Who's in Charge Here?

Where are the big bosses?

Last week Paul flew off in the otter on a work/adventure mission into the far north of Alaska and Canada to study glacier activity with Chris Larson. Donna and Eleanor have been traveling since February ( a well-deserved adventure for the two hard working ladies!)

What are the kids up to?

Ice climbing, flying, backcountry ski touring, searching for Japanese tsunami debris along the coast, teaching The Kenyan to ski behind a snow machine – Just the normal daily grind in the Thules.

It’s hard to get busted for playing when you learned it all from the best, or rather from your boss. Ultima Thule is symbolic not only as a successful 45 (plus) year old business but also as an extremely unique lifestyle still being cultivated by those who live and work there. 

There isn’t one person at the lodge who doesn’t know the old-school definition of “hard work”. John Claus passed on the cowboy ethics of “work hard, play harder” and taught the natural balance of coexisting between the two. That’s a tradition still in practice by the next generation and the reason that Mom and Dad never have to sweat passing off the reigns for a while.

The Andrew McClean Wilderness Ski Week finished up flawlessly, climbers were moved in and out of the mountains and the main lodge underwent the annual deep spring cleaning. Then a weekend with glorious weather rolled around with nothing on the schedule… and everyone went out to play….

Piper finally got a break from the kitchen and joined Kevin and Steve for a day of ski touring. The sun was bright, the snow was good and Piper wore a big smile all day!

Teaching Chris to ski on the lodge hill and then behind the snowmachine. Look for him in the next Olympics representing Kenya in the giant slalom! Maybe not, but he did decide to add skiing to his ever growing list of hobbies.

Ben and Ellie (and the dogs Berkeley and Bander) loaded up in "BK"

and headed for a ski adventure and then down to the Pacific Coastline to "treasure hunt".  Hoping for the ultimate prize of old glass Japanese fishing net floats, they found instead an entire coastline of newer plastic garbage washed in by the tsunami from across the ocean.

Surrounded by plastic bottles, light bulbs and other unfortunate treasures of nature’s wrath and humanity’s garbage surplus, Ben takes a nap in the sun.

Bander looking for treasure

If these bottles could talk.....

An old steam locomotive and the decaying pieces of train cars that were abandoned in 1910 by the Copper River Railroad. (There’s a future Blog feature for sure!)