# Buried in Fresh Snow before Thanksgiving!!



## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

Well, since I've had nothing but nice weather for 2 weeks now, I decided to drive down to Valdez today (the town south of me where I fish during the summer,.. & where the Trans Alaska Pipeline terminates), to take care of a few things, and took a few pictures of the mountains along the way,...


----------



## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

The mountain pass that I have to go thru has had many feet of snow this winter already, but also alot of wind,... so some places are almost bare, others have heavy drifts,...


----------



## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

But on clear days like this, a person can see for many miles, and these mountains won't see green on them again for another 8 months,...


----------



## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

Zoomed in on a couple peaks,....


----------



## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

As I came down off the Pass,... (it's downhill for about 9 miles), frozen waterfalls were hanging off the hillsides right along the road,...


----------



## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

And as I got closer to Valdez, bald eagles became more numerous,... there's still a few spawning salmon left in some of the streams, but when they're all dead & gone, the eagles have to leave or turn into dumpster divers in order to survive the deep snowy winters of coastal Alaska,...


----------



## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

Valdez got about 3 feet of snow in the last day or two, (only had about a foot prior to this), so everyone was busy digging out again,... and piles of snow 10' high & higher were everywhere....


----------



## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

Valdez gets about 25'-30' of snow on an average winter, and close to double that on heavy snow years, so you don't see many plows on pickups,.... the city, the state, businesses and snow removal companies all use big loaders with snow buckets or pushers,.. a pickup would be overwhelmed in just one overnight storm,...


----------



## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

And every loader is chained up,... everyone runs chains on all equipment all winter,... the city loaders are going up & down every street all day long,.. all winter long,.... carrying snow away to empty lots,.... wesport


----------



## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

Almost every street in Valdez dead ends,... most are not connected,.. in part, so there's a storage area at the end of each street for the loaders to quickly clear & stack snow in the ends,...


----------



## Tacr2man (Dec 10, 2007)

A/Boss youve convinced me . as soon as the financial system turns round (having to work too much at the mo payup) will have to visit your beautiful home state ussmileyflag


----------



## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

I have to laugh when I read where people are always saying "Never plow snow across the street",... "it's illegal to plow across a street", etc.... because here you literally HAVE to plow into the street,... they almost want you to, like this guy is doing with his ATV, so the city loaders can carry it down to the end & stack it,... otherwise people end up getting boxed in, and half-way plug the street off,... not so much now yet, but by March, things will look alot different than they do now,... they just want you to leave enough room so your neighbors can get in & out, til the city cleans it up,... :salute:


----------



## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

Tacr2man;640332 said:


> A/Boss youve convinced me . as soon as the financial system turns round (having to work too much at the mo payup) will have to visit your beautiful home state ussmileyflag


You bet,..come on over anytime,...our fishing here is just as good as the snow plowing,... 

More piles,....


----------



## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

Some of the piles were more than half way up the power poles already,....


----------



## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

Skid steers are everywhere,... I would bet that Valdez has more skids per/capita then just about anywhere else in the country,... far more skids than pickup plows,... many of them like this one are smaller models, but it's the only real piece of equipment that's small enough for most people to own & run, yet able to deal with the amounts of snow that fall here...


----------



## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

Another city loader cleaning up an empty snow storage lot,....


----------



## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

Couple more shots of streets & piles,....


----------



## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

Finally headed back up the highway,.... with the sun high-lighting the mountain tops,... and one more eagle watching from a tree top as I drove by,.... it's shaping up to be a good winter,.... :salute::salute::salute:


----------



## bribrius (May 5, 2007)

can always count on you for great pictures. 

Thankyou for sharing.


----------



## DeVries (Nov 27, 2007)

Alaska thanks for allowing us once again to see the awesome part of the country you live in. 
Hope that you have a prosperous season and please keep sending us the pics


----------



## tls22 (Sep 30, 2007)

Great pics as always! But you did not bring the truck with the boss-v on it?


----------



## JD Dave (Mar 20, 2007)

Wow, nice pics, they almost look to nice tobe real.


----------



## progressivelawn (Oct 16, 2008)

so most of home owners own a bobcat wow next thing everyones gonna have a lawn biz too o gezz


----------



## 6.5LTDFisher (Dec 13, 2007)

amazing pictures! The operators for the towns and citys must have some one shifts with all that snow... I'm jealous of all the snow you got


----------



## progressivelawn (Oct 16, 2008)

who isnt lol


----------



## 06HD BOSS (Nov 28, 2005)

very nice pics again AKBOSS. are you guys a little ahead of schedule with snow, or is that all normal for this time of year?


----------



## nickv13412 (Nov 9, 2006)

Once again, Beautiful pics

Thanks for sharing them with us


----------



## Turf Commando (Dec 16, 2007)

Quit plowing and become a photographer... nice pics...!


----------



## lumps (Sep 3, 2005)

Wow, amazing pictures. Thanks as always!


----------



## Kramer (Nov 13, 2004)

alaska boss--- I don't really know what to say......those are the most beautiful shots I've ever seen. I am in awe of natures beauty and envious of the amount of white stuff you have, Everything there just looks so clean---no dirty snow yet, 
Not sure what to say except thank you for sharing with us...unfortunately, there will never be a way for us to match the scenes you captured. The kind of nature that you post is the reason God made this good earth. There's just no comparison to an urban environment. Thank you!


----------



## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

Kramer;640621 said:


> alaska boss--- I don't really know what to say......those are the most beautiful shots I've ever seen. I am in awe of natures beauty and envious of the amount of white stuff you have, Everything there just looks so clean---no dirty snow yet,
> Not sure what to say except thank you for sharing with us...unfortunately, there will never be a way for us to match the scenes you captured. The kind of nature that you post is the reason God made this good earth. There's just no comparison to an urban environment. Thank you!


Ditto, have nothing to add to this statement.

Well, one thing, keep 'em coming!


----------



## iceyman (Mar 1, 2007)

those pics are truly amazing.....good job again boss


----------



## deckboys (Dec 1, 2006)

awesome senic shots... so jelous of the amount of snow...
keep 'em commin


----------



## JBMiller616 (Dec 12, 2007)

It's REALLY beautiful there. Incredible.


----------



## linycctitan (Aug 13, 2007)

I have to say, I'm in total awe every time I look at one of your posts with these scenic shots. Like everyone said, the natural beauty is just astounding. Keep 'em coming!!!


----------



## Mark13 (Dec 3, 2006)

Well, my state sucks. I get to look at corn or bean fields, gravel pits, or houses.


----------



## Elwer Lawn Care (Nov 23, 2007)

Cant wait to see some pictures at the end of plowing season to see how big those piles become.


----------



## WingPlow (Jun 18, 2007)

A-boss, i have a friend wholives in Valdez, he moved up there a couple years ago from CT
said he will never live anywhere else again, he's just pissed he didnt move there sooner

hes always sending pictures back of the mountains and the snowstorms ....absolutely amazing area


----------



## nbenallo33 (Oct 23, 2007)

wow what beautiful pictures...

i wish we had 1/8 of the snow you had. we are 80* here today


----------



## MileHigh (Nov 6, 2007)

nbenallo33;640979 said:


> .
> 
> i wish we had 1/8 of the snow you had. we are 80* here today


AND I FN HATE IT.....

I was out doing more leaf removal quotes today...I thought I would have at least got a good push in by now....

Beautiful pics as usual.


----------



## nbenallo33 (Oct 23, 2007)

i know this is crazy here totally not like us for the18th of november


----------



## Ford445 (May 26, 2006)

Thanks again Boss. It definitely looks like a coooool place to live. If you dont mind my asking, how do your snow removal prices compare to us fellas down here?


----------



## Case580M (Jan 31, 2008)

alaskaboss, Great pics as usual! I have a good friend who moved to Wasilla this time last year. How far from Valdez to Wasilla?

ANy idea of the average " of snowfall for Wasilla?


----------



## paponte (Oct 28, 2003)

That is just awesome! Takes your breathe away. One day I would love to take a trip and visit. Peaceful wide open God country.


----------



## MSS Mow (Mar 19, 2006)

*God's country!!!*


----------



## csx5197 (Sep 26, 2006)

Another reason why I want to work my town/village. I would love to get paid to drive around and move snow with a loader/backhoe/skidsteer, whatever. 

PS. I'm going to alaska someday


----------



## wannabeplowing (Feb 9, 2008)

Those are some amazing pictures, you clearly live in a beautiful place. Wouldn't mind taking a trip there sometime, keep the great pictures coming!!


----------



## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

Sorry for the delay in answering some questions, I've been gone for a few days, and plowing some again,.. but thanks for the nice comments. I have literally hundreds & hundreds of pictures of snow, scenery, wildlife, etc.etc,... but that was before the digital era,... but there for sure will be more to come,.... :salute:



tls22;640412 said:


> Great pics as always! But you did not bring the truck with the boss-v on it?


I know too many people in Valdez,... if they saw me driving around town with my truck & plow,... everyone would say,... "Look, that must be a tourist from New Jersey",... 



06HD BOSS;640472 said:


> very nice pics again AKBOSS. are you guys a little ahead of schedule with snow, or is that all normal for this time of year?


No, by now we're not ahead of anything anymore. Of course, some years there's more, some years there's less, but either in Valdez, or at my place 75 miles up the highway, things are pretty much normal at this point.



Ford445;641237 said:


> Thanks again Boss. It definitely looks like a coooool place to live. If you dont mind my asking, how do your snow removal prices compare to us fellas down here?


I'm actually not sure what an "average" driveway/yard costs for a residence in Valdez,.. but I would imagine that on a per/push basis, from things I've heard, it would run anywhere from $60-$100, (size & area depending of course),.. but keep in mind that it's not unusual at all to get 3'-5' feet of snow overnight in Valdez,.. and a 1-foot dump barely makes people yawn. Many people just shove all their snow out into the street & the city carries it down to the end, so lots of folks either have a plow on an ATV, or use a skid, and take care of themselves. For me, where I live, (and I don't have anywhere near this much snow to deal with), most driveways run between $50-$75, with a few close to twice that, but remember, some people live at or more than a mile off the road (like me). On the average, I can do most people in 15 min or so, but I'm basically doing the whole community here by myself, and with my customers living 20-30 miles away from me in all directions, it can take me close to a week to get everyone done, and I've put well over 200 miles on my truck by then. Everything in my area is per/push,... nothing else has ever worked,... even commercial contracts,... that's just how it is around here,...



Case580M;641628 said:


> alaskaboss, Great pics as usual! I have a good friend who moved to Wasilla this time last year. How far from Valdez to Wasilla?
> 
> ANy idea of the average " of snowfall for Wasilla?


Valdez to Wasilla is about 300 miles. And Wasilla doesn't get a total on an average winter as much snow as Valdez gets in one heavy night. Anchorage averages more snow than Wasilla, because it's right on the coast (like Valdez). Any town right on the ocean will get more precip & have milder temps than somewhere farther in the interior. (like me). Wasilla is probably the fastest-growing area in Alaska, so anyone in the snow-removing business there should see an increasing demand for services I would think,... :salute:


----------



## Plowinpro03 (Dec 18, 2007)

i would honestly love to live there...


----------



## Petr51488 (Jan 31, 2005)

How does a small car like that make it up there in all that snow? I would think 4wd is a must..


----------



## Farm Boss (Jan 20, 2007)

The eagle and the moose are about the only things that look the same in your pics as what I see at my house! No nice mountains, or SNOW! Heck we have a dusting, kinda embarrassing
Looks sweet keep the pics maybe someday you will want to see a pic of Duluth MN, even tho its not even comparable to your land!!!!!!!! ussmileyflag


----------



## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

Petr51488;645401 said:


> How does a small car like that make it up there in all that snow? I would think 4wd is a must..


Small, front-wheel drive cars do quite well in the snow, especially with good studded snow tires. Of course, they don't have much ground clearance, so if there's more than a few inches of snow on the roads, people just wait til they're plowed, or use 4WD trucks, which most people here have one. I'm not sure I could name anyone who lives around here that doesn't have a pickup. You will always meet more trucks on the roads here than cars, although with gas prices what they are, many folks have small cars too, and use them whenever conditions allow. At least in the winter, once the snow banks get fairly big, it's impossible to run off the road,...


----------



## TEX (Nov 24, 2003)

you never let us down thanks again

ill bet those dead end streets suck for the local fire department


----------



## 91AK250 (Nov 28, 2007)

awsome pics, our state is great isnt it 


i've been meaning to make my way over to valdez somtime...i've never been there


----------

