On 29 April 2025, we posted that the current Sonot Kkaazoot director was stepping down after 37 years. To date, no one (or group of people) has stepped up. A lot of work is needed to make the Sonot Kkaazoot happen, so the race won’t be possible without a race director. Bad Bob and Sharon Baker are willing to help the new organizing team but have retired from doing it themselves.
Even in 1988, the Chena River threatened to move the inaugural Sonot Kkaazoot off the Chena River. However, a last-minute cold spell allowed race organizer, Bob Baker to start and finish the first Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot on the Chena River near the Cushman Street Bridge.
A total of 23 skiers competed in the 50-km race, and another 8 in the 20-km event. As the Fairbanks News-Miner reports, “the first Sonot Kkaazoot cross-country ski races came off without a hitch Saturday, with Tim Kelley and Dexter Ittner posting victories in the two races.”
Bob and Sharon Baker organized that first Sonot Kkaazoot and the majority of the following 37 events. In his post-race report to the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks board of directors, Bob announced that the 38th Sonot Kkaazoot will be his last as organizer. It’s been a long run for the Bakers. Since 1988, the Sonot Kkaazoot has grown almost tenfold in race participants and in the volunteers required to successfully put on the event. Volunteers younger than the SCUM are needed as our physical and mental abilities are rapidly declining.
If you know of someone interested in taking over the organization of the Sonot Kkaazoot, urge them to contact Thad Keener, executive director of the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks. His contact information is: executivedirector@nscfairbanks.org.
After last Sunday’s delightful Easter ski on over 10 km of pistenbully-groomed trails, weather conditions weren’t favorable for additional grooming. We skied Wednesday and Friday as more ground and less snow as visible on the trails. So today we made the switch to dryland training and headed up Ester Dome.
Ester Dome Road was ice free and dry to Ullerhaven and had patchy wet spots beyond the first set of towers. However, at the second set of towers, the trail was still wet and icy. The roadway lacks sufficient dry ground to turnaround so park at or before the first set towers. While we were on the top of Ester Dome, one offroad vehicle ended up backing up on the road from the second towers to the first towers.
It was a great day for an Ester Dome ascent as it was 45 deg at 10 a.m. when we started and in the mid-50s when we finished 2 hours later. We saw a number of runners on Ester Dome Road–all of them in shorts.
Thus, Wednesday SCUM workouts will officially move from Birch Hill to Ester Dome starting 30 April 2025. We’ll start from the bike trails parking lot on Ester Dome Road (roughly one mile above St. Pat’s Road) at 10 a.m. The general plan is to ski walk down to St. Pat’s Road from the bike trails and then ski walk up to Ullerhaven for a 5 km uphill ski walk and then walk back down (2 miles) to our cars. Starting out, you could just start ski walking uphill (like we did today) and you can turnaround whenever you feel like you’ve done enough or have to get back to work.
Ski walkers, hikers, or runners are welcome to join us for all or part of our workout.
4/28/25 NOTE: The SCUM made their training transition Sunday before the Nenana Ice Classic tripod on the Tanana River had gone out. We make our weather observations based on our 29 years skiing together and act accordingly. We’re not climate deniers.
Above are some of the happy sounds and faces seen on groomed trails at Birch Hill Recreation Area on Easter Sunday. An absolutely fun ski for all.
Some SCUM missed the grooming yesterday as one of us needed to file her income taxes. However, two inches of fresh snow covered the icy trails, so we enjoyed a day that looked more like Christmas than approaching Easter and Passover.
A busload of kindergarteners and first graders arrived on skis (no poles needed) as we were leaving, excited to have fresh snow approaching some of their knees.
Enjoy the spring skiing. Today’s snowfall has definitely extended the season.
Donate to the NSCF trail fund please. https://nordicskicluboffairbanks.wildapricot.org/Donate
With the post-Sonot Kkaazoot fatigue lingering in our weathered bodies, the SCUM decided to enjoy the sunshine, scenery, and each other’s company while skiing the White Bear and Moilanen Meadows today.
Here is the entire gang at the bottom of Heartrate Hill:
Below are photos and videos of the SCUM foolery. In between the photo and videos, I managed to get 1:12 of low level 1 training.
Moilanen Meadows looked prime for spring snow angels:
The SCUM encountered wildlife on our ski including an early rising honey badger:
Enjoy spring skiing. Contribute to the NSCF grooming fund for continued skiing under warm inviting conditions for the next generation of SCUM:
This post was actually assembled after a SCUM workout on 16 February 2025 at UAF. However, I was lacking enough brain cells then to figure out how to embed a large video that was a key part of this post. Now with my MFA thesis defense postponed until Fall 2025 and training for and assisting with the organization of the 38th Sonot Kkaazoot finished, here is a look back to 16 February 2025
Joanna earned the right for a finish line collapse after setting a new segment record for the Double Theta today in -3 deg F chill.
After our approximately 2.5 km time trial chasing the youngest skier among us (and the most stressed this week), our bodies were fatigued but our minds were more relaxed, so our judgement was slightly impaired.
Somewhere on the t-field, the decision was made to wallow in the untracked snow. While in other areas of America, winter swimming in frozen lakes becomes an extreme sport, snow wallowing requires just taking the path less traveled.
Bill started out the challenge on the T-field:
Following Bill’s leadership, Dan accepted the challenge in the middle of the potato field:
Only to be outdone by Joanna, who was ready to really take a dive:
The photo taken of the SCUM BEFORE the start of the 38th Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot:
and AFTER:
A huge thank you to the SCUM who didn’t race but volunteered for timing the Sonot Kkaazoot. Next season will mark 30 years of SCUM.
Sonot Kkaazoot 