[AK-VHF] SOTA Update

[Brandon Clark]

Yep, agreed. Just depends on whether we get new snow or not. I scouted the
trailhead at Arctic Valley last Saturday and it seemed pretty good then.
The snow was heavily consolidated with a good crust on top. If we get new
snow though that won't bond well to the old crust, and that could create
problems.

Technically, you can't operate from a vehicle for SOTA - you have to be
portable when entering what's called the "activation zone", which is
basically the highest 25 meters of the peak. (They don't want guys getting
into terribly unsafe areas or disturbing other hikers by insisting that you
operate from the very top.) In practice though it makes for some very
vigorous discussions about cases where a peak has a road going to the top
of it. Lol.

I'll send out a final update to this list about which peak I do.

Brandon



On Tue, Mar 31, 2020, 22:49 Edward R Cole <kl7uw at acsalaska.net> wrote:

> Brandon,
>
> Go for safety.  Let us know your plans.  If in doubt maybe operating
> with your rover is an option?
>
> 73, Ed - KL7UW
>
> At 04:45 PM 3/31/2020, Brandon Clark wrote:
> >Hello group,
> >The weather is still uncertain for Saturday, but is starting to look a
> >little sketchy. The alternate peak for this weekend will be the Butte up
> in
> >the Mat-Su. It's a much smaller peak, but is safe to ascend even in crap
> >weather.
> >Brandon
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