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1st Departure:
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04.24.2009
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Provider:
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Alaska Alpine Adventures
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Destination:
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North America > USA > Alaska
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Duration:
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12 Days
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Skill Level:
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Expert
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Challenge:
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Comfort:
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Remote, stunning, diverse, and magical, are just a few adjectives that we've come up with to
describe the Neacola Mountains. Located approximately 120 air-miles west/southwest of
Anchorage, the Neacola Mountains comprise the southernmost portion of the massive Alaska
Range. They have been best described as a heavily glaciated version of Washington's North
Cascades.
At roughly 150 square miles in size, this small portion of Lake Clark National Park
offers some of the finest ski touring and ski mountaineering potential in the entire state of
Alaska. What's even more enticing is the fact that the Neacolas have seen very little in the wayof skiing or climbing activity. Given the latitude, these relatively low elevation mountains provide excellent skiing with great snow quality on a variety of terrain within easy touring of our base camps. Another great thing about the lower elevations is that it much easier to reach the top of the peaks and passes without contending with altitude issues! This means great skiing within your grasp. Furthermore, there isn't a heli ski operation within many miles so it is just you and your guides and the spectacular skiing terrain of this pristine winter environment. Except for an occasional reference on the USGS topographic maps, most of the peaks and glaciers in the Neacola Mountains remain not only unskied but also unclimbed and unnamed.
A small airplane equipped with skis will get us onto a glacier in the heart of the range. We'll
spend the first 6-days out on the glacier operating out of a spacious basecamp. During this time you'll not only learn the skills of winter camping, avalanche and crevasse rescue, efficient glacier travel and route finding techniques, but also the subtle art of ski touring including skinning, kickturning, transition efficiencies, and pacing.
During the final few days of the trip, you'll tour through some of the most spectacular and remoteterrain in Alaska. This 4-day ski tour will allow you to hone the skills you've developed over the last week and introduce you to Alaska expedition travel. Our route will take us over glacier passes and we'll move daily from camp to camp, eventually looping back to our basecamp from the previous week. The skiing in the Neacolas is as diverse as the Alaskan weather, and the conditions often vary with the hour. Our day to day itinerary will be based on that diversity, but the satisfaction of thriving in such a remote and mountainous environment will overwhelm you.
You're idea of backcountry skiing will forever be altered.