The Powder Bowl

This blog post has been on my mind for a couple of weeks now and I just haven't taken the time to get it posted. Well, here it is. Thanks for your patience.

Let me explain the powder bowl and why it is such a great place to ski here in Toksook. The winds either blow from the North or the South around here. The Powder Bowl sits facing Southwest and Northeast, so as the wind blows snow either North or South, it gets dropped right in the valley that makes up the bowl. In other words, it collects a lot of powder and makes for very fun downhill ski conditions. More importantly, it makes the skiing managable. Most other places consist of icy, lumpy, irregular conditions. This is a picture of the top of the bowl. I know it doesn't look like much of a bowl, but it is a slope that is pretty fun on x-country skis.

Here are a couple of pics showing you the powder bowl at its finest, which was a couple of weeks ago by now. Since then, the weather has warmed up, making the snow very heavy and slushy. It is the first week of April and we just got a new snow storm that is still kicking in fresh snow. Old Man Winter just doesn't want to let go of Toksook Bay this winter.




Notice the beautiful "S" carves coming down the bowl. I'm proud to say that I made those on w-country skis. Katja found a bone and just laid at the bottom of the bowl chewing on her bone and watching me ski down and climb back up and ski down and climb back up, etc, etc. Then I hook her up to the towline and skijor back. It's quite a workout by the time we're finished.

But I have the feeling that spring is on the way and soon the powder will turn to heavy slushy snow that it no fun. Yet another reason to look forward to next year.

I hope that some of you are able to get out and make some turns of your own. Spring skiing is the best. Thanks for reading.

Dirk and Katja