Thoroughfare

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T HE SK IER ’S M AGA ZINE F L IP B O O K SE R IE S 01

THOROUGHFARE 2,700 MILES TO AL ASK A


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EDITORIAL

STORY/PHOTOS

EDITOR

STORY AND CAPTIONS BY

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

PHOTOGRAPHY BY

John Stifter David Reddick

Griffin Post

Mark Fisher/TGR

ART DIRECTOR

Mike ‘Basher’ Taylor ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

Anthony Smith

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

John Clary Davies

ON THE COVER A turn perfected in race courses, Ligare’s U.S. Ski Team pedigree adapted for Alaska. AT HLE TE: TODD LIGA RE


Todd making sure every bit of the five days of driving was worth it. AT HLE T E: TODD LIGA RE



TRO

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LEG 1

THE LIT TLE THINGS

PG

06 - 17

LEG 2

THE MAGIC HOUR

PG

18 - 23

LEG 3

PILGRIMAGE

PG

24 - 33

LEG 4

PAYDIRT

PG

34 - 49

To most, a five-day, 2,700-mile drive on snow-packed roads through sparsely populated country sounds like some sort of purgatorial sentence. From Jackson, Wyoming, my hometown, it’s an easy two-layover flight to Valdez, Alaska. However, for athlete Todd Ligare, photographer Mark Fisher, cinematographer Ed Daft, and I flying was never really an option. While we were doomed to drive from the get go due to the amount of gear we had, including snowmobiles, camera equipment, a dozen duffel bags of skiing and camping gear, we never viewed it as some sort of punishment. To our adventure-hungry souls, it wasn’t simply a road trip. Instead, a means to an end, in this case the ends being skiing untracked Alaskan faces from our dreams. But somewhere along the way, the journey morphs into an end in itself. As the odometer rolls over and over again and seemingly endless stretches of highway carry on northward, the focus is no longer on getting from point A to point B. Rather, it’s about embracing the emptiness, the landscape that few others will ever get to see, and the possibility that survival may come down to what’s in the back of the truck, like goosedown sleeping bags, propane stoves, and red jerry cans of extra gas. But still, no matter how desolate the stretch of road, that spark of Alaska always flickers in the subconscious. Images of classic lines like Pyramid, the Tusk, and Pontoon flash through your head, sometimes as clear as the mile markers passing by. And then, just when you think you can’t handle another empty horizon line or rip of elk jerky, those images become reality, and you think to yourself, yes, this is it. Even before you make your first powder turn, you know that every monotonous mile, every $100 gas tank, and every late night push fighting the comfort of a few hours of sleep was justified. If you’re a skier and take one massive road trip in your life, this is it. – Griffin Post


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LEG 1:  GREAT FALLS, MONTANA TO WATSON LAKE, YUKON TERRITORY


In the middle of the night in the Yukon, you’re more stoked that somebody is around to take your money than you are bummed about how much it costs.


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LOCATION:

WALMART, GREAT FALLS, MONTANA Strange people hang out at Walmart, particularly in the middle of the night in Great Falls. I’d like to think we fell somewhere in between the middle-aged man wearing a T-shirt that highlighted erotic pleasures to the teen mom grocery shopping with her daughter at 1 in the morning. With a plan to camp from early February to late April in Alaska, we stocked up with enough propane and heaters to hopefully make the sub-zero temperatures bearable.

Days before we left, we realized we were, essentially, moving to Alaska. Beyond the typical ski gear and clothes, we had generators, medical kits, expedition-grade camping supplies, and four snowmobiles in tow. When we loaded up for the first time, Todd’s truck bottomed out and we had to make the first unsuspected detour of the trip to get air bags installed to handle the weight. We didn’t realize until the final leg of the trip, on the way home in May, that we’d been exceeding the Toyota’s towing capacity by a cool 2,000 pounds.


“WE REALIZED WE WERE, ESSENTIALLY, MOVING TO ALASKA.“



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LOCATION:

NORTH OF EDMONTON, ALBERTA About a dozen parallels before our final destination it started getting cold‌really cold. This is about when we started reconsidering our idea of hunkering down in massive dome tents for the next three months. While negative-40 sleeping bags and propane heaters would get us through the cold nights, we quickly began to question how long we could maintain this lifestyle. Storms accompanied by arctic winds howling at upwards of 60 mph could essentially pin us in our tents for days, making it difficult to survive, let alone ski the runs of our lives.



“DAWSON CREEK MARKS THE OFFICIAL START OF THE ALASKA CANADA HIGHWAY.”

LOCATION:

DAWSON CREEK, BRITISH COLUMBIA Dawson Creek is 1,200 miles north of Jackson, Wyoming, my hometown, and marks the official start of the Alaska Canada Highway. Built hastily in the 1940s to defend Alaska during World War II, the AlCan originally meandered 1,700 miles through Northern B.C. and the Yukon before terminating in Fairbanks (I know this because we went to the AlCan museum in Dawson). Although shortened over the years by roughly 300 miles, the AlCan is still every bit an adventure for winter travelers, with sparse towns, glazed roads, and the difference between success and disaster often coming down to the red jerry can in the back of your truck.

LOCATION:

NORTH OF DAWSON CREEK, BRITISH COLUMBIA No longer on the main AlCan highway, the Kiskatinaw Bridge was the first curved wooden bridge built in Canada. Although I’d usually categorize such novelties as tourist traps, when a drive lasts five days, sights like these are a muchneeded distraction from the seemingly endless pavement.

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LOCATION:

LIARD RIVER HOT SPRINGS, BRITISH COLUMBIA

After four days of driving, the Liard River Hot Springs is a welcome recharge for any traveler. Although I’m fairly certain we interrupted some fellow road-warriors’ intimate moment, we’d left civilities behind several hundred miles ago and immediately started cracking PBRs and doing Ron Burgundy-inspired cannon balls.

Todd with, arguably, a first descent into the shallow end of the springs, immediately followed by the trip’s first injury.




17 LOCATION:

WATSON LAKE, YUKON

We hit the signpost forest just as the sun was dipping below the Yukon horizon. Although it sounds tacky in every sense of the word, it’s actually quite spectacular in person– thousands and thousands of handmade and street signs from all over the world hung by those that have made the journey. There were street signs from Europe, names of travelers from Australia, and our personal favorite, “Come to the dark side, we have cookies,” which was hung directly beneath, “Jesus Saves.”


With the February sun barely making it above the horizon, it was always seemingly the “magic hour,� as photographers call it.


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LEG 2:  YUKON TERRITORY TO THE ALASKA BORDER


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LOCATION:

NORTH OF HAINES JUNCTION, YUKON

Worn out from driving, we bivied in a random parking lot. Far from the most comfortable night of sleep we’d ever had, the knowledge of our last day on the road made it easy to crawl back in the driver’s seat.

That’s about $7 per gallon for those keeping score at home.


“LEFT OR RIGHT? HAINES OR VALDEZ? ” LOCATION:

HAINES JUNCTION, YUKON

After four days of driving, for the first time, it feels like we’re getting somewhere. Left or right? Haines or Valdez? We waited for the last minute to make the call, based on weather. We headed right toward Valdez with plans to come back to Haines later in the season. We never made it.


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“ WE NEARLY COLLIDED AFTER THIS SHOT.”

LOCATION:

SOMEWHERE IN THE YUKON Stoked to be almost “home.” Make no mistake, this is still a two-lane highway and we decided to put the camera away after we nearly collided after this shot.


For the last three days of driving, the road was solid ice. With a trailer that significantly outweighed the truck, we got squirrelly once. After a 30-second fishtale, Todd managed to pull it together and avoid spending a long, cold night in the ditch. Photographer Mark Fisher’s loaded down Subaru towing a sled on a modified drift-boat trailer. As much as we made fun of his setup at the beginning of the trip, he crushed us on gas.


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LEG 3:

ALASKA-YUKON BORDER TO ROBE LAKE, ALASKA

PILGRIMAGE PI



“WELCOME TO ALASKA.”


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LOCATION:

ALASKA-YUKON BORDER

Back to America! Immediately after this photo was taken, the border agent came out of his shack and started screaming at our photographer and filmer. Apparently it’s frowned upon to film border crossings. A pre-emptive fuel top-off. With poor fuel efficiency and large gaps between gas stations, we always hauled 10 to 15 gallons of spare fuel.

LOCATION:

GLENNALLEN, ALASKA

Welcome to Alaska.


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LOCATION:

THOMPSON PASS, ALASKA Although I’ve looked at photos of the mountains around Valdez most of my ski career, I’ll never forget the first time I saw them in person, even if most of the peaks were shrouded by clouds. They’re aweinspiring, and you immediately know why Valdez has its place in skiing lore. The options are seemingly endless, and that’s just the terrain that’s visible from the road. As the weeks passed by and we started realizing some of these lines, I often thought back to this first moment, this first “ah ha” and, unlike many places, the feeling never faded. Coming over Thompson Pass and dropping down toward Valdez, the Tusk is the first iconic peak that comes into view. If you’ve watched any old ski film, you’ve likely caught a glimpse of it, with its prominent horn that’s flanked by ramps to the east and west. It’s spectacular, if not intimidating. Welcome to Valdez.


“ IF YOU’VE WATCHED ANY OLD SKI FILM, YOU’VE LIKELY CAUGHT A GLIMPSE OF THE ICONIC TUSK.”


30 The beard says, “Alaska,” and the smile, well, it also says “Alaska.” For the most part, a sled only gets you so far in Valdez. After that, it’s up to you.

“A SLED ONLY GETS YOU SO FAR IN VALDEZ.”


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THOMPSON PASS, ALASKA As far as sled access terrain in Alaska goes, Valdez is second to none. With a banner snow year, it was fairly straightforward to get to the bottom of many lines that are typically guarded by deep ravines and crevasses.


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LOCATION:

ROBE LAKE, ALASKA On multiple occasions, we were treated to one of the last frontier’s most famous attributes: the Northern Lights. There’s probably no better exclamation point to a day in AK. In February in Valdez, powder conditions start at the peaks and run all the way down to the ocean.

AT HLE TE: TODD LIGA RE




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LEG 4:

AROUND VALDEZ, ALASKA

While Alaska is better known for its steeps and spines than its over-the-head blower, we scored one day in early February that was just that. It was laughably deep. There were no buried tracks, no crowds, no competing for turns–it was like some sort of skiing utopia. It was the first of many days up there I’ll remember for the rest of my life. AT HLE TE: GRIF FIN P OST


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LOCATION:

VALDEZ, ALASKA

AT HLE TE: GRIF FIN P OST

“ WE WON THE WEATHER LOTTERY.”

LOCATION:

VALDEZ, ALASKA

After two weeks of storms and windowshopping, we saw the forecast we’d been waiting for: two days of high pressure. While that may not sound like much in most places, in Alaska, in February, it’s the equivalent of winning the weather lottery. Set to make the most of it, we chartered a heli out of Anchorage and developed a hit list. Unlike the chaos of March and April, where multiple operations are flying multiple helis, battling over terrain, we were the only crew out. We essentially had carte blanche for some of the best terrain in the world. AT HLE TE: TODD LIGA RE





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LOCATION:

VALDEZ, ALASKA

Previous Spread: Sometimes, it’s like the mountain is melting behind you. There might not be a more terrifying and thrilling feeling in skiing than looking back up at a line only to see the rubble you both caused and escaped from. AT HLE T E: TODD LIGA RE

Griffin Post celebrating with the champagne of beers for the champagne of days. The smile says it all: bluebird, powder, and nobody out. If it looks like a shit-eating grin it’s because it is.

YOU HAVE TO LIGHT A FUSE ON EVERY TURN YOU MAKE. LOCATION:

Pulling the big toy out of the hanger in time for the early light.

VALDEZ, ALASKA

Opposite Page: Blower snow means heavy, fast slough. Or, in other words, lighting a fuse on every turn you make. There’s no time for hesitation, and the small, loose snow avalanches can turn from exciting to life threatening pretty easily. Staying ahead of it is the only option. AT HLE T E: TODD LIGA RE




LOCATION:

VALDEZ, ALASKA AT HLE T E: TODD LIGA RE



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VALDEZ, ALASKA Todd Ligare tickling the dragon. As our two-day window rolled on, the snow held and the skiing was like a drug, with a limitless supply. AT HLE TE: TODD LIGA RE

Todd leaving a vapor trail all the way down to the glacier. AT HLE TE: TODD LIGA RE

LOCATION:

VALDEZ, ALASKA

Next Spread: The last run on our two-day window before the clouds moved back in. A dozen runs in the bag, many of which I’ll remember the rest of my life. AT HLE TE: GRIF FIN P OST



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A DOZEN RUNS IN THE BAG, MANY OF WHICH I’LL REMEMBER THE REST OF MY LIFE.


VALDEZ, ALASKA Trying to milk the last bit of sunlight. AT HLE T ES: TODD LIGA RE, GRIF FIN P O S T, A N D R A L P H B A C K S T R O M


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