish scale classic skis were perfect for the soft snow that skate skiers sank into. Trail was well-covered, with puddles not too hard to skirt around. With the temp predicted to drop to 29 tonight, this would be a fast and fun skate ski early tomorrow morning if groomed!

Hillside Friday Apr 13 by Peter Haeussler

Skate skiing was often pretty great! Followed by the occasional question of, "I wonder if I will overtop my boots if I ski through this puddle?" I skate skied from the Abbot Community Park parking lot off of Elmore. The first downhill there is pretty hazardous - don't do it. I was inspired by Larry to try to ski downhill, but rapidly passed three deep puddles, so I turned around and went uphill. The steep part of the ToA trail is melting out and I shuffled between snow several times. At the top of the trail there's a number of puddles to negotiate. Bottom line on that section - don't bother. The hillside trails were partly groomed yesterday, and mostly they are great. There's a couple of big ponds to avoid, but on the main hillside trail and out to the gasoline it is mostly quite good, fast, and there's no truly dangerous bare spots to avoid. I saw one pair of skiers exiting Spencer loop too. There was surprisingly little 'suck' on the snow - it was quite fast. It seems to me there are a lot more puddles in the melt out this year, compared to other years. There's just a few days of good skiing left! Thanks groomers for the good year!

Independence Mine Friday Apr 13 by Ed Strabel

The State Parks contract groomer did his final grooming of the season yesterday. He groomed the mine area, East meadow, and the upper Archangel Rd. The lower mountain is still open to snowmachines this next week. That may change as the temperature changes.

Glen Alps Friday Apr 13 by steve cleary

Tough bumpy icy start from Glen Alps. Really hurts when you fall. But worth it once you get into the valley. Skied up toward powerline pass. pretty good crust and lots of fun coasting back down.

Kincaid Park Friday Apr 13 by MOA Nordic Map

NSAA groomed Arlene's Way - use caution, water toward bottom on corner; Easy Street - Toast no more grooming as of 4/13; Jodhpur Loop - just ok; Mize Lighted - no more grooming on 2nd half as of 4/10, Viola's swamp is flooding; S Turns - Toast no more grooming as of 4/13; Sisson Trail - Toast no more grooming as of 4/13. Support grooming by the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage

Government Peak Recreation Area Friday Apr 13 by Jeff Kase

I am headed out to scratch and groom the skate lanes on the Mat, Su, and Pioneer loops. I will maybe do a lap on the Denali loop.

Tour of Anchorage Trail Thursday Apr 12 by Larry Rundquist

Skate skied on flat section between Antenna Hill and the lower SF bridge. Full cover of slushy snow, ice, and water in that order. Most was skiable slushy snow in mid afternoon and a few icy spots. There were about a dozen very wet slushy water holes that could be skied through except one near the Bruckner Bridge that is best to avoid along the sides. Spring skiing on a sunny day offsets marginal conditions.

Archangel Road Thursday Apr 12 by Mindy B.

Skate skied Archangel Road that was groomed up to gate. When I arrived around 11 am the lower part of the road up to the bridge was a little soft with some punched in foot traffic but it was still great. It was even more wonderful between the bridge and the gate as that had softened to perfection. Thank you groomers! Also, it looks like crust skiing would be possible earlier in the day.

Archangel Road Thursday Apr 12 by Lori

Skate skied to the bridge this morning and it was awesome. Thanks Jeff for the fresh groom.

Hillside Thursday Apr 12 by MOA Nordic Map

NSAA groomed Besh Loop - Last day of grooming; Gasline - Last day of grooming; Hillside Loop - Last day of grooming; Jr. Nordic/ Service - Last day of grooming. Support grooming by the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage

Kincaid Park Thursday Apr 12 by MOA Nordic Map

NSAA groomed Lekisch 5/7.5km Loop - water and dirt spots. Support grooming by the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage

Archangel Road Thursday Apr 12 by Jeff Kase

The MSSC is headed up to Archangel to do a test groom of the below freezing temps up there this morning.

Government Peak Recreation Area Wednesday Apr 11 by C

Icy fear on the Waterfall. The rest of the Comp Loops were pretty good. The fresh grooming was nice, of course. The ungroomed is self-smoothing now and was fun to ski, solid soft surface or slightly crackly wafer-crusted. Rutted zones were few and soft, not icy.

Government Peak Recreation Area Wednesday Apr 11 by Ed Strabel

MSSC re-groomed all lit loops, the stadium, and Eska loop.Pioneer has the best classic tracks. Attempted to re-groom the Denali loops but the groomer was sinking in deeper than the groomer. Stick to the lit loops.