I'm planning on flying to Valdez for the STOL competition in May, from Anchorage. This is a trip that I've never made before, so I just wanted to see if any of y'all that have made this trip VFR, had any advice. My idea was really just to wait for a nice clear day, take off from Merrill, gain altitude to about, 8,000-9,000 and just head direct to Valdez. I'm a bit nervous about the pure vast amounts of nothingness between Anchorage and Valdez, definitely not the most ideal area to be forced down.

I've got plenty of time, a week+ on both sides of the trip allotted towards making it there and back. So time's not really and issue with waiting for a nice day.

It's no big deal.... (if you've the right day. LOL.) CAVU and go high, then direct.

Done it lots of times . Go Palmer over Knick glacier. Will be going in may also. Two 180s

It is good to plan ahead. Remember it is not just going but coming home. Several way to get it done. Most common is to go down to Whittier and go through the pass. Do it at low tide and you will have a fair amount of beach to land on with a nice shore to watch the tide take your plane. Look at Google Earth and figure you water crossing over the Fjords about 1/2 way up it is called the high loop and can be done around 2500 ft allowing you distance to crash on a shore glide. Up and over the top will also work but remember sitting on a Glacier at 9,000 ft is not always the best for rescue. A great safe way to build time is just follow the road all the way from Anchorage to Valdez. Lots of pilots do that every year Lots of road/strips to land on in case you have a problem. If you get stuck at Thompson pass you can get to Cordova via the Copper river and work your way up the coast. Winds/ clouds can kick up on the Cordova bypass so have a experienced pilot with you for that one. Get on facebook fly out Alaska and see who is going and when then tag along. Lots of competitors try to get in 2-3 days early. Denny

DENNY wrote:Most common is to go down to Whittier and go through the pass. Do it at low tide and you will have a fair amount of beach to land on with a nice shore to watch the tide take your plane. Look at Google Earth and figure you water crossing over the Fjords about 1/2 way up it is called the high loop and can be done around 2500 ft allowing you distance to crash on a shore glide.

I didn't think about this way, that does sound like a good route. Especially when you're not able to get a CAVU day. Based on distance calculations, it does seem like 2500 ft will allow enough gliding distance from shore to shore.

This is a good video of going across the sound via Whittier. For comfort there always seems to be online chatter of people looking to form up in groups to come over as well as weather discussions. Actually I expect the weather discussions and guesses to start about now. I predict sunny and mid 60's. There may be less camping available than past years, snow is pilled everywhere at the airport now, hard to imagine it being gone in two months!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t43fBuYrr-I
If the link doesn't work google "Flying from Anchorage to Valdez video" Thanks to Geoff Oliver for putting it together.
Joe

2500ft will get you to one shore or the other remember you are not just crossing at the mouth of the Fjord. The high route go's up to the narrower parts of the Fjord. You zig sag a bit but the views are great. You can even make it at a lower altitude but you may be exposed to some open water time. The usual hold up is clouds/wind at Whittier. Coming from Anchorage you can get a look through the pass before you commit. We lost a low time pilot a few years back so don't try it alone on a bad day. If possible get a buddy that has done it and fly through the Wittier pass on a good day for practice. On a side note Valdez weather was based on Thompson Pass and ALWAYS said Snow/cold. The town could be perfect I don't know if they have changed that. so make sure you have good weather info.
DENNY

jprax wrote:This is a good video of going across the sound via Whittier. For comfort there always seems to be online chatter of people looking to form up in groups to come over as well as weather discussions. Actually I expect the weather discussions and guesses to start about now. I predict sunny and mid 60's. There may be less camping available than past years, snow is pilled everywhere at the airport now, hard to imagine it being gone in two months!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t43fBuYrr-I
If the link doesn't work google "Flying from Anchorage to Valdez video" Thanks to Geoff Oliver for putting it together.
Joe

Nice, that video is clutch. I try to run through these routes in flight sim prior, but you can’t beat a legit video of someone doing it.

DENNY wrote:2500ft will get you to one shore or the other remember you are not just crossing at the mouth of the Fjord. The high route go's up to the narrower parts of the Fjord. You zig sag a bit but the views are great. You can even make it at a lower altitude but you may be exposed to some open water time. The usual hold up is clouds/wind at Whittier. Coming from Anchorage you can get a look through the pass before you commit. We lost a low time pilot a few years back so don't try it alone on a bad day. If possible get a buddy that has done it and fly through the Wittier pass on a good day for practice. On a side note Valdez weather was based on Thompson Pass and ALWAYS said Snow/cold. The town could be perfect I don't know if they have changed that. so make sure you have good weather info.
DENNY

Was this the guy flying the Cherokee without the license? I remember a fellow who took off right after me from Merrill that was headed to Valdez that ran into a mountain in 2018.

Can you typically get into the Portage lake area and peak over the pass, with enough room to turn around, prior to committing?

Yes, just stay right up against the mountain on the right side as you approach. Fly over toe of the Glacier and turn left to go through the pass you will have time to see if it is clear on the other side if not just turn left and let the nose drop as you do. If needed you can just fly out and come back for a second look. The wind can get kind of weird on approach and right as you are trying to set up the turn. Pass is around 800 ft so if you have to turn back you have some space below you to maneuver before you get into the pass. At least 1/2 the times I have been through that area the weather has been crap! If you are not used to scud running that is a bad place to learn. Good news is you do have a emergency runway in Wittier but study it close so you know how to approach it. DENNY

There are many teachers up there CompSciAndFly, who can help you with various techniques to help you fly up there safely. Barnstormer, Denny, Tangoawad, and many others. I can write stuff and talk you through stuff in your airplane if you come by, but they are there and they know stuff not taught at flight schools that can be very helpful.

Don't forget that we a great preflight tool as in the FAA weather cams. You can see whats going on real time as well as trends.

If I'm poking my way up to the pass to see if it's open enough to just sneak through the weather is probably well below my minimums for a vfr flight across PWS to Valdez.

contactflying wrote:There are many teachers up there CompSciAndFly, who can help you with various techniques to help you fly up there safely. Barnstormer, Denny, Tangoawad, and many others. I can write stuff and talk you through stuff in your airplane if you come by, but they are there and they know stuff not taught at flight schools that can be very helpful.

No doubt, I'm all ears! Having just recently, actually been able to get into the off airport stuff, I've seen the benefit in knowing someone who has had the experience at various spots.