Just finished a four day Whitewater Rescue class designed for packrafters. Excellent hands-on class with lots of swimming in Eagle River. Glad some of my buddies took it too. There is another course coming up this weekend. I highly recommend it for all packrafters.
Archive for the ‘Anchorage’ Category
Whitewater Rescue Class
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009The Big O
Friday, August 7th, 2009I was probably a little too excited for this week’s orienteering meet. I was merely going to run around in the woods for a hour or two by myself. At the end, I would compare my time to a few other people. Not exactly a big deal. I really should not have been so nervous before the start.
But then again, this was my one shot for the year. I missed all the traditional (i.e. ‘real’) orienteering meets in May and June. This was the last one on the calendar. My only chance to compete at full speed. I really wanted to do well.
Unlike a sport like skiing or running, adrenaline is not an advantage in orienteering. You have to be calm and clear-headed. I can’t even count the number of times I have blasted out of the start, only to be lost within minutes. So this time I did my best to temper my excitement. I started slow and deliberate. I ran well for the first ten of the fifteen total controls on the Red course. But then, with one mistake, my race fell apart on control #11. My bearing was off by a mere 10 degrees or so as I navigated a funky mess of hills, depressions, and reentrants. I had to attack the control from four different locations before I finally found it. I lost about 12 minutes, and my hopes for a good result were dashed.
I finished 4th out of 5 finishers and 10 starters. It’s disappointing when one mistake ruins an otherwise decent performance. But that is the way orienteering works. In the larger scheme of things, I can’t really complain. After all, I was crashing around throught the woods again. That was something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.
ROUTE GADGET (race re-enactment)
Was it something I said?
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009Last week, I mentioned the new Alaska Birkie bike race. I wrote that even though I thought it sounded like a fun race, I wouldn’t be able to do it this year. I also thought they should change the name of the race.
Well, I just saw an announcement that this year’s race is cancelled because of low registration numbers. So much for my attempt to promote it! But get this – they will be changing the name of the race for next year:
We will instead focus on a 2010 race. Our website will be the source of official information for the next year. There will be changes for the 2010 event starting with the name of the race. The race will not be called Birkebeiner. Stay tuned…
I hope they come up with a better name than the suggestions I offered!
So maybe I’ll get to do the inaugural race after all. But then again, maybe not. Summer in Alaska is really short, and as I’ve said before, we’ve already got a ton of fun summer races. Not to mention the other non-racing activities to choose from (hiking, packrafting, road trips, etc). It’s hard for a new race to get a foothold. The Powerline Pass running race – a favorite of mine and many mountain runners – has bounced around for seven years , trying to find a date to call home. That’s why I think this bike race should try September, or even early October. Or maybe the first weekend of June, as soon as the trails open to mountain bikes.
But then again, what do I know? I tend to gravitate towards events that don’t have a ton of participation. So maybe I’m not the best guy to offer promotional advice.
The Alaska Birkie – A New Bike Race
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009Last fall I wrote that, as much as I enjoy cyclocross, I would like to see more interesting ‘cross race courses. The go-around-in-circles format is just not my thing.
So I was excited to learn about a new bike race here in Anchorage, the Great Alaska Birkebeiner Mountain Bike race. The race starts in Chugiak and traverses 90 kilometers of pavement, dirt roads and ski trails to get to the finish at Kincaid Park. Its a unique event that offers good tests of fitness, strategy and gear selection. This year’s race is on Saturday August 8, 2009.
It sounds cool but I’ve got a few small quibbles, mainly with the name of the race. Why is an Alaskan bike race named after a Norwegian ski race? Is someone going to be towing the infant king in a Chariot? Plus, they call it a mountain bike race even though its about two-thirds pavement. But then again, I guess they don’t want some roadie trashing his $7,000 Cervelo on the Spencer Loop.
I think this race has the potential to be really fun. It will be interesting to see if it catches on. I could see it becoming a hit with recreational riders looking for their once-a-season big challenge, a la the Tour of Anchorage ski race.
Having said all that, I doubt I will do the race this year. I’m not sure my Achilles is ready for four hours of racing. Plus, August is looking like a very busy month for me as I try to squeeze an entire summer into about five weekends. (Another quibble - Hold the race in September!).
We are fortunate to have a ton of interesting races here in southcentral Alaska, and I am glad to see the Alaska Birkie join the ranks. I just wish they’d call it something else. How about ‘Crossing Anchorage? Municycle? Cycle to Kincaid ( Cy2K for short)? Hmm, maybe Alaska Birkie isn’t that bad after all.
Hiked Flattop Yesterday
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009Mostly hike, a little run. I dare say it was my first real workout. Achilles felt great. Opposite knee, not so much. Aaarg, if its not one thing, its another.
Sunny Weather Goes Up In Smoke
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009As I was biking home from work today, my lungs were burning, my eyes were squinting, and my nostrils were flaring. Was I hammering? Nope, I was inhaling the acrid smoke that has descended over Anchorage in the past few days. Our long stretch of amazingly dryweather has triggered an outbreak of forest fires around the state. It figures, the sunny skies were too good to last.
I was curious. Of all the fires around the state, which fires are actually contributing to the fact that I can’t even see the Chugach from a few miles away? Is there any hope that the winds might shift? o Or a rain shower will knock down the haze?
Before Mt. Redoubt erupted, NOAA and the Alaska Volcano Observatory had models predicting which way the ash cloud would go. And after it erupted, there were maps showing where it actually went. I thought those were really cool and useful. I thought I could find something similar for forest fire smoke.
So far, this is the best map I have found for smoke (there are plenty of maps out there if you want data on the fires themselves). You can play with the real-time interactive map here.
Adventures in Commuting, part 3
Friday, June 19th, 2009My wife and I both wish we could commute to work by bike everyday. But because of our daycare arrangement and that pesky “You must work 8 hours a day” rule, it simply isn’t possible.
So instead we’ve worked out a complicated compromise. I bike to work early in the morning. She drives in later after dropping the kiddo off at daycare. In the afternoon, I bike over to her office and get the car. I go pick up the kiddo, and she bikes home later. So we each get to bike one way. It works out pretty well, except for one hitch: there is no good route to get from my office to her office on a bike. Its only about a mile, but I have to take my life into my hands and cross the worst of midtown traffic.
I am constantly looking for a new route that is safer, more scenic, or at least shorter. This past winter I heard about a new path being built in a lesser-known park in midtown. Could this be a missing link I needed? Earlier this week I decided to give it a try. I found the park easy enough, but I couldn’t find any trails. So I started busting through the tall grass, carying my bike.
Midtown Anchorage - Anyone know where this is?
The bad news was that in a matter of minutes, I was up to calves in muck and it was getting deeper. The good news was at least this covered up my fashion faux-pas of wearing argyle dress socks with cycling shoes. Turn around? Are you kidding? I was not about to accept defeat from a tiny park in midtown. I pushed on.
I felt bad that I was probably disturbing the wetland habitat, but I have to admit that I was loving it. The best summer adventures usually involve some degree of bushwhacking or mud-slogging, but since I’ve been injured I’ve been missing out on all that fun. I desperately needed up up my slog quotient.
It only took a few minutes to cross the bog and I found the trail (still a work in progress) on the other side. I didn’t find a magical corridor through midtown, but I did find a nice little slice of the outdoors hidden in the middle of the city. I like living in a pace where my commute from work can turn into a mud-filled adventure. And besides, its not really summer in Alaska until you’ve bushwhacked through a mud bog.
A Quick Hit At Portage Lake
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009I should have known that one ski trip to Skookum Glacier wasn’t going to satiate my lust for crust this spring. Like any true addict, “just one” fix quickly leads to an overwhelming urge for another. My body may be injured, but my mind still craves copious amounts of sun and snow. No amount of bike riding was going to make the urge go away.
So yesterday I succumbed and headed to Portage Lake. With weekend temepratures hitting 70 degrees in Anchorage, I wasn’t sure the lake would still be skiable, so I had Turnagain Pass in mind as a back-up plan. When I arrived at the lake, it looked perfect. The crust was firm and smooth. There was a bustle of construction activity (lots of people and trucks) at the rock slide site, which led me to believe that there wouldn’t be any blasting anytime soon. So I geared up and headed across the lake.
Its about three miles to get back to the glacier. The first mile was great skiing. Fast and flat – perfect for my leg, which is still in the walking cast. After the first mile, though, the snow started getting punchy. At this point in the spring, the “snow” on the lake is really just a foot-thick layer of slush on top of ice. So each time I punched through, my foot dove into a soggy mess. For the next mile, I did my best to stay on top of the snow. But soon the crust was completely gone and I was trudging through slush. Bummer. At this point, making it to Portage Pass was out of the question, so I decided to trudge ahead until I could see the glacier, then turn around.
Proof that I made it. All 2.5 miles of it.
When returning to the car, I played around on the firmer crust on the north end of the lake a bit, watching the rock slide work. I finished skiing about 9:00 AM. When I got back to Anchorage, I found out that the blasting began a few hours after I left. I wish I’d been able to stay and watch! I found it amusing and slightly aggravating that the last time I was there, there were a bunch of warning signs even though the blasting wouldn’t take place for almost two weeks. Then yesterday, with the blasting only a few hours away, no signs at all!
Apres Ski
Even though the skiing wasn’t very good, it was great to be on skis again. And the trip was worth it for the drive alone – I saw a coyote, a fox, a moose and a bison along the way! (Okay, okay, the bison was at Big Game Alaska. But the others were legit.)
The Last Temptation of Crust
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009Attention: Everyone who selected April 22 in their office pool for “the day that Cory finally ignores Doctor’s (and wife’s) orders and goes skiing,” please pick up your winnings at the front desk.
Monday of this week was the first day of excellent crust ski weather we’ve had so far this spring. Blinding sunshine, frozen snowpack. But I was a good patient and stayed home (well, at work actually).
Tuesday was also an epic crust day and I probably would have given in, except that my son was sick. I figured that if my wife had to stay home with vomiting toddler, I should probably go to work and contribute to the collective family good, rather than go play in the sun. I’m very sympathetic like that.
But when Wednesday morning dawned with clear skies and cold temperatures, well, I think we can all agree that no mortal man can be expected to resist that temptation three days in a row.
One reason I hadn’t been skiing (or doing anything mildly active) prior to today was that my ankle has continued to be swollen. Not good for healing. No matter how I try to baby it, the swelling doesn’t go down. But then yesterday, I had my first real physical therapy session. The therapist really stressed the ankle a lot more than I ever had in the past six weeks. At first, the tendon felt extremely tight and weak, but the more I worked it, the better it felt. And then, when I woke up this morning and saw that the ankle was less swollen than ever since the injury, a lightbulb went off in my head. Maybe a little bit of activity is exactly what I need to reduce the swelling, to get the blood flowing and flush out the ankle. That was all the excuse I needed to grab my skis.
So this morning I drove down to Portage Lake. I picked Portage because its a short, flat, easy ski with spectacular scenery. I could get my crust ski fix without pushing my Achilles too much. But when I got there, there were signs saying “DANGER! Blasting in area – Stay off ice.” The lake looked fine and it didn’t look like they were blasting today, so I thought about going anyway. But I was by myself with no one else around, and on a gimp leg, so I decided to play it safe. I drove down the road to the Placer River valley and headed towards Skookum Glacier instead.
The crust was near-perfect: rock hard with no volcanic ash. My technique was a little sloppy, and I fatigued quickly (did I really lose that much fitness in six weeks? Ouch.), but the ski was spectacular.
I knew I needed to be extra careful of my tendon while skiing. So it was fortunate that I had a pair of Salomon’s latest top-secret prototype boots to protect me. Currently I think there are only three pairs in existence. Mathias Fredriksson has a pair, Andy Gerlach had a pair, I have a pair. Check out my photos.
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The whole trip made me so happy. Early morning drive down Turnagain Arm, cruising on top of the firm snow while the crystals sparkled in the sun, feeling my blood pumping again, soaking up the sunshine, and even stopping for a snack at the Tesoro on the way home. It was great to be back in the spring routine again, if only for a day.
Beach Lake Freestyle Flyer
Sunday, December 14th, 2008Today I did the Freestyle Flyer race at Chugiak, which is part of the Anchorage Cup series.
Recently I was struck by the realization that, while I get really excited for all sorts of local races (running, biking, orienteering, etc.) , I have come to dread the local ski races. This is particularly odd considering that cross country skiing is, by far, my favorite sport.
But it is also the sport in which I am most heavily invested. For a good part of my adult life, my self-worth was directly tied to my ski race results. And while I try to tell myself that is no longer the case, it is a hard habit to break.
When I do a cyclocross race, I can have fun no matter where I finish because I’m not trying to live up to some previous level of success. Same thing with orienteering. I know I’m not the best, but I do it because it is a challenge and it is fun. Skiing is different because I do expect to be the best. And I am not. Not even close anymore. So it becomes a recipe for frustration every time I put on a bib.
So recently I’ve been trying to reset my mindset. Just like the old SNL skit: Low-ered Ex-pec-TA-tions. I’ve been trying to tell myself that my results have slipped far enough that I no longer have anything to lose. Instead of worrying about getting beaten by my buddies, I can be freed by the fact that they usually beat me. They should be worried that I might beat them! I am no longer the professional ski racer. I am a dad and a desk jockey who is just trying to stay in shape.
With that frame of mind, I had a great time today. I skied in the second pack, just out of sight of the leaders for most of the race. The pace was a bit on the easy side, so I led the pack for a lot of the race. I just didn’t have the speed to break away. I finished 7th and managed to beat a few guys I haven’t beaten in years. For the first time this century, I think my results might actually be on an upswing! And most importantly, it gave me renewed confidence for my upcoming showdown with Rob. He didn’t race, so we still have yet to go head-to-head. But after my result today and a good interval session I had on Thursday, I feel pretty good about my chances.
