Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25040
But as soon as the bird fl ies away and you're up there looking down the throat of the beast, then you'll see what al l the hype's about. Many of the pilots up here are Vietnam vets, and after a particularly scary landing, one once told me: "Hey, as long as no one is shooting at us, kid, we ain't gonna crash." Just about every magazine and video that has anything to do with snowboarding or skiing features Chugach. "The North Shore of Freeriding" or "Snowboarding's Super Bowl" are just a few ways that the media has por trayed the playground near Valdez. But to see it on film and to live it for real are two entirely different realities. The cold air blowing in from the sea, the booming echoes of falling seracs in the distant val leys, the anxiety and the anticipation of the most memo rable ride of a lifetime-these are things that can only be felt through experience. It's definitely not for everyone. Riders spend years acquiring the skills and nerves to exist here with any confidence and ease. And Valdez is no Aspen-there are few restaurants and bars. When the weather rolls in, which it does in a big way, you find yourself waiting it out for days on end in the dreary, coastal drizzle. Many a freerider has fallen victim to "Val-disease, " an uneasy case of boredom and depression. "Each down day seemed like an eternity, " recalls Kilgrow on a long storm cycle. "After the fifth day, I found myself trying to sleep away the time. Then we'd hang in the bar shooting pool and drinking recklessly until 5AM. It was agonizing, and when the weeklong storm finally cleared, I was so stiff and lethargic, I wasn't sure if I could even get it together to go up and ride. " It takes patience and nerves of steel, but rest assured, there is a cure. Eventually stars sparkle overhead and the Northern Lights turn the heavens green and gold. The longer the downtime, the sweeter and deeper the snow will be. For veterans of the Valdez extreme scene, a week's wait now and again is nothing. We wait 10 months every year for the spring to roll around so we can spend April in our own little heaven. Once you've experienced a first descent with perfect snow on a slope so steep that you can't see anything but the glacier below, then you too will be willing to wait a lifetime to relive the dream. ALASKA BACKCOUNTRY ADVENTURES: 907-835-5608 HEll GUIDES: 888-283-9354 H20 HEll ADVENTURES: 800-578-HELI VALDEZ HELISKI GUIDES: 907-835-3500 D ' , . 48