Monthly Archives: March 2018

Best ever conditions at Fort Wainwright Road Crossings

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Thanks to Robert Hannon, Sonot Fort Wainwright liaison, and Dani O’Donnell, Fort Wainwright Community Engagement and Media Relations staff person, a crew of 17 Fort Wainwright volunteers were recruited to help Eric Troyer and Bill Chedister in staffing the road crossings on River and Ski Roads.

As shown below (all photos by Eric Troyer, https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2012647878765322.1073741843.106945789335550&type=1&l=a4233c29a2), these volunteers directed vehicular and skier traffic, shoveled snow on the roadway, and encouraged 40 and 50 km skiers in the early and late stages of their Sonot Kkaazoot journeys.

These Fort Wainwright personnel greatly enhanced the partnership with Fort Wainwright that has existed for all 31 years that the Sonot Kkaazoot taken place.

We urge skiers to thank their neighbors and Fort Wainwright personnel for their additional commitment to the greater Fairbanks North Star Borough community.(https://sonotkkaazoot.org/volunteers/). Without the partnership with Fort Wainwright, the Sonot Kkaazoot would not be possible.

Visiting ski teams at 31st Sonot Kkaazoot

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We thank the coaches, skiers, and chaperones from Galena School and Anchorage’s Dimond High School for participating in the 31st annual Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot. You are great ambassadors for your ski teams and communities.

Galena team on snow

Galena Ski Team–Photo by Martin Hornfischer

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Dimond High School Ski Team–photo by Kyle Whisenhant

 

Photos by Martin Hornfischer (left, Galena team huddle) and Kyle Whisenhant (right)

We hope that you return next year.

For some skiers, the Sonot Kkaazoot isn’t challenging enough

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Everyone who does the Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot is amazing, but for some people the challenge of the Sonot is apparently not enough. The Sonot took place on Saturday. The next morning at 8 a.m. saw the start of the White Mountains 100, a 100-mile multi-sport race in the White Mountains National Recreation Area just north of Fairbanks.

Three people who skied in the Sonot also competed in the White Mountains 100, which is truly amazing!

Melissa Lewis (from Fairbanks), who has won the 50 km Sonot Kkaazoot SIX TIMES (1993, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2011)

Sonot Kkaazoot 50K: 3 hours, 3 minutes (third place overall female, first in her age division)

WM100: 21 hours, 54 minutes (third place skier overall, second place female skier)

Forest Wagner (originally from Fairbanks and now from Auke Bay near Juneau)

Sonot Kkaazoot 20K: 1 hour, 13 minutes (22nd place male overall, first in his age division)

WM100: 30 hours, 59 minutes (ninth overall skier, sixth male skier)

Peter Delamere (from Fairbanks; deserves a Special Dad award!)

Sonot Kkaazoot 20K: 1 hour, 9 minutes (14th male overall, second in his age division; while skiing with daughter Hannah, who finished seventh female overall and first in her age division!)

WM100: 18 hours, 23 minutes (26th biker overall, 24th male biker; biked with son Sam, who finished 25th and at 17 years old is the youngest finisher in the WM100!)

And one member of the Sonot Kkaazoot timing crew, who was on her feet a lot longer than it would take her to ski 20 km,
Tracie Curry, from Fairbanks, skied the WM100 in 26 hours, 39 minutes (seventh skier overall, third place female skier).
Thank you, Tracie.
Congratulations to Melissa, Forest, Peter, and Tracie!

Glorious moments from 31st Sonot captured by Mark Lindberg

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Relive some of the glorious moments of the 31st annual Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot captured by Mark Lindberg from the Chena River and from the warm-up loop at Birch Hill. I selected 32 that highlight the Sonot Kkaazoot course and some of the skiers who enjoyed the spectacular Birch Hill trails on Saturday. Many skiers tackling the 40 and 50 km Sonot Kkaazoot really look young to me. After 31 years, Bad Bob and I see a new generation of Sonot Kkaazoot 50 km skiers.

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Mark took over 500 photographs during Saturday’s event. Many awesome photographs focus in on the faces of skiers. The original photographs are extremely high resolution.

His instagram site is: https://www.instagram.com/marklindbergphotography/?hl=en

If you want access to Mark’s photos, email him at mslindberg1@gmail.com and he can provide a google drive link.  These photos are slightly lower resolution than the originals and they are free to everyone.  He just asks that folks acknowledge his site if they use these photos.  If anyone wants to work with Mark on post processing and printing any original photos they should contact him about pricing.

Mark was extremely generous in providing me with the images that I have posted here in a form that this website could accommodate. It was hard to select a manageable collection from all the fantastic photos he took.

Mark Lindberg photos of Sonot Kkaazoot

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Mark Lindberg, sporting events photographer, was out on the race course yesterday.  He took over 500 photographs and 2 videos from the start of the 40/50 and 20 km events.

He has posted 14 edited photos on his Instagram site:

https://www.instagram.com/marklindbergphotography/?hl=en

and we have posted 32 here:

https://sonotkkaazoot.org/2018/03/28/glorious-moments-from-31st-sonot-captured-by-mark-lindberg/

If you want access to Mark’s photos, email him at mslindberg1@gmail.com and he can provide a google drive link.  These photos are slightly lower resolution than the originals and they are free to everyone.  He just asks that folks acknowledge his site if they use these photos.  If anyone wants to work with Mark on post processing and printing any original photos they should contact him about pricing.

Ti Donaldson, 17, wins 2018 Sonot Kkaazoot 50 km

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Ti Donaldson (bib 620) skis between a sandwich of current Alaska Nanooks (his brother, Max in front, and Logan Mowry behind) —photo by Mark Lindberg Photography (https://www.instagram.com/marklindbergphotography/)

For the first time in the 31 year history of the Sonot Kkaazoot, a high school student, Ti Donaldson won the 50 km men’s event in a time 2:19:15.0. Ti had previously won the 20 km Sonot Kkaazoot in 2014.

The women’s winner of the 50 km Sonot Kkaazoot was Sarah Freistone of Anchorage with a time of 2:54:42.3

Ari Endestad won the men’s 20 km Sonot Kkaazoot with a time of 51:59.4.

Kendall Kramer won the women’s 20 km Sonot Kkaazoot with a time of 56:04.7

Zanden McMullen of Anchorage, 16, won the men’s 40 km event with a time of 1:54:12.6

Alyeska Daniels, 20, won the women’s 40 km Sonot Kkaazoot in 2:23:18.0

FXC Coach Alasdair Tutt won the men’s 50 CL with a time of 3:24:53.3

Anna Rix won the women’s 50 CL Sonot Kkaazoot in 3:49:57.2

News coverage of the Sonot Kkaazoot in Fairbanks Daily Newsminer: http://www.newsminer.com/sports/local/alasdair-tutt-wins-sonot-kkaazoot-nordic-k-classic/article_53852fd0-3012-11e8-8e59-534950ff515c.html

Final results are now posted (3/26/18):

https://sonotkkaazoot.org/results/

 

Awards not retrieved at Awards Banquet

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Although woodels (age class awards) are not specific to specific year, the overall first, second, and third place awards in the 20 km, 40 km, 50 km, and 50 CL are specific to the 2018 Sonot Kkaazoot. So we would like to get these individually crafted awards into the hands of the awardees. Please check the provisional overall results and if you won an overall award and didn’t claim it at the Awards Banquet, please contact the Awards Maker, Mike Schmoker at: msfbc@ak.net and he’ll leave your award at the Birch Hill Recreation Area Building for you to retrieve or make other arrangements.

Sonot Photos from Fort Wainwright

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Photos from the 2018 Sonot Kkaazoot Fort Wainwright road crossings are available at the link below. The photos are free to download. If you do download, please donate to the Birch Hill Trail Fund (https://nordicskicluboffairbanks.wildapricot.org/Donate/). If you would like a larger version of a photo just send an email to Eric at fbxskierparent@gmail.com. He’ll ask again for you to donate to the Birch Hill Trail Fund, but he’ll send you a larger version of the photo(s) for free.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/Nordic-Ski-Club-of-Fairbanks-106945789335550/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2012647878765322