First Days of BC Downhill; tearing it up on the Lane Glacier

October 5th, the kids haven't even picked out their trick or treat costumes yet, in most parts of the country people haven't even begun to think about ole' man winter coming, or even pulled their wool sweaters off the top back shelf in the closet, but NOT IN ALASKA! We're barely even out of September, less then three weeks into Autumn, and we're ripping it up in the snow in Alaska. Maybe that's why I love this place...
So for our first tracks/first turns of the season, we set out with friends Matt and Jessica, plus four dogs, Hannah, Jack, Jasper, and Labeda, to play on the Lane Glacier, located at the end of the Archangel road in Hatchers Pass.

About a 3-4 mile hike from the car, the snow quickly moved in after pulling up to the parking lot, and continually dumped while we climbed towards the glacier.Summit shots before beginning the descent in knee deep fresh powder!
We peaked at about 6100ft, before heading down.
The gorgeous granite rock outcroppings are the norm in the Talkeetna Mountains.
Matt tears it up.

Self portrait, Gretchen in the background making final turns of the run.

All in all it was an amazing day, hopefully the start of a great ski/snowboard season.

When we left Eagle River it was in the 40's and sunny, but we returned to blowing snow and an accumulation on the ground, with a forecast of more to come!