Randoism via Rosie’s | Anchorage Avalanche Center – Alaska Backcountry Ski Guide & Avalanche Education Provider for the Chugach Mountain Institute

The Anchorage outdoor community can be frustrating, especially the backcountry ski community and the “Anchorage avalanche mafia” that has so much influence over it. The “Anchorage avalanche mafia” is an exclusive clique of pretentious individuals more concerned about their own egos, and things being done their way, than fun and backcountry snow safety in the great state of Alaska. Since 2013 they’ve worked against the grassroots Anchorage Avalanche Center project, primarily because they did not have a controlling interest in it.

Perhaps the most frustrating element of the Anchorage backcountry ski community, and the “Anchorage avalanche mafia” that influences it so heavily, is its “rumor mill.” I’ve been the victim of grossly false products of this rumor mill on countless occasions over the years. Striking recent examples include a friend, currently living in Colorado, having heard that I got a restraining order to protect me from an avalanche diva that is a prominent member of the mafia.

Another example comes from the trip this report is about, where a guy we shared the Mountaineering Club of Alaska‘s Rosie’s Roost hut with told me that he had heard negative things about me from a friend that was on the board of the Friends of the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center – specifically that I was a “dangerous” individual and that this website is “controversial.” All I can say to that is: the status quo of consumer capitalist society and modern industrial civilization is “dangerous” (i.e. imperiling the fate of the human species), and being well-adjusted to an insane society is no valid measure of true sanity. I’m flattered that I’ve been deemed dangerous and controversial in relation to the status quo; it’s exactly what I was going for!

Yet another recent example of the Anchorage backcountry ski community’s rumor mill malfeasance has afflicted my good, and otherwise (besides his association with my “dangerous” and “controversial” self) innocent, friend Sam. In late April he was skiing the West Twincil couloir with another doctor friend when that friend took a tumble that resulted in stable extremity injuries, but required an evac. After both of them made it to the flats of the basin hosting the couloir, the injury was assessed, and the evac requested and confirmed; Sam left his friend to recover gear stashed on the approach and retrieve the vehicle.

A few days after the incident, and while planning this trip, I heard from Sam that he was worried about “awkwardness” at the huts if we were to cross paths with Anchorage people that had been subject to the rumor mill’s propaganda. I learned that a mutual friend (another medical professional) had already had to “defend” him in a conversation with someone that had been subjected to rumor mill misinformation. The rumor being spread about my friend Sam was that he had simply left behind his anguishing partner at the base of West Twin with little to no concern for his partner’s wellbeing.

Since this rumor is so grossly absurd, it doesn’t warrant much time for deconstruction. Suffice to say that both Sam and his partner are M.D.s. They’ve done many trips together, including a ski descent of Denali from its summit, and have a good relationship with great rapport. Yet, in just a few days time, rumor mill misinformation had infected the minds of countless individuals in the Anchorage outdoor community. That phenomena is really quite remarkable. I often wonder why individuals in this community are so prone to run with negativity, rather than turn away from it.

Two such individuals (that were misinformed due to rumor mill propaganda) did end up being at Rosie’s Roost for one of the nights we stayed there. Fortunately, they turned out to be free-thinking human beings that both easily recognized the gossip in regard to Sam’s incident on West Twin and the groupthink, propagandistic rumors about Mat and the Anchorage Avalanche Center. Nonetheless, the ongoing churning out of misinformation from the Anchorage backcountry ski community rumor mill has lead me to speak out.

Why is it that people here in Anchorage are so prone to be judgemental, armchair quarterback, and choose to bicker with one another rather than lift one another up? A quick scan of comments on Mountain Project for the Southcentral Alaska region, as well as the current state of avalanche information in the Greatland, provides ample evidence of this problem of negativity and division. Having spent time in other mountain communities (much larger and more developed than any in AK), the problem does seem somewhat unique to Anchorage. Maybe it’s just that the negativity in these larger and more developed outdoor communities gets drowned out by positivity. We need more positivity and inclusiveness in the Anchorage outdoor community.

So, here’s the trip report for our five day mission dubbed “Randoism via Rosie’s” in which we climbed and skied six of the 166 Western Chugach (500’+ prominence) summits in three days (April 26-28, 2019) with a day each for the entrance and exit via Crow Pass trailhead (April 25 and 29).

Sam heading up the Raven glacier (the south couloirs of Rook peak in center of photo, of which we completed the first known ski descent a few years prior):

Sam descending toward the Eagle glacier from the Raven Headwall:

Arriving at Rosie’s Roost the evening of April 26:

The general area we climbed and skied on this trip:

Our route on Roost as seen from Rosie’s:

Our route on Roost as seen from Hut Peak:

Sam approaching Roost’s N ridge:

Sam skinning up the N ridge of Roost:

We were able to skin all the way to the summit although it was steep, technical, and exposed (look close for that beauty of a skin track on the ridge). We descended the steep headwall from the summit (look close for those tracks as well):