Fly Me to the Zoom: En route to pastures new (courtesy, H2O Guides)
Alaska's Chugach Range is a sea of unnamed peaks stretching for as far as the eye can see, and in few other places around the world does the skiing compare to that surrounding Valdez. Thanks to a low treeline, the peaks here aren't huge elevation-wise, but these jagged summits come screaming straight out of the sea for 6,000 feet or more. That means big terrain even by Alaskan standards.
Dean Cummings' H2O Guides (907-835-8418, www.h2oguides.com) provides access to a whopping one million acres of mountain terrain around Valdez and promises you can rack up as much as 20,000 vertical feet of swooping turns—each day. Groups are limited to five skiers or 'boarders per bird, with no more than four groups sharing a helicopter each day. The result is a deck stacked with incredibly good odds that you'll find great snow and great weather no matter what the skies look like overhead.
The company offers numerous camps for those interested in learning more about big-mountain skiing than just how to go down. Sessions like the North Shore Big Mountain Camp in Alaska teach 'boarders and skiers how to assess terrain for avalanche dangers, ways to navigate around, over, and through obstacles, and the best means for picking out the surest lines. If you're looking to go a little more global, Cummings also offers big-mountain trips to Las Leñas, Argentina, in the fall.
Packages including five days of skiing and seven nights of lodging start at $5,054 based on double occupancy.
