How to Plan the Glacier Ski Expedition of a Lifetime Using onX Backcountry

"Planning a twelve-night self-supported mission to a glacier in the heart of the Alaskan wilderness like we did is a logistical puzzle that begins long before the first helicopter skid touches the ice. For those who have never ventured into the Great White Silence, a glacier is essentially a massive, slow-moving river of ice, a living landscape that is as beautiful as it is unforgiving. Backcountry skiing in this context means leaving the comfort of chairlifts and groomed runs far behind to travel into remote mountain ranges where you are entirely responsible for your own survival. Rescues are slow and far away, not to mention totally weather dependent. No weather to fly a helicopter equals no rescue."

"To navigate this high-stakes environment safely, we relied on onX Backcountry as one of our most strategic tools, using it as a digital scout to bridge the gap between our homes in the French Alps and the jagged, spine-riddled peaks near Haines. The journey from a dream to a functional camp on the ice began with a fundamental shift in how we viewed the mountains. In a place like Alaska, terrain that looks like a small hill on a traditional flat map can actually be a thousand-foot wall of vertical snow. Or ice."

"For a beginner, the first and most critical step in planning is the Digital Scout phase, utilizing the 3D Terrain mode. This feature allows you to virtually fly through the mountain range on your screen, tilting and rotating the map to see the actual shape and depth of the peaks. Before we ever arrived in the town of Juneau to stock up on gear at Home Depot, we were using these 3D maps to identify a safe perch for our camp. We needed a flat area on a rocky outcropping that was hi"

A twelve-night self-supported glacier mission in Alaska requires planning long before reaching the ice. A glacier is a slow-moving river of ice that is beautiful and unforgiving, and backcountry skiing means leaving lifts and groomed runs to travel in remote terrain where survival depends on the team. Rescues are slow, distant, and weather dependent, so lack of suitable weather can prevent helicopter rescue. A team of veteran Finnish snowboarders and one additional member planned a trip to the Tsirku Glacier in Southeast Alaska using onX Backcountry as a digital scout. The Digital Scout phase used 3D Terrain mode to virtually fly through the mountain range, assess real peak shapes and depths, and locate a flat, safe camp perch on rocky outcroppings.

Read at SnowBrains