Alaskan Living

And Now We Wait…

Today was our due date. The baby room is ready: the changing table set up, teddy bears arranged on shelves, diapers neatly stacked, and tiny clothes neatly folded in drawers. I walk into the baby’s room, stare into the empty crib, and try to imagine the miraculous gift of life that will soon occupy it. All we need now is baby! 

Scenes of Our March Dump

Every year, we seem to get a March dump. This year, it waited until late in the month—but it arrived, and it’s bought us an extra couple of weeks of skiing. That skier with the great form? None other than Chris Hodel! Here are a few more photos.

God's Gym

I’ve had an exercise addiction for about 20 years now. It’s physiological. If my body doesn’t get a good workout, the first symptoms of withdrawal are uncontrollable yawning, and they usually come on by mid-afternoon. By evening, if I haven’t worked out, I start getting a headache. I suppose it’s better than some addictions, but the way I’ve learned to cope is by forcing myself to exercise early in the day. Apart from injuries, in the past twenty years, I’ve probably missed my daily workout less than one day a year.

When I lived in San Francisco and New York, it usually meant hauling my butt to a crowded pool where I’d swim in circles for an hour or to a gym where I’d ride a bike in a cramped row of sweaty bodies. But here in Alaska, especially this time of year, I go skate skiing in God’s Gym. It’s free, and the scenery’s a lot prettier. It’s so glorious that I made an executive decision last week that I want to skate ski every day until the snow absolutely gives out and I find nothing but dirt underneath my skis.

My Heartfelt Thoughts on Oil Drilling in the Arctic Refuge

The Political Context
Most of my friends Outside are shocked when I tell them two-thirds of Alaskans favor oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. They’re even more shocked when I tell them Alaska may be the most pro-development state in the country.

Years ago, I started a public opinion research business in Alaska. Over the course of five years, we conducted over 150,000 interviews with Alaskans. It gave me real insight into the concerns and beliefs of Alaskans.

Sometimes, I would ask Alaskans the same questions other pollsters would ask of Lower 48 voters. One of those questions was: “What worries you more—protecting the environment or creating good jobs and economic growth?”

Winter In Alaska

We have a saying in Alaska: “If they have to ask the question, they won’t understand the answer.” That’s how you respond when someone wrinkles their eyebrows, cocks their head, and asks, “Why do you live in Alaska?”

But I often get asked, “What’s it like to live in Alaska in winter? Is it cold? Dark?” Now that’s a more legitimate question—one I wouldn’t heap derision on someone for the mere asking.

Tour of Anchorage: Through Dan & Pat’s Eyes

Our cross country ski season culminates each year in the Tour of Anchorage ski marathon, one of the country’s premier ski races and a tribute to Anchorage’s trail system. The race starts in the snowy foothills of the Chugach Mountains, winds its way down through a 10,000-acre wilderness park of spruce and clearwater creeks, meanders for miles along Chester Creek, then snakes along a coastal bluff high above the ocean for seven miles out to Kincaid Park, a birch forest set atop ancient glacial moraine. Thirty miles of wilderness…through the heart of the city…and you never take off your skis!

The race draws over 1000 racers, from world-class competitors to serious ski enthusiasts. On the bus home, I met two of them this year: Dan and Pat. They flew up from Idaho to do the race. The weekend before they flew to Minnesota to do the Birkebeiner Marathon, and the weekend afterwards Dan was off to West Yellowstone to do the Rendezvous.

Pat was kind enough to email me her impressions to share with everyone on the blog:

One Insane, Dangerous Moose--Or Two?

I had a weird thing happen on the ski trail today. It was late afternoon, and I was skate-skiing down the Chester Creek Trail towards the coast. I was moving pretty fast when I saw a moose coming straight out of the woods towards the trail. Usually I’m cautious: I would have stopped and given the moose the right of way. But this time, I thought I had enough speed to safely glide past it—so I went for it. When you see a moose at the last minute, you really don’t have a lot of time to decide.

As I got closer, it was clear the moose was going to hit the trail just as I passed. So I yelled at her to stay back—or maybe to reassure myself. She did not like that. She put her head down, stood her hackles straight up, rolled her brown eyes forward, threw her front hooves in the air towards me, and charged after me. I skied as fast as I could without risking falling—about 15 miles per hour—and kept looking back. Normally, a moose will stop its charge after a gait or two. But this one kept coming. Fortunately, the trail was fast and I had

Iditarod '05

I went down to the start of Iditarod on 4th Avenue today. This is probably the sixth Iditarod I've photographed. My favorite way to shoot the race is to snowmachine out to Skwentna and get the dog teams going up the frozen rivers. Given we could have a baby any day, that's not gonna happen this year. So, here are my photos from the ceremonial start in Anchorage...