In Alaska there's a common saying that goes, "The odds are good that the goods will be odd'. True to form, snow conditions for fat bike freeriding at the Chugach Fat Bike Bash in Valdez, Alaska would be very odd for its second year, but at least the times were quite good!Our trip started on a Monday evening with Andrew Taylor (Norco/Addidas) picking up the rental van and then myself, Russ Risdon and Tricia Davis at the airport in Anchorage. After a hearty dinner we headed out into the dark for a white-knuckle six-hour drive over desolate and often times icy mountainous roads to Valdez. Also with us for the trip, but arriving a day earlier were the Canadian contingent of photographer, Robb Thompson, videographer Harrison Mendel and Rocky Mountain Bikes freerider, Noah Brousseau. Levitation 49, the organization chartered to promote Valdez outdoor tourism, and many kind awesome locals would be our hosts for the next week while we created content and had fun at the 2nd annual Chugach Fat Bike Bash.The first morning in Valdez started with building up bikes, assembling gear and making a plan for the day with Lee Hart who is the Executive Director of Levitation 49. The main event for the Fat Bike Bash was to be a timed run down the Loveland snowfield up near Thompson Pass. With the weather being a big uncertainty, getting up there to get footage was key in case the weather shut us down for when the event was scheduled in the coming days.Unfortunately, by the time we assembled at the first parking lot, the weather was already working against us with gale force winds in addition to below 0 (F) temperatures. Instead of taking on what seemed to be some considerable risks at the very start, we opted for another location closer to the pass which would provide a little more protection from the wind. Needless to say, by the end of the day, our eyes were wide open with the challenge of what we were there to pull off.While others decided which zone to ride, Andrew Taylor got after it and was the first to drop in to start our week long adventure. Thankfully, we had an excellent crew of locals to shuttle us around on their snow machines, and they also provided us with very valuable knowledge of the local terrain.On our second day, the winds had picked up even more and were reported to be gusting at 85mph, which easily ruled out returning to Thompson Pass. Ever so thankful for the locals and their snow machines, we headed across the bay to go ride and shoot up near Solomon Lake. The winds were much more manageable, and the day actually turned out to be quite fun.@RkyMtnSrfr @robb