Snow

Over the past couple of months, there hasn't been much blogging happening. But there's been plenty of training. The team heads north later this week for our first races of the season - the Alaska Cup - in Fairbanks. The Alaska Cup has traditionally been the official kickoff to our season. And this year will be no exception. But it doesn't mean we haven't been out there racing already on our local city trails in Anchorage where we've had snow for the past few weeks. 

October. Derek, Maggie and Toom. At Kincaid.

Astrid

The Deuce

October at Kincaid

Freshman Ari

Astrid

Uno

Young Matt Seline

Matt again. Because his skiing that day warrants a second photo.

Siggi

Ari

The Sea Lion

JC. He's not on our team anymore, but whatever.

Astrid managed to hang on in this kid's draft for a while.

Henceforth, I'll try to start doing better keeping up with this blog business.

We're Back At It

Due to budget constraints and general apathy, the entire Blog staff has been put on unpaid leave since last April. But with the recent influx of cash from pop-up ads and website redirects from this Blog page, as well as a 20% pay raise (thanks Sparky!) the Blog is rehiring all staff and firing up the presses.  So here we go!

The summer was a productive one, if not the most exciting summer on record. Though Covid restrictions are relaxing, it doesn't mean Covid-19 is eradicated, and who wants to travel someplace only to test positive and then have to cool your jets before being able to board a flight home without becoming a public health nuisance?  So there wasn't too much leisure travel for me this summer. But our entire men's team spent the summer in Anchorage, most of them as summer interns at various businesses in town, and getting together for workouts together after or before work. 

Here's Maggie at Arctic Valley in July.

It's been a strange summer for amateur meteorologists like me. After a super-sunny early summer, it started raining on around July 10 and it hasn't stopped yet. We're at almost double our average precipitation so far this year, and well on our way to a new record for rainiest year in Anchorage history. I don't know about you, but everything at my house is starting to smell like mold.

According to this graph, it's been raining a lot around here lately.

I returned from the desert last week to find the team in full flight and in fine form, with a couple of new nordic recruits, a lot of new alpine recruits, and a schedule packed with workouts. My first day back on the rollerskis was a rough one, coming straight out of desert into a rollerski interval workout that was notable for its quality and focus. Among other positives, it's been beneficial to have a couple of extra guys at  some of our intensity workouts, which serves to raise the level of the group and adds to the focus and the intensity of the workouts. Although JC Schoonmaker has graduated and he'll be off on the pro circuit this coming winter, he's spending his summer and fall training with his UAA teammates. And Gus Schumacher has also been joining us for a lot of our workouts, too. These guys are serious about their skiing, and when they show up at our UAA practices, it adds to the professionalism and the expectations for the workout. 

The whole team, alpine and nordic, got together for a hike behind town yesterday. And the sun came out!

Siggi on Rainbow Peak

JC. The snow is creeping down. We'll probably be skiing in about six weeks or so.

Pascale

Our new nordic freshman - Matt Seline

There was the question of whether a person could base jump from here.

Relaxing with the alpiners

Enjoying the sunshine in the parking lot

I'm looking forward to the coming ski season. It's gonna be a good one!

Spring Flings

I was at the airport the other day, waiting for my flight to Kodiak Island, and I overheard a guy with a southern accent tell someone on the phone, "No dude, don't come up here yet because there's still snow on the ground so you can't do anything for about another month." And I felt bad for the guy because he lives here but nobody ever told him about skiing.

Kincaid Park was good last week.

Hatcher Pass has had good ski touring.

Here's Pascale and Hannah climbing Portage Pass last weekend.

Crust skiing on the lower slopes of Bard Peak.

Not all skis will survive the spring skiing season.

There's still plenty of snow at Portage Lake.

I came across Seawolf Alumnus Toby Schwoerer out skiing with his kids in Bear Valley.

I really like Cordova. Especially in the springtime.

Tuva and Magnus took me out skiing with them at Portage Lake earlier this week.

Portage Glacier

Tuva and Maggie say: "Don't stand underneath the seracs without a helmet! They can fall at any time without warning."

Tuva and Magnus

Prince William Sound (the ocean). Maggie is pointing out all the places he's going to go exploring this summer.

Portage Glacier

Byron Valley

We all went out this evening to see JC accept his "Athlete of the Year" award at the AAC.

Everybody's Doing it

It's the best time of the year again in Alaska - springtime - when the weather's good and so is the skiing. 

Arctic to Indian is a Southcentral spring classic. The typical local style is as an all-day trip on metal-edge touring skis, aluminum ski poles, and a backpack full of refreshments. But some people I know like to do it while dressed in spandex, on racing skis. 

 

Eklutna Lake had pretty good crust skiing this past weekend. Skiing on a lake isn't the most thrilling kind of skiing, in my opinion, but at least the mountains are pretty. 

Our old Seawolf friends, the Bjornsens, showed up in town the other day. It was fun to take a lap around Kincaid Park with them yesterday morning.

This morning, the Seawolves tackled the Arctic to Indian traverse while I was marooned here at work on Kodiak Island in the rain and fog.

Or maybe Arctic to Indian tackled the Seawolves, by the look of all that broken equipment. 

Our best spring skiing of the year is still ahead of us. We should have another six to eight weeks of springtime skiing adventures to look forward to before the snow melts away.