Bluebird Powder Day!

Alaskans! Today is the last day to apply for your PFD (with direct deposit) and get it early. Here is a link.

Also, night skiing last night was wicked awesome. The wind made it cold, but it afforded free refills. I'm generally not super big on the night skiing, but fresh snow & good friends made for a memorable night.

My poll closes today, make sure to vote for your favorite place to ski. Any ideas for the next poll? Leave ideas in the comment section. Thanks!

Redoubt Volcano

A local volcano is getting ready to erupt.  For more info click here.

Also, I sent my camera in for repair, hopefully I will have it back soon. 

Winter Solstice Rail Jam

This video was posted by dapasta1 on You Tube.

Thanks to Matt & his parks crew who maintain the terrain parks.

Also Warren & his events crew for making it an "event"!

Vintage Alyeska

Click for some sweet vintage Alyeska  photos and info.

Also, there is an aid room attendant position open inquire here.

Fantastic Sunset

There was fantastic weather today. By the afternoon, clouds were moving in from the south, hopefully it will start snowing.
There was even some iridescence in the clouds above the sun (click to enlarge). More info
Lift mechanic Jeff pulls his wife Wendy to the top of Mighty Mite.

Another Fun Day at chair 6

L-R: Dan, Doug, Matt & Cody.  All former or current lift crew.  Doug & Matt trained Ben & I at the tram when we first started.

BFFs: Molly, Me & Katie.  Jeff from lift maintenance gave me a break so I could ski with the girls.  It was awesome in the sun and sketchy in the fog/cloud layer. 
Patrol worked on their bomb trolley above the North Face today.
Some cool clouds above Ragged Top.
Looking toward Crow Pass.
Eaf (groomer) takes an early morning run to check out his work.

Sunday at 6

It was still dark upon our 7:45 arrival at chair 6 this morning.

Jim & Chris came by this morning to take a look at our RFID gates.
There was a bit of a back up with ski patrol looking to ride chair 6 this morning while lift maintenance did a timing adjustment.
Dylan, Aaron, Rob & I, Jeremiah is in there somewhere...
Another beautiful sunset.
Chair 6 crew gets ready rally down at the end of the day.  Max's Mountain in the background.
What a fun day at chair 6, and such great weather!  I'll be there the next 2 days, hopefully it snows more!

Lift Maintenance

front row: Ben, Jeff S., Corey, Rob; middle row: Jeff G, Devon, Chad; back row: Garrett, Bart, Walt.

This is everyone on the lift maintenance team.  Some are mechanics, some electricians, but they all work together to keep the lifts spinning.

Ben took this picture using the timer & a tripod.

X Games

Click here for X Games coverage.

Earthquake!

There was a magnitude 6.1 earthquake in southcentral Alaska at 9:09 this morning. Link to ADN article. I don't think there was any damage or injuries.

Also, it is snowing, with continued snow in the forecast!

Figure Skating - US Championships

Girdwood Represent! Way to go Keegan!

Reader Submitted Pictures

A reader of the Lifty Blog, Carrollea Hubbard, sent me these pictures to share. She took them on 1/10 from Moose Meadows.

The moon looks HUGE!
Moon over Max's

Thanks for the photos, Carrollea; they are beautiful!

Yay for normal Weather!

As I headed to the top of Tanaka to check on something, I skied through this avalanche debris. The cat crew plowed a road through. It was interesting; check it out if you get the chance.
Johnny super scoops some sugary snow for the ramp at the top of 3.
Corey & Devon got the Magic carpet running this afternoon.
This is me with the manufacturer & owner of the loading carpet company. They came by to do a software update today.
Me & my husband/ lift mechanic, Ben, riding chair 6 this morning.
A job with a view...

Mountainside Posse

We did a group photo after work today.

(L-R, Sean, Jeff, Michelle, Cody, Dennys, Joe, Ben, Ciao, Andy, Chris, Kris, Byron, Kim, Gates, Ryan, Maria)
Joe, Gates, Andy, Ryan, Maria, Kim, Dennys, Chris, Ben, Jeff, Cody, Sean, Caio, Michelle, Kris

Reload Media Online!

Looks like you can reload your media online now. No more waiting at the ticket office!

Open from 1-9pm

Looks like the nasty weather has finally cleared out, and it is time to get out there and ride the fresh!

Closed Again!

For the third day in a row, the mountain is closed, for good reasons. I just had a 20 minute power outage at my house, and the wind is howling.
Obviously there is avalanche danger to be aware of, but a lot of folks may not know the dangers of running lifts in high winds. We don't want a cross wind pushing the chair towards a tower and hitting it. Also of concern would be a de-ropement, when the haul rope comes off the sheave assembly on the tower all together.
Right now lift maintenance is heading around the mountain to watch for flooding (sunken counterweight rooms, like the ones at chairs 1 & 5 are especially susceptible to this) and making sure there is proper voltage to all the lifts. A big shout out to these guys for keeping the lifts running, year round.

Hopefully the weather will settle down soon and we can enjoy some freshies, but until then, stay
dry & travel safe.

My husband Ben found this video on YouTube for your consideration, posted by skiddock:

More Bad Weather on its Way

Closed Again

There were massive winds last night, I know we lost some of the external parts of our house. The snow report says that patrol/ snow safety is working hard to get the mountain ready to go for an opening tomorrow, but there are definitely several more departments involved in making this happen: lift maintenance, grooming and lift ops, to name a few. There was bombing all morning.
It is still windy & icy out there; travel safe!

I found this on YouTube- Powder Day at Alyeska:

Posted on YouTube by: JVmovie

Mountain is Closed

Due to icy roads, lack of power, and a nasty weather forecast the mountain is closed for the day.  Please drive safe!  Another link about the weather.

Pre public, riding chair 6...employee tracks on South edge this morning.

Dennys (all the way from Brazil!) mans the magic carpet at chair 3.

The view & the skiing was awesome this morning.
Dylan & Johnny on the controls at chair 6.
Patrollers at the end of High Traverse, near the Max's gate.  Zoomed in.
Click to enlarge.

Yesterday.
Byron heads down Race Trail this morning before opening.

Happy Monday!

I feel sorry for all you weekend warriors who have to go back to work today, because it finally snowed! 6 inches at the base and 7-8 inches at the top. And it it still snowing... 18 degrees at the base feels way to warm after all this cold weather, but I'm not complaining. Hope to see you out there. Yay for snow!

More Seawolves Invitational

Here is a link to tonight's KTUU coverage of the Seawolves invitational. It is at the end of the clip, 4:00-4:30.

Local NBC Coverage of the Seawolves Invitational

There is a bunch of other sports news, but from 2:57-3:54 is coverage of the races.

DJ Dance Party - Lifty Style

Belly up to the bar with some awesome lifties. (Sarah, Lisa, Ryno, Me, Jennifer, Johnny & Jeff)

And the girls - Sarah, Me, Jen, Lisa, Kelly & Molly
Out by the fire - Miah, Jeff & Ryno
The DJs - Jeremy (former lifty) on the left and Chris on the right

Wing Suits

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Kids don't try this at home!

Required Reading for all Lifties

CAUTION: Nudity!  This was not posted by Michelle, although I added this disclaimer. MC

Good Night Magic Carpet

Lifties put the protective tarp on the chair 3 magic carpet at closing.

Hopefully the cold weather breaks soon, it is just too cold!

Inspiration

Cold Weather Lifties

Another amazing sunset.

And the moon over the headwall.
Austin & Miah at the top of 3.
Austin keeps the ramp sweet.
Grounds crew was getting the pond ready for ice skating.
The moon earlier in the afternoon.
I got to take a run with my friend Mark.
Only chair 3 and the tram were open today, due to the cold weather.  And man was it cold!

Sign ups for Town League is this Thursday at the Sitzmark.  There will also be a DJ dance party  starting at 9, with NO COVER CHARGE!

Tram Theft & Sunset

Kim, my friend in patrol dispatch, called me to let me know there was an awesome sunset rainbow happening at the top of the mountain.  So, I geared up and made the cold journey up to the top.  Look above the top  of 2 shack below.

Bad News...
Someone broke into the tram base last night and stole a bunch of gear (skis, snowboards, bindings, goggles, jackets) out of our crew room. If anyone has any information on what happened, or who did it, please contact Alyeska Resort security at 754-2131 or the Alaska State Troopers at 269-5511.
Thank you for your help.

It is still cold!

Today marks 50 years of statehood for Alaska.  Wonder what it would be like if we hadn't achieved statehood?

Night Skiing has been cancelled tonight, due to the excessive cold.

There will be an awesome reggae show at the Sitz next Friday & Saturday.  PREVIEW

The video below was from the daylodge webcam.  Jim, one of Alyeska's awesome IT guys, edited it, added music, and posted it on YouTube.

Flapgates and More!

Martin Cassens (Alyeska IT) made this video while monitoring the new RFID gate system, early this season. Maybe you will see yourself in one of the clips!

New Year's Festivities

There were a few lifties ready to ring in the New Year at this house party last night!

Molly, Jeff, Mike W. & Bart - Lifty Reunion

Molly just got back into town from New York.

Does this taste like beer?  Let me check.
Corey & Matt were lifties a few years back.
Jeff & Maria at the top of race trail.
Lifty gathering at Von's corner.
There was almost 200 people in this year's parade!
The first guests unload chair 4.
Harmony & Kris helped me set up the top.
You can see that Ed from grooming got quite a bit done in the hour after closing to sweeten up race trail.
Marc sets up the base of 4.
Below, torchlight parade and fireworks.

Happy New Year!  2008 was great, but 2009 will be just fine!