A Summer Solstice Traverse

Writing and photos published by Jones Snowboards, read the full piece here. A splitboard trip report for the American Alpine Club's 2025 Jones Backcountry Adventure Grant. 

"We keep moving. The sun beats down. We put ski in front of ski and slide onward through the hot white mountains. The sun stays suspended in the sky like a broken clock. The views are panoramic and incredible. We’re surrounded by snow-covered island peaks and ridgelines. We can see the ocean channel below to the east, more islands and the mainland coast mountains off on the horizon. We spy a couple mountain goats traipsing away from us to the south. The ridge eventually drops off into a long glacial basin."

"We are on the island mountains of Shee, the Indigenous Lingít name of what a map would tell you is Baranof Island. On its western shore, facing out to the Pacific, sits Sitka or Shéet’ká, a small fishing community on the edge of Alaska’s rainforested panhandle...I realized if I could do any dream trip in the entire world, I would choose to stay right here and go deeper into the island I call home."