I leave tomorrow for Anchorage. We (Really my son who did a great job) were able to reschedule Alaska with relatively little penalties. On Wed. we fly from Talkeetna about 50 miles NW into the Rampart Range, a subrange of the Alaska Range. It will be just my son and I and a guide. We'll be camping on the glacier and skinning for anything we ski. 3 feet of new snow just fell and more is expected before we get there. We'll be totally off the grid until we fly out, scheduled for 4/26 but weather sometimes prevents the bush planes from flying for a day or 2.

It's going to be a great experience.

Don't eat the wild berries unless you know they're safe and don't try to pet a grizzly!
Have a great time Denis and make your son post some pictures when you get back.

Make sure your go to the little diner/inn on the left in Talkeetna for some biscuits and reindeer gravy, full plate size.

I'm in Talkeetna, a self described quaint little drinking town with a mountaineering problem. Just finished an Arctic Caribou burger and a couple of pints. Tomorrow morning we will go to AMS (Alaska Mountaineering School) get our equipment checked out, get briefed on the risks of the really big mountains, board a bush plane and disappear from the grid for the next 5 days.

More on our return.

Good luck, have fun....BE SAFE!!!
The Colonel

The Talkeetna Hang

That's what it's called. The cloud deck has lowered to a few hundred feet and the pilot can't fly so we are hanging out at AMS in Talkeetna. Everything is at the mercy of the weather and the say so of the pilot. We were planned to go to "The Ramparts" an area not found on any map, just a name that locals have given it. It is supposed to be fantastic skiing. As we ate lunch word came in that there is 5 feet of new light dry snow there. The plane can land in that but it is unlikely to be able to take off. Occasionally when this happens you must ski pack a runway so the pilot can get out. More likely you just don't fly in the first place. As we were considering other places where there are a few more visitors and packed runways, word came in of the lowering cloud deck. So we sit, and hang, and practice climbers knots and such. 6:30 is the day's cut off time. Then we stay here another night and hope for flying weather tomorrow.

Denis - this is the most terrific feature I have read! The comments by our friends are not too shabby either.
How old are you? How long have you been skiing and climbing?
Have fun and be safe! I knew the family of the young boy who perished in the Alaskian wilds, but you are not as dumb as he was.
How is your Sister doing? Yours, Connie Lawn

I am safely home. It was a Life List dream, an amazing, intimidating, awesome place. I got to see it and of course ski it. Details later. Believe it or not, I leave for Mt. Hood on Sat. It's an annual trip that I do with the same group of people. The funeral and helping my sister was first priority. We were fortunate in being able to still do the Alaska trip but with a week delay, pushing it up against Mt. Hood which was booked and paid for. So both trips will be reported in full after my return from Mt. Hood. I have seen a lot of mountains, the Rockies (US & Canadian), Selkirks, Purcells, Tetons, Wasatch, Sierra, Cascades, and more. But I have never seen anything like the Alaska Range. It is a whole different class of mountains.

(Aside to Connie) Thanks for your kind remarks. My sister is coping but it is not easy. They were about to celebrate their 40th anniversary. They were married exactly one day less than a year after my wife and I. I have 2 sisters, one in CA who needed a few days to make arrangements and get there, I live closer and could drive so I got there ASAP.

I learned to ski as a kid in Boston. After school we would shoulder our skis and walk to the golf course to ski the hills. In HS I went on an annual church group youth trip to North Conway, NH and Cranmore mountain. We weren't any good but we had enthusiasm. After college I was in the Army in GA, then grad school, marriage and little kids. For about 10 years I didn't ski. After age 40 I had time and money enough to ski a lot and develop skills. I'm 68 and hope to be doing this for a long time. The secret is "Just do it." In the case of this trip, Just do it, and have a caring son and an excellent guide with you.