I’d heard of Champagne powder, the light, fluffy snow of skiers’ dreams, and Japan’s legendary dry and deep “Japow.” But “moss pow” was a condition I didn’t know of until I traversed the peaks around Alaska’s Prince William Sound.
My co-guide for this adventure, Brooke Edwards, a tall blond with a penchant for bright, sparkly gear, had coined the term to describe the slushy snow found in the transition area between the sound’s rocky shores and the squishy, moss-carpeted temperate rainforest floor that we had to bushwhack through to begin our ski tour. It’s not a situation the average skier would seek out. But this wasn’t a trip for your typical skier. This was adventure skiing in its purest form: remote, self-powered, and full of the unknown. It was, quite simply, the ultimate ski safari.
