SDS Updates

Ticket to Alaska: Wrap Up Part 2 of 3

Apr 19, 2011 - 01:37 PM EDT

We spent the latter part of the night slapping high fives with old friends and met a few of the locals. There is a cool crowd that goes to this event; they are dedicated riders who are there for one reason; to shred the best terrain on the planet. When you go to Thompson Pass, you will be inspired by the communal yet non-hippyish vibe that is in the air.

After getting the BBQ going the organizers rolled over in a cat and asked if we wanted any snow moved around or if we needed firewood to make our campsite a little more comfortable, hell yeah! So the first night we had a little party time at Tailgate Alaska. We dug in, cooked up some dogs, got our boards ready, pounded a few 12oz aluminum cans, and had a fire. Steph Baker, one of the trip winners riding in the snowcat.

Our group chilling at our campsite…

We woke up the next morning to this…

And this… a beautiful mostly sunny day.

The next morning I walked across the lot for a bit before heading out. I noticed that there was a whole other set of campers set up across the street from the Tailgate Alaska parking lot, these were the locals that shred Thompson Pass every year. They come out every year to take advantage of the cats and sleds going out of the Tailgate Alaska base camp. The credentials for Tailgate Alaska included a daily BBQ and free Alaskan beer, but that would only last about 20 minutes and we never made it there in time for the free food and beer because we were shredding. However, I don’t think any of the cat or sled operators would have been at the pass had it not been for the Tailgate Alaska event. At any rate, I’m not going to bore you with a ton of riding shots from that day, but at least you can appreciate the amount of snow Alaska gets from these pictures.

Getting ready to drop in.

Here is a pic of Cali Rep John Graham getting his...

... and ripping the fresh.

Shredding on a mostly sunny day was awesome. In Alaska, you never know what the weather may bring. So we were lucky that our first day was great weather and provided good visibility for the crew. So after a day of shred in the backcountry, we went back to base camp at the Tailgate Alaska parking lot on Thompson Pass to celebrate the day. There was entertainment that evening for happy hour at base camp: Wood chopping contest!!!

Stay tuned for the final Ticket to Alaska: Wrap Up Part 3 of 3...
Photos: Luke Darigan