For this trip up to the glacier the weather was dubious enough that we didn't think we'd ever get in if we waited to fly so we opted to hike.



You can see that it's a daunting trip up to Eagle Glacier... we did 4200 vertical feet in 2.5hrs. Even with all the training we do my quads were hurting from our little jaunt.



Tazlina Mannix paused to bundle up as we gained elevation the weather changed drastically from nice and summery to full on winter.



We even got to rope up for one of the trickier sections near the top.

Just getting to the training venue can be an adventure!

Kikkan Randall... the girl knows how to ski.

Bobby Miller, originally from MN, gets a glimpse of the chugiak range while resting on a gradual descent.

Erik Flora

Kalysta Schmidt and Erika Klaar making water.

It's not ALL skiing up on the glacier. Due to the fabulous winter we had some wintry weather on the glacier (that's right, I mean we were kicking on HARDWAX). It also meant that the snow hadn't started melting into water yet so we had to make some. Luckily there's some very talented chefs in our group. That also means that I went five days without showering. Which, actually, I was fine with. I mean, showering is just one more thing to do during the day and if you can skip it without feeling guilty why not? At the same time though, the first stop after coming off the glacier was to a gas station where Taz & I practically ran into the bathroom... to turn on the faucets and wash our hands lengthily in warm, running water. For drinking though, there's not much better than fresh snow-melt! Things were starting to melt by the end of the week so next time we go up there should be lots of sun melted snow so we won't have to do any coaxing.

Peter Kling and Galen Johnston cleaning out a winter's accumulation of snow drift from the wax trailer.

Erika Klaar and Becca Rorabaugh heading out for a ski.

James Southam being followed and coached by Erik Flora.

I really do feel fortunate to have such a great group of teammates and coaches to live and train with at APU.

I spent last week with my Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Club teammates up on Eagle Glacier near Girdwood, AK. APU is fortunate enough to have access to Eagle Glacier so we get to hone our o- snow skills throughout the summer. This week it was truly still winter up there with fresh snow falling almost everyday and hardwax conditions for our first three days.

The small object on the horizon is Casey grooming ski trails in the Piston Bully.

I love being on the glacier, it changes constantly. I realize that I might be waxing a little too poetic but it's like a symphony of white. The clouds dance around, swoop and swirl. The light changes throughout the day and you can look out across the glacier and see the cloud shadows (the echoes, if you will) spread out on the snow. Beautiful. I think I spent the entire time this week I was out skiing thinking to myself that if I could be anywhere in the world right now I'd be right here skiing on Eagle Glacier. It's reassuring to think that out of all the things I could be doing right now what I most desire is what I'm actually pursuing.

Brent Knight keeping his snow-feel intact in preparation for our first races in November.