April 3-8, Valdez

Nice report - thanks for sharing. Good example of a report that benefits from pretty much all the photos. It made me want to go up and check that area out.

Thanks for the pictures - I recognize many terrain features from my summer trip out there! It looks like the chalet is on the Valdez side of the pass, just below treeline?

Where did you leave the road to ascend toward Dimond? - I am guessing from about 3 miles down the northeast side of Thompson Pass? Curious also where you got the names for all the locales - I was just using USGS maps and google satellite photos.

We had trekked across meadows from just south of the pass toward Dimond Lakes. Here are some of my photos - the peaks just southeast of the pass are the most impressive!

http://www.catdaddy.com/people/kevin/images/05_07_Alaska/Alaska2.html

- Kevin

the chalet is down a dirt road from the highway at the turnout at mile post 19. I think Thompson Pass is at mile post 27. The "trailhead" to Dimond is at about mile post 36. Matt Kinney has named many of the features in the area, and the names seem to have stuck with the locals. He has a backcountry skiing guide book to the area that was just published this year. The book is excellent, and so is the cover shot, for which I receive credits in the book. :) You can order it off his website.

http://www.alaska.net/~chalet/in/ski_report.html