Last week I volunteered to help the Friends of the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center orchestrate a season-opening fundraiser. "The Friends Group" is a volunteer organization that supports the area's relatively new avalanche info center. Ironically backcountry users in the Chugach, North America's snowiest range, have only recently had the benefit of an avalanche forecasting organization -- something that is well established in places like Colorado's Front Range and Utah's Wasatch. I joined the Friends Group back in May anticipating the use of the center's many webcams and weather stations during the upcoming winter. The fundraiser featured a sideshow presentation by world renown ski mountaineer Andrew McLean. Featured in 2007's ski film Steep, Andrew delivered an inspiring and lighthearted presentation on his first forays into big mountain skiing. The Bear Tooth Theater's movie-screen size projector proved a fitting venue for his spectacular pictures of Denali and Sultana. Aside from sipping a pint of beer it almost felt like the entire sold out crowd was climbing each ridge with Andrew and his buddies. Needless to say, the fundraiser was a success and the following night I joined the other volunteers for a dinner with Andrew. We feasted on caribou, dall sheep and elk. Andrew's next trip? A November exploration of Antarctica.
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