The Wilderness Classic (Act II)

The Alaska Mountain Wilderness Ski Classic is, by most standards, a significant physical and mental challenge. Since I first became aware of the Wilderness Classic it has challenged me more than anything else to attain the skill set needed to successfully complete this race. My Midwestern agricultural background educated me about how to read a soil sample and how to calibrate a corn planter but I never knew what a climbing skin was and had never touched a crampon.
Two years ago Ed and I competed in our first Classic in the Wrangell Mountains. Prior to that the only real information I had came from Daily News Miner articles and from a few conversations with friends that had competed in the event. The 2008 Classic in the Wrangell Mountains was a great experience and afforded us the experience to prepare more adequately for the 2010 Classic. This year’s race started and ended at the same point that the race did four years ago but this traverse was longer and allowed the competitors more route choices. There was a checkpoint about 80 miles into the race at the Native Village of Aniktuvik Pass. This year I was fortunate to be a part of a four man team of friends. We have all skied and trained together for a handful of years and have the unique luxury of knowing that we all travel at a similar pace and really like spending a lot of time together in the backcountry. This race was much different than the route through the Wrangell’s but the challenge was just as significant. The unbelievable Glaciers and huge mountains that created an awe inspiring traverse in the Wrangell/St. Elias National Park were replaced by night skies filled with dancing northern lights while wolves howled in the naked mountain valley. We had spectacular views of the actual Gates of the Artic that Bob Marshall named during his early travels into the arctic on the Koyukuk River. In a nut shell this race was filled with challenges and fun, but most importantly it was filled with a week of enjoying the freedom of the hills and the spirit of the Classic!

Many of these images were taken by Ed Plumb or John Shook.

The field of racers is filled with a great group of adventures, athletes, and most importantly characters.

We were treated to some phenomenal visual entertainment for the first few nights after we set up camp. Apparently there was some extreme solar activity coinciding with the start of the race which made for some of the best Aurora displays that I have ever seen.

This is a series of pictures taken while we climbed Peregrine Pass. It proved to be the most difficult part of the race for me, but we enjoyed the short time we spent up high.

We spent hours a day melting snow to provide us with enough liquid water.

Ed had an ugly wipe out –which is very rare- and he bent his pole in the wreck. After a minute of retooling he had his gear back in order and powered through the rest of the course.

We made it to the check point in Aniktuvik Pass and enjoyed an hour and a half in the National Park Service building before skiing off into a fairly cold headwind.

We bumped into Dave Cramer and Rob Kerher on the “out and back” stretch of our route. Dave and Rob were bucking a stiff head wind but drove on to Aniktuvik Pass that night. Dave has been the race director for years and is a man that I truly respect. He homesteaded in bush Alaska years ago and has carved out a great life, family, and business since. His race organization is first class, and I hope he continues to be the director for years to come.

John skis down into the Valley of the Precipices. We had a blast ripping though the 3% grade and the twisting icy creek.

Dan skis down the Koyukuk on our way towards the finish.

We saw thousands of ptarmigan throughout the race. It was pretty awesome to see the huge coveys moving across the south slopes enjoying the open tundra after the long winter.

We hit a few patches of bare ground that forced us to drop our skis, but for the most part we were locked into our boards.

Four happy campers just skied into Wiseman after a tough twenty hour push; we covered about fifty miles to reach the finish and grabbed a quick self portrait to put an end the 2010 Classic. 5:30 A.M.

A member of the winning team, Luc Mehl created a fun video that gives a great feel for the Classic. That video can be viewed through the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuxAAaFwciQ

Below is a link to the Article in the Fairbanks Daily News Miner:
http://www.newsminer.com/view/full_story/7080445/article-From-bears-to-aurora--this-year-s-Wilderness-Classic-had-it-all?instance=home_lead_story

Spring Harvest

Early March always brings with it a case of cabin fever. I have found that one of the best remedies for this annual ailment is a trip up to the north slope in search of some caribou and some sun soaked adventure with my hunting partner Luke. This year, like the couple before proved to provide us with everything we hoped for: plenty of exercise, plenty of stories and plenty of red meat.
This year we invested in a new lightweight wall tent along with a folding wood stove. After a few modifications we were living large in a warm and spacious dwelling.

The trip into our normal site was a little brutal this year. We bucked a fairly stiff headwind that brought the windchill down in the -35 degree range.

Our new tent was pitched and Luke was dressed for action. Goggles and face shield for protection from the wind and cold, and the trusty Tyvek suit for winter camo.

This photo was a little staged (we had already shot a few caribou out of the herd behind Luke) but it is still pretty cool to see the herd of caribou moving away from us after we thinned the herd by three.

Luke with a nice mature cow.

There is just something spectacular about this hunt. I think it is a combination of solitude, good success, the time of the year and the memories that are created from each trip. I am already looking forward to next years outing.

A Welcome Change of Scenery

Magan and I had the good fortune of trading a week of sub-Arctic winter for a week on the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. We gave up about 42 degrees of latitude but gained about 110 degrees of ambient temperature. The vacation was great and entailed a week of enjoying the sun, good food, fishing and each other. Some friends gave us a great deal on their time share so we uncharacteristically lived in posh comfort and spent a fair amount of time around the pool and the swim up bar.



Just a few days prior to leaving I was regulating hazardous substance clean-ups on the North Slope oil fields. It was a welcome change of scenery in Cabo.


The second day in town we got out on a charter and had good success catching Dorado...when the day was done we had hooked 8 and put 5 in the boat. We saw whales, porpoises and marlin to go along with our catch.



On the way back into the harbor we threw the rest of the live bait to the well trained local birds.


This friendly pelican thought that he could get one last Mackerel out of us...no such luck.

Once we made it back to the harbor we took most of our fish to get frozen and packaged. We took one nice fillet to a local restaurant where they made us fish tacos and blackened Dorado...mighty tasty!

We enjoyed a few of libations throughout the week.

The local entertainment was fun and made for an even better dining experience.

We had a hot tub on our front porch that got a fair amount of use...all we needed was a sunset or a cocktail or a cup of coffee to make for a nice soak and a great vacation.

Chistmas in the Whites

Me, Magan and our two dogs enjoyed Christmas eve and Christmas day in the White Mountains Winter Rec area. We skied into Colorado Creek Cabin under a beautiful moon and starlight sky making the use of supplemental light optional. The starlight sky and light breeze on the way in made for about as nice of a ski as could be asked for.



We spent the night at Colorado Creek Cabin and enjoyed the very warm wood stove and a bunch of tasty food.

Once we were back on the trail the winds were really howling up on the open ridge where we were starting from. Nothing a little activity could not combat thought. Above is a picture of Magans set-up...Jack up front, Magan with backpack and skis and a pulk full of gear in tow.

The trip out was great, the trail is a fairly gradual downhill grade, the snow was fairly fast and the breeze was either to our back or blowing sideways. I could not have asked for a much nicer Christmas.

Fall Fun In and Around Fairbanks

It has been a very graceful slide into winter this year in Interior Alaska. September and the first part of October have allowed everyone to finish up all of the outside chores that usually get left until next spring thanks to warm weather and no real snow. This mild fall has also let us enjoy some fun activities that don't include ski's or snowshoes.

Working in the Western Village of Gambell-


Gambell is located on St. Lawrence Island, west of mainland Alaska. It is actually closer to Russia than the U.S. It is an interesting village with strong ties to the local marine mammals, using them as subsistence resources. It was nice to hear them speaking their native Yupik language more than English which is something that I have not experienced in the Interior villages that I have visited. The picture above shows a pile of whale bones and a skin boat used for hunting and fishing.


Dried seal and a few dried dolly varden char.

I bought a nice pair of seal skin mittens from a local woman.

Gambell is located on a spit and was always blanketed by fog in the mornings when I was there.

The Equinox Marathon-

The annual Equinox Marathon is truly a highlight of every year for me. This is the second year that team BIZP has run the relay together. We still have not broke the speed record, but we are shooting for the worst facial hair mark.


Luke is ripping up the course on his way down Gold hill Rd.



Liz hosts the annual "sinners and winners" support booth. You can enjoy a cold Gatorade or a cold Pabst if that is what you need a the time.


Magan ran the last leg of the relay for her team. Although she claims to hate running I think she enjoyed this race.

Test Ride on the Clearwater-


I recently pulled the trigger on a new/used inflatable boat. So Magan, the dogs and I went down to the Delta Clear Water for a trial run.


Magan is trying to hook up with a late season Silver Salmon. We did not catch any fish but had a good time on the river.

Establishing the Garden-

We got the future garden site tilled up and our soil samples pulled before things froze up.

Angel Rocks with darleen-

And just this past weekend we got together with a great friend darleen and hiked the Angel Rocks trail. We even got to enjoy some home grown chicken with Mike and darleen at their place after the hike.

I'm Done!

Well at least as far as the bank is concerned I'm done with my house building project. I have a multi-year plan that includes many upgrades such as: landscaping, a garage, a sauna, a garden and too many other small improvements to include in this post. The bottom line is the major construction phase is over after about 18 months. Now that the house is done, the wild game is in the freezer and the woodpile is big, I invite winter to start creeping into Goldstream Valley so the work can finally end and the skis can come out along with long nights and good times at my new home.

My driveway looking out across Goldsream Valley and up at Ester Dome.

I still have a large deck to build on the front of the house but for this year I am satisfied. This piece of land has changed a bit since my June 2008 post Building for the Future.

A shot of the front of the house.

The Kitchen

The living room...a rocking chair, a wood burner and a good dog. No complaints here.

This is a custom railing built from local birch with a inlaid piece of metal work. My Mom and step dad helped finance the railing and Magan helped with the construction.

The bedroom

A view from a side window into the parking area...in a couple of years I will build a garage where the vehicles are currently parked.

My wood pile...I will make many trips to this stack throughout the winter months. I am actually looking forward to whittling through the stack.

Blue skies and golden birch leaves make it hard to leave my little homestead and drive into Fairbanks for another day in the cubicle...I guess I'll survive.