By Sean Zumwalt
Spring Break, the period of time where universities take time off and is frequently accompanied by riotous gatherings and parties in warmer climates. Places such as Cancun and Daytona Beach will be overly crowded and well attended regardless of one’s educational standings. However, the ski season is still in session and there is no time for that nonsense. An opportunity arose and part of the team took advantage of an invitation that will leave a lasting impression. Vince and I set off on a voyage that started at sea and had us heading South West into Cochrane Bay, where lies a gem called the Paulson Bay Cabin. This cabin offers a secluded getaway for relaxation and recreation. The trip was planned out for five days and four nights in a remote location where a group of men would anchor down and scope some ascending routes with the hopes of skiing big lines.
Our group met in Indian, Alaska, where the boat was parked and we would all carpool together to save some money. The direction we needed to drive in currently had white-out weather and our fearless leader, Brian, drove with white knuckles the entire way while hauling the boat behind us. After successfully making it to Whittier, we loaded the boat with all of our gear and were ready for launch.
The seas were not very nice to us that day but we managed to make it to the bluff where the cabin sits. Once arriving on shore, we started unloading the boat and shoveling out a trail to get to the cabin where we would start making ourselves at home. The weather continued to provide us with a lot more snow and the storm continued well into the night. We were able to take the skis out for a bit to do some navigating and get a small ski session back to the cabin. Due to the large amount of snow, any low angle terrain was impossible to move in. Most of the riding that day had to be in our uphill track to get any momentum.
After our first night, we woke up to more snow coming down and poor visibility. The storm continued on throughout the day. We still planned on exploring and making a day out of it despite the conditions. We followed our skin track from the day prior until it was time for us to break trail again and started going up a ridge line to gain elevation. Visibility started to get worse. We found a good vantage point to pick and choose some decent lines. After descending down a few hundred feet, we came across a bowl that looked promising, but again, with poor visibility, it was uncertain where we would end up. After carefully discussing our options, we traversed to an area where we decided to drop in. This ski run provided us with some deep snow and the first powder shots of the trip.
Once the group reconvened, we had to discuss our options. We either climb back up the way we came down to find our skin track or stay down low and head towards the cabin. We decided to stay down low as the weather continued to dump snow.
After a long day of touring and skiing, we hunkered down for the night and played a few games of cribbage before bed. It had quit snowing the next morning and we decided this would be the day to take the boat out and explore a different area in Prince William Sound. We loaded up and set sail for another shoreline. We reached our destination and we anchored the boat. We soon worked our way uphill to set a route that would get us out of tree line and we continued to break trail until we were content with the elevation gain. The plan was to ski down close to shoreline and get back on our skin track to do multiple laps. Our first run dropped us into a steep gully, and Vince and I will admit, this was probably the steepest thing we’ve ever had our skis on. The steepness allowed us to really surf through the soft snow and we came out of this with nothing but smiles and giggles. We circled around to where our skin track started and went back up for round two. On the way up, I was having trouble with one of my bindings so I had to pull over and let the others go ahead. When I got everything working properly I started back up the hill. Along the way, I heard a very loud woomph, and felt the ground sink a few inches. I froze, looked around, and didn’t see any cracks in the snow nor other signs of an avalanche nearby. Then I thought “maybe it was up ahead where the rest of the group was,” so I hurried to try and get a better view. I finally had Vince in sight and asked if he heard the noise and felt the ground sink. He said he did. Our guess was it could have been a small earthquake.
When we got to where we were ready to start skiing, Brian said this may be the last run due to the timing of low tide. We strapped up and took a new ski route down to the boat. The tide did get lower but the boat was still in deep enough water to freely move around. One of our group members volunteered to stay on shore to watch the tide if we wanted to make one more run. So that’s what we did, and we wanted to take one more shot down the steep gully.
Why so serious?
The cabin was a great asset for drying out our wet clothes, sleeping, cooking meals, and playing cribbage. Other than that, we spent most of our time outside. One of the other extracurricular activities that took place besides skiing was working on a world class sled track and having the sled racers attempt to set records. The most noticeable racers were Brian and Vince, in the time range of sub 14 seconds.
The trail maintenance crew at work
Left to Right: Vince using snow shoes as a legal method to add weight to the sled, Sean and Vince nervously watching Brian attempting to use a smaller, sleeker sled to break a record.
The next morning was our last full day at the Cabin and it turned out to be some of the best weather of the voyage. We decided to stay nearby and use our old skin track to travel. We came across the bowl we scoped out earlier and chose a section of it that was glowing at us. The sun was out and it was a warmer day. The snow was heavier and we saw a lot of loose snow avalanches on the steeper terrain. We got our last few runs of the trip this day.
Testing Snow Pack as we saw a lot of Loose Snow Avalanches
Finding our way back to the cabin
Back to drying wet clothes and enjoying our last night together
Our last morning consisted of packing our things, cleaning the cabin, and getting ready to load up the boat. Once we had everything on shore, we loaded all of our gear onto the boat and bid adieu to the Paulson Bay Cabin. The seas were smooth for the most part until we got closer to Whittier. The winds had picked up and the swells grew. Once we got to the dock, we had to wait for Brian to drive the truck and trailer down to us. It was cold, windy, and I could barely feel my fingers. The snow was blowing sideways. I told Vince, “I’ll be right back, I’m going to go grab an ice cream.” He gave me a repulsive look and replied, “This is the worst time to be eating ice cream!”
VRS SkiMo Team 