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Another good trip to valdez. Was my one last ski trip till I had to start work again for the summer. Sunny weather, free beer, ABA was gone so no helicopters on the popular touring zones and the Chugach Mtn Festival Brought in a large Girdwood crowd to ski and party. Eric Pehota was helping out with the uphill/downhill raid race and Jeff Holden was a judge for the extreme comp. Was cool to hang out with Pehota a little yet he didn't ski much, just kinda hung out and drove people around with a snowmanchine. They talked Andrew Mclean into entering the uphill downhill race (he was there teaching a guide class) and a couple local girdwood kids beat him on time yet when the skills(orienteering, avy questions) were added in he took first. The extreme comp was won by a japanese skier from whistler yet the rest of the top 5 were from girdwood. Skied 8 out of 10 days (all hiking). Snow was skiing well but not the typical chugach powder so wasn't worth it for me to heli (heli's were finding good snow when they went back far on the glaciers but was unseasonably warm). Well here are some pictures I'm back to work now, guess you gotta work sometimes?
-Nissman

Ah sunshine in thompsons pass. Hiking up loveland with the pass in the background	Skiing Down of the NE side of loveland
Our line off of the NE side of loveland peak. A short steep shot with a long cruiser back to the road	We found some corn in the DOT chutes near the bottom of loveland
Morgan at the top the Girls Glacier looking at the Flatirons in the background	After a short bootpack we skied a fun line in Bro Bowl
The entrance to bro bowl was a kinda a tricky sidestep around a cornice to an easy slip in	Rhianna milking the long corn run out after skiing bro bowl
The next day we hiked up 27mile peak to ski the Catchers mitt bowl	nearing the summit of 27 mile peak with the worthington glacier in the background
I found some good stiff powder above some crevasses	Scoping the top of the catchers mitt bowl
A nice long corn run again to the road after the upper part of 27 mile peak	A few gray days followed with a few inches of fresh snow. A little flat light never hurt. The snow was good but you couldn't see anything on Nicks
The following day was sunny and we headed back up to Nicks Glacier and up to Ski Berlin wall. Our tracks from the flat light the day before below berlin wall. We skied the main run and the one lookers right (skied another line on this wall during the Chugach Mtn Festival)	The skin track up the back ridge of berlin wall is always a fun one.
The skin track has to end. Starting a boot pack up the ridge	Looking down the main run on Berlin wall after we skied it once and boot packed strait up for a second run.
Here I am skiing our second run on berlin wall on some good dense powder	Rounded up a large group for the Girls Mtn Traverse. 3 runs: summit ramp, Bro Bowl, then the 3800' run down to the tsaina lake
Baking in the warm sun heading up the girls Glacier	The group makes it to the top of the first run
The first run was short but steep and had great snow	A short bootpack to the top of Bro Bowl. Good snow was found in the shadows and some soft corn in the sun.
Most of the group skied back down to the road but 2 of us headed up a steep sketchy bootpack up to the top of the final run to complete the traverse down to the lake. 3800' of wind affected variable snow. Sweet!	here is the route of the uphill/downhill Alaska Pipeline raid race. There were three checkpoints on the Glacier where you had to complete a skill test or questions then move on. Wrong answers added time to your score. 2700 vertical feet and the winning times were just over an hour for uphill and downhill with checkpoint stops. Pretty fast!
Woke up early and got in a quick corn run on bald boy before heading over to hang in the sun and watch the extreme comp on Odyssey.	After our corn run we headed off to watch the Extreme comp on Odyssey(and drink free beer). The first run was still frozen and firm and a few good hard snow crashes were witnessed
The sun came around for the second run on Odyssey and made for better skiing	Well after much confusion and hanging out the second day of the extreme comp was held on Berlin Wall. Several snow machines were rounded up to tow the competers, judges and snow safety to the back ridge then a good bootpack was put in on the ridge (25 minute hike). Here a competer rips high speed turns down the upper part of a berlin wall line
If you did not have a snowmachine it was a 2 hour hike up to nicks glacier to watch the event. (once up there it was easy to catch a ride to the ridge bootpack and squeeze in a few runs down the venue between skiers and after the event). Another warm day hanging in the sun watching some good skiing	After another good day. more free beer and hanging in the sun at the ABA parking lot
Plenty of free Beer and food under the tent at all times. The sun just kept shining.	The classic line of meteorite. 2500' of near 50 deg The ice on the mid and lower sections broke up a bit and now makes a difficult line even harder if skiable at all. (Eric Pehota has the first descent on this one as well any many other chugach classics.)
The Books. 50 ramps with only 3 accessible by heli. a great place to camp (4-5 hour skin from the road or 30 minute snowmachine ride)	The Valley of the Tusk!