The LightOct – Mar
Above the Treeline
Why height changes the odds
Getting above the trees changes the odds, and not for a mystical reason. A treeline is an obstruction: below it you see a slice of sky, and the aurora is frequently doing something in the part you cannot see. Above it you get the whole dome.
It also gets you above a good deal of low cloud and valley haze, which is the thing that actually ruins aurora nights. The lights are very often there. The sky under them very often is not.
How you get up varies with where you are and what the snow is doing — a lift, a snowcat, a snowmobile, or your own legs on snowshoes for forty minutes. The last of those is the best of them if the party is up to it, because arriving quietly matters more than people expect.