It’s time to head back to Alaska and to be more specific, the Chugach Mountains where we meet up with Dusty Green. With 9 years of splitboarding under his belt he has hiked, biked and kayaked to get out to remote locations only a skier could love. I got a few minutes to talk to Dusty about his love for the mountains of Alaska and the 5 minutes of fame he received from being in the movie First Decent.
Name: Dusty Green
Primary Location, Home Mountain, or Home Range: Girdwood, Alaska/ Alyeska Resort/ The Chugach Mountains
Age: 42
Primary Solid Board: Lib Tech, Travis Rice
Primary Split Board: Voile, Split Decision
Preferred Binding System: don’t laugh… K2 Clickers by Shimano (on a good day) and no longer in production and therefore obsolete
Boot: used to be Clicker boots, now I’m riding Burton Drivers. I like a stiff boot
How Long Have You Been Splitboarding? 9 years now? Since Voile’s second season making split boards
What Compelled You to Begin Splitboarding? I love the backcountry and very much disliked snowshoeing, and worse yet, post-holing.
Actually, I went to a close-out sale to buy some ‘trekkers’ for my skis, for I was a uh-hum skier back in ’94/’95. The shop had pulled the ‘trekkers’ off the floor and my friend talked me into buying a snowboard instead. It’s easier to carry into the backcountry than skis. I sacrificed my skis to Ullr the next winter and never looked back. I post-holed and snowshoed in the backcountry for years until the splitboard was invented. voila…Voile!
Most Memorable Glacier Travel: Most memorable is Mountain Biking across The Root Glacier, over the moraine to The Kennicott Glacier and then up the “Kennicott Highway” to the base of Mount Blackburn. For splitboarding though, “The Eklutna traverse”. A three day trek across as many glaciers/ice fields from Eklutna lake to Girdwood, huts included!
Where has Split Boarding taken you? I’m already here
Gnarliest or most Extensive Approach for a Single Line: A 3 mile kayak crossing of Turnagain Arm to a 3 to 5 mile hike with just a little over 4400′ elevation gain. The approach wasn’t so bad actually, getting back was though. Turnagain Arm has like the 3rd highest tide in the world, somewhere around 36 feet. Paddling out was fine, smooth as glass. Paddling home, not so fun… Wind blowing one direction and the tide going another made for some GNARLY waves. 3 to 4 foot standing white capped waves that I had to paddle across for 3 miles after an already grueling 10 to 12 hour day. I was by myself (which is stupid) and what seemed like far from home. In total, a 14 hour day for a…I dunno, 15 minute ride?
Ideal Backcountry Day: Cold Bluebird Day after a week long high pressure system after a 6 foot dump, or something like that.
Lifetime Goal or Objective, a Line You’ve Been Eyeing for a While, or What Would Be your Dream Trip? The Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt has been on my mind for quite some time now. Japan will be awesome too! A new day, a new line… Who knows?
Favorite Backcountry Meal: Snickers bar
Favorite Piece of Gear (and Why): My snowmobile! It is still beyond me where that thing will take me and how fast… my own personal helicopter. (and you can cook hotdogs on it too)
Favorite Place You’ve Travelled (and Why): The Annapurnas in Nepal. The weather is amazingly warm in those monstrous mountains! Banana trees, monkeys, hotsprings, jungles, rhododendrons, wild weed! 8000 meter peaks… Unreal!
Print/ Movie Appearances: bonus scenes and special thanks in “First Descent” (I was a bartender at the Tsaina Lodge when they made the film)
Local Causes You’re Passionate About: I have a black heart
Other Stuff You Do (music, volunteerism, art, school, etc.): If it’s in the mountains, I probably do it.
Here is a in depth view of the mountains of Alaska
