Since I was 11, reading about Trevor Peterson and Eric Pehota slaying huge lines in AK, I knew that some day I would make the voyage to Mecca. The mountains, the culture, the rawness; everything was pulling, and this year, nothing was getting in the way of me making the voyage. I learned so much on this trip, often the hard way, and want this to only help you make your trip next year, be as fruitful as insider trading.

Do: Buy a compass and topo map

The mining road from Stewart/Hyder accesses some of the largest glaciers and mountains in the coast range and is where we camped out and played for 4 days... while finding our way out of the mountains.

Don't: In a whiteout, go by your last resort of making your new fiancée walk ahead of the sleds with her probe checking for crevasses, cornices, cliffs, maybe even polar bears. Heck, who knows what was out there; we couldn't see a darn thing. Not to mention that type of stress isn't super easy on a relationship, but she kept the ring on.

Do: Carry extra fuel and a spare tire or tires. The Cassiar highway from Stewart north is full of potholes with few mechanic shops and stretches up to 350 km with no fuel, especially in the winter.

Don't: Let someone else plan parts of your trip.

Not having heli skied in AK, I thought for some reason it worked different than Canada. I was intimidated and let some other guys who had helied a lot in AK put things together for me. They were knowledgeable dudes, but with too many people involved in relaying messages, my friends and I ended up throwing down big money to be placed in a public ship. We didn't realize what had happened until we were a half hour flight back into the middle of huge, awesome mountains skiing tracked 30-degree sissy slopes behind middle-aged Euros. The hardest part was that from our landing zones there were crazy, rad lines in every direction, except for the one we were being herded to.

Do: If you want to ski the gnar, sign a media waver when heli skiing, even if you're not media. It allows you to do what you want because it releases the heli company of responsibility for you.

Don't: Beat your vehicle down to the ground. One way from Whistler to Valdez is 50 hours of driving.

Do: Take an Alaska Ferry!

Alaska Ferry is the coolest way to get there and back and runs from Prince Rupert to Haines and Valdez. They are equipped with cabins with a window and bathroom, a bar, tons of deck space, office workspaces, cafeteria and movie theatre. Most of our time on the ferry was consumed with daydreaming of what could be done with a huge boat with a heli on it... next trip.

When executing a trip like this, there are so many variables that need to align to get even one huge Alaskan line.
-Weather
-Snow conditions
-Stable snow pack
-A good partner or crew with aligned goals and ability
-Correct tools (efficient ski touring gear, any heli, Yamaha Nitro w/ turbo kit and CFR rack)

Start planning now, get a budget set aside, and dream big for the best trip of your life.
See ya in a barren parking lot at the top of an Alaska pass, next year.