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Karl Fostvedt

Karl Digs Snow: Crazy, Calculated Karl Fostvedt

It wasn’t the 40-foot backflip that Karl Fostvedt threw into his first-ever run in Alaska that really impressed me. Rather, it was his reaction to and preparedness for the heaviest rescue scenario I’ve experienced shortly after his third run that did it. 

As the season wound to a close in late April 2019, the Chilkat mountains were starting to awaken from a long Alaskan winter. It had been a spring of limited snow and weather windows. With a high-pressure system lingering and a smattering of fresh paint still drying on the jagged glacial landscape, I called Karl and told him if there was ever a time to pop his AK cherry, that time was now. Within 48 hours, Karl was in Haines. He didn’t bring a big budget, expectations, or major film goals. Karl was simply ready to learn how to navigate the spine capital of the world.

Our first morning out, Karl warmed up with Lynsey Dyer and Freeride World Tour snowboarder Chris Galvin under the lead of guide Reggie Crist. After lacing his third line on a simple but beautiful spine on the headwall of the Willard Glacier, we turned our attention to Chris, who was dropping next…

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