This point alone is enough to keep riders alive and guide services
in business. As the snowpack settles during the snow-free high-pressure cycles, subzero nighttime temperatures "freeze-dry" the surface and mirac ulously transform the Cascade Concrete (snow with more than 18 percent water weight) into Champagne Powder (snow with less than 8 percent water weight). Stable snowpack that's as light as dish bubbles on near vertical slopes is a phenomenon that has brought adventure freeriding to pre viously inconceivable levels. Until a few years ago, most of the Western world had only heard
of this sleepy Alaskan town because of two disasters. In 1964, the most powerful earthquake in the history of North America prompted one of the largest tidal waves known to mankind to surge up Prince William Sound and annihilate Valdez. The town rebuilt itself over the years and soon became
", .. STABLE SNOWPACK THAT'S AS LIGHT AS DISH BUBBLES ON NEAR VERTICAL SLOPES IS A PHENOMENON
THAT HAS BROUGHT ADVENTURE FREERIDING TO PREVIOUSLY INCONCEIVABLE LEVELS. " PHOTO, JOE MCBRIDE/AP&F
