In this uncut clip from AK or Alaska if you are not good with abbreviations, the run shown is called the dragon tooth because at the top of the run on the left, the rock looks like the tooth of a dragon from a distance. Pretty clever I know. But in all of it's awesomeness Alaska is not a place to kid around. What a run might look like from a distance or on the way up, turns into a twilight zone of a world once going down the descent. This is mainly due to - lack of landmarks - to use for navigation as most rocks look pretty similar with a hefty snow pile on top of them. Also, this lack of trees clogs judgment of size and proportions as a 10 foot rock could be 100 ft rock when you actually get close. This Alice in Wonderland effect still blows my mind every time I shred up there, and is one of the most intriguing challenges of riding in Alaska - not including 1000 other ways to die while snowboarding up there. In the video clip above, to get to our spot, we hiked up half the gut then took a lookers left foot pack up the last steep part of the way. The face was already previously shredded so we knew it was pretty stable and safe, which is the kind of run we were looking for since this was the first run of the day. Hopefully everyone gets there chance to really test there skills on a board by making it up there in your lifetime or the next. Enjoy and happy shredding the winter.
Pauly G
