After six weeks of classical skiing with minimal glide while temperatures and newly fallen snow remained bitterly cold, skiers have been given roughly 10 days to train for the 10 and 20 km Frank Soos Distance Race #2. You can read specifics of this event and register here:

https://www.nscfairbanks.org/programs/races/distance-series/distance-series-2/

The Gingersnap Special involves many of the intermediate blue loops at Birch Hill Recreation Area so the SCUM wanted to see if they could leisurely skate 10 km today. However, the dramatic warm up in temperatures came with intense winds leaving the trails littered with debris and snow and ice globules dropped from the trees. So the SCUM had to work a little harder than planned and some of us fell when our skis encountered materials not compatible with our glide waxes.

After finishing our tour of the 10 km race course today, we knew that we’d be able to ski 20 km on Saturday when the trails will have newly laid corduroy on them. Join us in honoring our friend, Frank, whose spirit will be accompanying us. We need this 20 km test. The 39th Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot is just 2 months away.