This week the snow started to creep down the mountainsides around Girdwood, and the bears and eagles are having their final feasts on the salmon out at TML. Fall is one of my favorite seasons in Alaska. I look forward to the color change, the crisp nights and of course, the fresh moose steaks and a great bottle of wine.
Some seasons are easier to let go as you think ahead to the seasons to come. However, this past
season will be incredibly hard to put behind, as I think about all the happenings. Without a doubt, It was one of the finest heli-ski seasons I have ever experienced. Our first turns in the Tordrillos were some of the best conditions in snow and stability that we could have hoped for. Major storms in Dec/Jan had buried the lodge under an honest 10 feet of compacted snow when we arrived. After a solid week of digging out, we were ready for our first guests and the start of an incredible ski season. Great new terrain was explored, air strips for ski planes developed, and continual logistical plans exercised our brains as to what was possible. We laid tracks in mountains as far off as Mt. Spurr, an active volcano some 30 miles from the lodge. That is along way from Tordrillo Base, but, using Beaver Ski Plane shuttles and and fuel caching landing strips, we found it manageable and efficient. My hat is off to the guide staff and pilots for really working the hardware and marking up the terrain map. Having done it, we now know that we can reach even further, and that is exciting.
Those who experienced it will recall runs in the Meat Curtain and the Montrechette area. All the runs between Cab and Pinot glaciers were big producers for windless powder,session after session. We learned a lot about our terrain and where to go, at what times, to produce outstanding heli skiing and boarding.
Spring came late and the lake broke two days before guests arrived for the first K&C program. To say that we had incredible corn conditions would be an understatement. It was the best ever. Winter length runs were available all the way through the season. Week three, just before solstice we executed what we believe was a first ever and new record for heliskiing. Andrew Cader and a gang of guides heliskied for 24 hours, achieving 101 different runs. We skied 161,000 vertical feet, within 25 miles of the lodge. So the challenge is out to the Canadians to giver ‘a’ go, and see if they can beat it in our style, not a speed track. For now Andrew can claim the free ski heli record. Way to go A.C.!
Looking to next season, we will be working on the lodge and property to improve guest accommodations and employee housing. We have a new shop to tinker in this winter and a wood mill to cut our own lumber. Nobis and myself made sure we had the project finished, so we could move the tools and gear, and burn the Monkey Shack this winter. We are looking forward to that party, as well as the absence of the old building and a start on the private cabins and recreation center.
You should see all the familiar faces around this winter from TML as well as returning pilots Glen Summa and Joe Shuster. Summa will be back in the A Star and Joe will have two Beavers with belly tanks, shuttling fuel and skiers to and from our glacier landing strips. The speed and efficiency make this such a great approach, and unique to CPG. Chef Brendan Nolan and Manie will be back in the kitchen and working the magic. I will be working the wine list and making sure we have plenty of great juice for next winter.
I hope to see you all again and look forward to meeting all the new guests. If you can't make it out this season, have a great winter wherever you are. Check out the slide show below for a taste of our year at the Tordrillo Mountain Lodge. See you on the slopes!
Yours truly,
