A Slightly Masochistic Turnagain Pass Day Trip

Turnagain Pass is the beating heart of ski touring in Southcentral Alaska. Turnagain sits on the southern edge of Chugach National Forest and the northern edge of the Kenai Mountains. And it offers a fine canvas to conjure up big-vert link ups with plenty of good turns to satiate the seekers.

The pass is named after the Turnagain Arm, an offshoot of the Cook Inlet. Captain James Cook sailed to the mouth of the arm in 1778 and tossed a British flag ashore. Cook left never to return, but not before he sent a lieutenant up the arm looking for passage to Prince William Sound. The world’s second largest tides, coupled with an endless supply of glacial silt-made shallow banks, bars, and ever-changing channels, turned the crew around again and again—the name stuck. With such maritime nomenclature, one shouldn’t be surprised that most access points to the pass are under 1000 ft from sea level, and the ‘high’ peaks top out for the most part at around 4500 ft. But don’t let that fool you; Turnagain has a magical combination of cold northern air and a wet maritime climate in big mountain terrain. The Seward Highway cuts through the pass, dividing the non-motorized east side from the snowmo west side. Short approaches, steep peaks, and plenty of space make it among the best roadside touring destinations on the planet. Roger’s, of course, has better tree skiing, and Teton Pass has better sheep viewing, but Turnagain provides real-deal, full-on AK skiing just an hour south of Anchorage.

The Plan

Planning a trip to the pass, but don’t know where to go? Already skied the pass and not sure what zone to check out next? Just wondering what the ultimate Turnagin tour might be? Plenty has been written about Turnagain, and if I divulge too many secret stashes, I might have a hard time finding ski partners this winter. The Alaska Factor by Joe Stock has most of the goods already well laid out. Most first-timers to the pass will probably head to Tincan and work their way out from there – well worth the trip. So rather than repeat the nitty-gritty on low-hanging fruit, or get in trouble with the local ski mafia for telling you about the Kickstep Glacier (oops, I’ve said too much), I instead offer an obvious, albeit slightly masochistic option: the Turnagain Traverse.

The pass has six well known main access points on the non-motorized side. North to South, they are Eddie’s, Tincan, Center Ridge, Sunburst, Cornbiscuit, and Pete’s (Yes, locals, I know I am lumping a bit…). So why pick just one zone? The basic idea of the Turnagain traverse is to ski from one end of the pass to the other, catching a run at each zone as you pass. The basic Turnagain Traverse covers about 12,000 vertical feet over 20-ish miles while taking you to a bulk of the classic milk runs. There are endless possibilities, but here is how I have done it: