The West Francis area (where Mt. Embick, Mt. Comstock, and the west side of Mt. Francis are located) provides some of the best, most varied, and easily accessible “sea to sky” skiing in the world. It’s a short ~10 minute drive from the town of Valdez (less than 5 minutes from CMI’s base just outside of town) and features old growth tree skiing glades, two big alpine cirques with long and mellow powder runs, and varying degrees of steep skiing from ridges and peaks.

Typically accessible by mid to late December, this zone if often filled with blower, cold smoke powder all the way down to the ocean through February. Good skiing in this area lasts well into April, with the lowers holding corn and the northerly uppers still holding dry powder late in the spring.