Heli Yeah! (Day Two)

Sun up: Center Mountain

The "party" atop Center Mountain continued until midnight as the sun dropped below the volcanic peaks of the Alaska Peninsula to the west. Sated by a tasty camp meal and anticipating the next day of skiing, we slid into our bags for sleep. Sunday morning greeted us with bright sun and a mild breeze. In the distance a low-lying fog shrouded Kodiak town. The three new windmills on Pillar Mountain, however, stood above the mist as though floating in air. Patrick provided the breakfast and the group prepared for a full day of skiing, skinning and hiking/bushwhacking (watch Patrick's video).

Skiing home

We took a morning ski run off the southern face of Center Mountain before packing up our gear and skiing home. The ground that Patrick used to cover in about three and a half hours during his yearly ski quests would take us nearly twice that. In addition to almost 2000' vert of skiing we had several miles of hiking and some mild bushwhacking ahead of us. The views of surrounding peaks, valleys and rivers, however, kept our heads up. Eventually Patrick did unsheathe his machete during the final leg of our hike as we dropped off a high ridgeline into Sargent Creek drainage. Though the vegetation was thick, a footpath led us toward the creek without incident. Soon, we found ourselves on a dusty road in Bells Flats in the bed of a Ford speeding toward our respective families, showers and ice packs. I would like to thank Steve, Greg, Lisa, Mike and Patrick for showing me around Kodiak's backcountry. I hope to be back soon.

Looking back on our lines