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#1
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where to ski in Alaska?
I had never considered Alaska as a possibility for a week long cross country
vacation....mostly rec. touring on prepared track. I am looking for feedback or recommendations. It seems that Alaska might be favored by the weather gods this year....while other areas look iffy. Where would I find good groomed trail systems? Mark |
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#2
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Mark Eastman wrote
It seems that Alaska might be favored by the weather gods this year "gods" might be what Alaskan skiers should wish for this year. The probability distributions I'm looking at for Alaska are skewed significantly toward above-normal temperatures -- see http://iri.columbia.edu/climate/forecast/net_asmt (under Dec-Jan-Feb, in the North America row, click on Temp.) or can also try: http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/90day Which probabilities are the gods using this year? Have they put them up on the Web yet? The "favored" region in North America for this winter is New York and New England, with probability distributions for Temperature and Precipitation looking like a normal winter. (Note recent "on the ground" confirmation from Gary's and Rob's reports under "Shawangunk". I got an Email from somebody who was out skiing on Saturday in the Hudson Valley in NY) In Europe, many XC ski regions are looking at normal-year winter probability distributions for Dec-Jan-Feb-Mar: including Austria and the Jura of France. (But for Norway the probabilitie maps show some different colors not favorable for skiers) But that's all just probabilities and complicated computer models. Ken |
#3
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Mark,
I'm sure that some of the Alaskans that read this can do better, but here is the scoop on Anchorage and Fairbanks: Kincaid Park in Anchorage is a great place and you are so close to the ocean that you can practically ski on the beach. There is also a smaller track system called Hillside (?) that has some nice groomed trails. There are a few other miscellaneous trails that are groomed throughout the city as well and the Tour of Anchorage is a 50km point-to-point race that traverses across the city. Hatcher Pass is nearby in case the Chinooks blow through and melt all of the snow (as happened a few winters ago). It seems that the bad winters (read "warm") of the past 10 years have really messed with Anchorage, though. Last winter was a normal one and they had good snow, but I think that the 2 winters prior to that were dismal. They had to cancel a lot of racing, and Masters Nationals was run on something like a 100m out and back. (I'm exaggerating) Fairbanks has two trail systems, one called Birch Hill, which has a nice ~30km trail system of varying difficulty, and one at the University that is smaller, maybe 10-15km. I believe they also have some other trails that they groom for their spring marathon, but I have never done that, so I don't know. Unfortunately, no place in the world seems to be safe from the warm winters of late. It seems that every year we read about more and more race cancellations and events that we have always considered "safe" have scraped by in the past few years. -Nathan www.nsavage.com "Mark Eastman" wrote in message hlink.net... I had never considered Alaska as a possibility for a week long cross country vacation....mostly rec. touring on prepared track. I am looking for feedback or recommendations. It seems that Alaska might be favored by the weather gods this year....while other areas look iffy. Where would I find good groomed trail systems? Mark |
#4
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You are right....unfortunately about the disappearing winters. I know it is
not really winter yet, but the snow is thin even up above the Arctic Circle in Finland. Of course, I think last year was a very good one in the interior Northwest and B.C.....and also New England. This year, seems to be off to a slow start....apart from some early season teasers. Mark "Nathan Schultz" wrote in message ... Mark, I'm sure that some of the Alaskans that read this can do better, but here is the scoop on Anchorage and Fairbanks: Kincaid Park in Anchorage is a great place and you are so close to the ocean that you can practically ski on the beach. There is also a smaller track system called Hillside (?) that has some nice groomed trails. There are a few other miscellaneous trails that are groomed throughout the city as well and the Tour of Anchorage is a 50km point-to-point race that traverses across the city. Hatcher Pass is nearby in case the Chinooks blow through and melt all of the snow (as happened a few winters ago). It seems that the bad winters (read "warm") of the past 10 years have really messed with Anchorage, though. Last winter was a normal one and they had good snow, but I think that the 2 winters prior to that were dismal. They had to cancel a lot of racing, and Masters Nationals was run on something like a 100m out and back. (I'm exaggerating) Fairbanks has two trail systems, one called Birch Hill, which has a nice ~30km trail system of varying difficulty, and one at the University that is smaller, maybe 10-15km. I believe they also have some other trails that they groom for their spring marathon, but I have never done that, so I don't know. Unfortunately, no place in the world seems to be safe from the warm winters of late. It seems that every year we read about more and more race cancellations and events that we have always considered "safe" have scraped by in the past few years. -Nathan www.nsavage.com "Mark Eastman" wrote in message hlink.net... I had never considered Alaska as a possibility for a week long cross country vacation....mostly rec. touring on prepared track. I am looking for feedback or recommendations. It seems that Alaska might be favored by the weather gods this year....while other areas look iffy. Where would I find good groomed trail systems? Mark |
#5
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"Mark Eastman" wrote in message
hlink.net... I had never considered Alaska as a possibility for a week long cross country vacation....mostly rec. touring on prepared track. I am looking for feedback or recommendations. It seems that Alaska might be favored by the weather gods this year....while other areas look iffy. Where would I find good groomed trail systems? Mark I heard that skiing in Anchorage was good a couple of weeks ago, but crapped out recently due to warm weather? Fairbanks is having a great, almost perfect winter so far. They've been skiing on a good base with excellent tracks for almost a month now (since mid-late Oct). Temps have been mild (+10 to 20 F). Current conditions appear to be "excellent". Juneau has some nordic trails, but I'm not at all familiar with them, or the city. The season in Fairbanks generally goes through mid-April with nirvana-like spring skiing during the month of March almost a sure thing. Although mountain skiing around Anchorage could be more consistent late in the season, skiing in the Anchorage area would be a crap shoot due to weather issues. Both have excellent late season marathons: the well known Tour of Anchorage and the Sonot Kkaazoot in Fairbanks. Both are well run and a lot of fun. Both approximately 50 km with shorter and classic alternatives. Both welcome slower skiiers, just like the Birkie. If I were to chose a ski vacation in Anchorage, I'd chose late Feb- early March. Conditions could be great and the Fur Rondy is going on with carnival activities and a great sled dog race mostly called "The Rondy" by mushers. The Tour of Anchorage might fit into this schedule as well. I'd chose later in March for Fairbanks. March in Fairbanks has mild temps, lots of daylight, but still dark at night. There is peak Aurora Borealis viewing at night in March, and other activities such as the world ice sculpture competition and another great sled dog race, the North American Open. You could combine with the Sonot Kkaazoot race. The trails in both Anchorage and Fairbanks are very, very nicely designed and maintained. I would say "world class". Both have excellent lit trails for night skiing (which is important in AK!). Anchorage tends to milder weather, but Fairbanks has the nod in terms of more consistent conditions - it's very rare to have a winter thaw in Fairbanks.. Temps are milder in Anchorage, but it is right on the ocean and therefore tends to be more humid and windier. The dryer, calmer climate in Fairbanks mitigates the lower temps quite a bit. So the functional difference in skiing in the two towns is not as great as you'd expect from the air temps that you read about. Cold and dry is often more comfortable than not-as-cold, but moist. The two town's flagship trails - Kincaide Park in Anchorage and Birch Hill Recreation Area in Fairbanks - both have world class facilities. In Fairbanks, this includes public waxing areas, including irons! The other trail systems in both towns (some that I've heard of: Hillside in Anchorage and the university, Two Rivers and Salcha trails in Fairbanks) are also excellent trails, but with less facilities. Outside of the cities, there's a couple of really nice places to tour on prepared tracks as well as backcountry, and have neat lodges. Two that I think of right off hand are the Hatcher Pass area and the Sheep Mountain area. Both are beautiful places to visit, especially Hatcher. These sites have all info including trail conditions, event schedules. Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks: http://www.nscfairbanks.org - even a web cam! Nordic Ski Association of Anchorage: http://www.anchoragenordicski.com/ Both cities offer pretty accessible back country skiing and a lot of it, especially if you don't mind skiing on snowmobile trails. There's plenty of places you can go to break your own trails. Both organizations host pretty much weekly touring groups, and many citizen races and other events. Hope this helps. Cam |
#6
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Wow ... Cam sure covered Alaska well.
I'd like to add a bit about the Anchorage area. The good thing about Anchorage is that there is always skiing somewhere nearby. Even if a Chinook rages in and nukes the main venue trails, you can always drive a bit and find snow at higher elevations. We saw this for the Masters Nationals in 2003. Sea level skiing was shot, but the ski club brought the piston bully up to the Chugach State Park at 2500 feet on the edge of town and set a 14 km loop that provided powder skiing into April, and crust skiing into early June. If you drive north, there's Hatcher Pass (with plenty of nearby accomodations). It's extremely rare that there isn't skiing here from early October to late June. And if you need a summer fix ... there's nearby glaciers. Check out Cory Smith's Eagle Glacier pictures on fasterskier.com for an example. Recently we got Chin-nuke'd for a couple of days. But we are back skiing on piston bully groomed trails at Hillside and don't need our higher altitude backups. So the bottom line is ... If you come to Anchorage for a week long vacation and it looks like the skiing is shot ... call the Nordic Ski Club hotline or check Cory Smith's trail report web site. And soon you will likely be skiing. TK |
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