Ski Pacific News: January 1998

Heli-helper

Chris Anthony, winner of the 1996 Alaska Extreme Skiing Championships, brings his Dynamic Skiing Workshop to Alyeska March 8-14. The clinic includes instruction, a guaranteed 48,000 vertical feet of heli-skiing with Chugach Powder Guides and unlimited lift-served skiing at Alyeska. You must reserve space by Jan. 15. The $2,425 package includes: 5 days skiing and 6 nights (double occupancy) at the Alyeska Prince Hotel.

The Areas Formerly Known As….
Snoqualmie Pass Ski Areas are getting a new identity. Alpental, Snoqualmie, Hyak and Ski Acres will become unified under a new name: The Summit at Snoqualmie. Booth Creek Holdings purchased the resorts last year, and plans to spend $30 million over the next 10 years to transform the Pass areas into a state-of-the-art four-season recreation area. The new names: Alpental becomes Alpental at the Summit; Snoqualmie becomes The Summit West; Ski Acres becomes The Summit Central; and Hyak becomes The Summit East.

Booth Creek’s long-term vision for The Summit includes 16 new quad chairs (four high-speed), connector trails between East, Central and South, a resort core at Summit Central, expanded terrain and renovated facilities at all areas.

Close to $4 million in upgrades are already underway. Additions include a new quad at Summit West, eight grooming machines, 1,000 pairs of shaped rental skis and two restaurants.

Heli-eska
When most people think of Heli-skiing in Alaska, they think Valdez, home of the World Extreme Championships. But there’s a closer place to sample the Arctic powder, and you won’t have to gamble on the weather or your courage. Just 45 minutes from Anchorage, Alyeska Ski Resort is home base for Chugach Powder Guides. Their exclusive territory includes 450 square miles of terrain that varies from moderate to extreme. Heli- service starts at the end of January, a full month earlier than in Valdez. Later in the spring, you may share the copter with Tommy Moe, one of Chugach Powder Guides’ four owners.

While Valdez still reigns as the adrenaline capital, Chugach Powder Guides offers the thrills of new territory and fresh tracks in a more relaxed atmosphere for people who aren’t up to an extreme commitment. The service is based at the Alyeska Prince Hotel, at the base of Alyeska’s tram, allowing the option to ski the lift-served terrain if the weather doesn’t cooperate. Traditionally, skiers have migrated to Alaska in April, after the resorts in the Lower 48 have closed. But,”The best snow is in February and March,” says part-owner Mike Overcast. “It’s dryer, and without the long daylight hours of spring, the snow is more stable too.” A $3,600 package includes: seven days skiing; eight nights lodging; 80,000 vertical feet guaranteed and up to 100,000 vertical feet. Day rates are $495. Call: (907) 783-4354

Sierra History
The Sierra Nevada Mountains harbor more than a collection of ski areas. They are home to a skiing community. And Mountain Dreamers, Visionaries of Sierra Nevada Skiing by Robert Frohlich is truly a community project-less a historical chronology than a collection of candid recollections. From Charley Proctor’s explorations at Yosemite’s Badger Pass to Dave McCoy’s first rope-tow at Mammoth and Alex Cushing’s persistence that brought the 1960 Olympics to Squaw Valley, the book shows us the region through the eyes of the people who created our winter playgrounds-large and small.

In addition to photographs culled from ski area archives, Mountain Dreamers includes its own collection of artistic black and white photos-aerial shots of Sierra resorts by Tom Lippert, and portraits by Carolyn Caddes of today’s visionaries in their homes-local heroes like Jimmy Heuga, Jill Kinmont and Tamara McKinnney. The forward by Andrea Mead Lawrence aptly describes how she was drawn to the Sierra’s mystique, and Stu Campbell’s epilogue testifies that in today’s breed of riders and skiers, the true spirit oof the Sierra endures. Coldstream Press, Call: (916) 587-4287, $29.95.