Riders took a different approach. Snowboards have enough surface area to float high on the snowpack. This translates into increased control at higher speeds, which lets riders play with the terrain, turning mountain ranges into parks: a heelside turn off one ridge; a toeside turn off the next—no two runs the same. It didn't take ski companies long to catch on and begin building their own Alaskan sticks. Well, all right, it was a full ten years after Craig Kelley first ripped Alaskan faces for a Burton photo shoot in 1985.

The culmination of Burton's 16 years of Alaskan experience is the Frontier. Unlike skis, snowboards don't have to be made wider for better flotation, only longer, which is why the Frontier starts and ends in the big-gun range (163 to 185 centimeters), 10 to 30 centimeters longer than the average freeride board. That extra length is for speed, but speed is nothing without stability. Already 20 to 30 percent stiffer than standard freeride boards, the Frontier is even firmer between the front and back foot to provide a more solid platform for when you, say, hit a bergschrund at 50 mph. To compensate for the extra stiffness and to improve carving, Burton added more sidecut. All of which makes the Frontier a high-caliber ride, even when you're dicing groomers instead of glaciers.

Ski: K2 AK Launcher

Gerald Bybee/SF

Deal with it. When conditions improve, Alaska offers up some of the steepest and deepest skiing in the world. To handle the steeps, you'll want skis without big sidecuts: Straighter skis simply have more edge-hold when you're clinging to the side of a 60-degree face. They also give the pilot the power to determine the size and shape of each turn: short-swings through tight, rocky sections, Mach 1 on the straights. But you need more than a straight ski to survive multiple 5,000-foot descents in Alaska's deep, wet powder without tearing your quads to beef jerky. Alaska skis are fat, with snowboardlike surface areas that let you blast through thigh-deep cement and land big air without auguring.

For a purebred Alaska weapon, try the K2 AK Launcher. Molded in more traditional lengths (165 to 195 centimeters) for enhanced float and edge-hold, and constructed around a lightweight but resilient fir core, the Launcher has a lively feel even in the deepest Pacific maritime slop. Unfortunately, it also feels skittish on hard snow. But then, why ski hardpack on big-powder guns?