Temperatures were almost 20 deg warmer than Sunday, so SCUM skied through 2 inches of ungroomed snow. Bring it on.
Warm weather SCUM
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Author Archives: Sonot Kkaazoot
Happy New Year
Although December had 12 days with temperatures below -40 deg F at the airport and January has continued that trend, the SCUM workouts have been no colder than -25 deg F in the stadium, although temperatures dropped much colder on lower lying trails. Descending the Warmup Loop (not an accurate descriptor today) at the end of our workout, I developed a severe ice cream headache that didn’t resolve even on the uphill sections. It was definitely below -25 deg on Wake Up Loop.
Today the thermometer on the building said -19 deg F when we started and -12 when we finished. We managed to ski 10 km (all but about 1 km on pistenbully tracks) in a little more than 90 minutes. This is not bad considering that 3 of us are well over 70 years old and the kid among us had gotten her second shingles vaccine earlier in the week.
Here’s Bernardo and Mom gliding down the stadium hill with the full moon over our heads:
Although just two years ago, the SCUM skied on a -37 deg F Sunday, we’re getting soft in our old age. If it’s colder than -25 deg F at Birch Hill at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, we’ll cancel our workout and make up the kilometers on Tuesday:
However, if the inversion holds, skiing above the ice fog is good for the mind and body.
New Sonot Kkaazoot race organizers
The 39th Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot is scheduled for Saturday, March 21, 2026!
Thanks to Cyrus Freeman and Alex Morris stepping forward to be race directors for the 39th Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot, we will be opening registration in mid-January 2026.
Bad Bob and Sharon Baker are sharing their collective race organization wisdom with these young men so this year’s Sonot Kkaazoot will be great. With our abundant December snowfalls and cold temperatures, this is the motivation we need to get out and train when trails are chilly and glide is less than optimal.
A huge thank you to Cyrus and Alex for stepping forward to continue this spring ski celebration in Fairbanks.
Happy Holidays from the SCUM
Today it was -23 deg F in the Birch Hill stadium at 10:30 a.m. but the temperatures dropped as we lost elevation. However, the newly groomed trails were fast allowing us some “free speed” on the graduals and downhills. Jeff Conn kept his speed in check and spotted LOL ornament #10 shown below:
This brings the SCUM total load of ornaments to 8. We need to find 4 more before the New Year.
Enjoy the holidays and we’ll see you on the trails.
SCUM find 2 more LOL ornaments on a -25 deg F day
It was a snowy Friday morning, but the pistenbully tracks were amazingly fast and secure. Thank you, Tom Helmers! Even at -25 deg F, the firm tracks made it possible to ski fast enough to keep all the appendages thawed and warm.
Today’s discoveries bring the SCUM total of LOL ornaments past the halfway mark. We have located 7 of the 12 ornaments for this season.
Hopefully, the recent accumulation of almost a foot of fluffy snow doesn’t conceal the five ornaments that we need to find.
Great tracks lead SCUM to 3 LOL ornaments
A deep inversion had temperatures a balmy -8 deg F in the stadium and -24 deg F in Shannon Park at the bottom of Birch Hill Road and City Lights Blvd. However, Bill Husby set beautiful classical tracks on the Black Loops yesterday, so we were lured down into the chilly depths where we found three more LOL ornaments.
In the black loops, there are a number of cutoffs so the SCUM group scattered, so only Bill, Greg, and Mom found ornament #3:
The other SCUM found LOL ornament #8 when they were lost in the Black Loops but Jerome was able and willing to go back down so we could document his find:
Even on a cold day, Bill’s tracks were a delight as on the N40, you could glide entirely up the uphills after tucking the downhills in the tracks. It was also possible to stride up the Competition Loop in Bill’s clean and deep tracks. As we were finishing up, the grooming crew was heading out the blue loops so likely by now they have new clean tracks, too. The Outhouse Loop really needed new tracks after the recent winds had filled the tracks with balsam poplar leaves.Today was a good day to not be skiing on skins as you enjoyed more free glide.
Enjoy the inversion and the beautiful tracks.
SCUM do the military transect in the -15 deg F breezy warmth
Preparing to do the military transect (down Sunnyside and Cliffside and up the Sonot Connector) meant protecting SCUM noses and faces from the cold. Here are some of the novel approaches to this challenge (top 4 photos by Joanna Fox)
These SCUM actually made it up to the White Bear loop where en route they were treated to the moon rise over the Sonot Connector:
It was chilly but a beautiful day on the trails.
SCUM find 2 of the LOL ornaments on a -10 deg F day
The SCUM quickly found LOL ornament #6 as it was on one of the Strava segments named for a primordial SCUM. This ornament is gold, not a very easy to spot color, and is located above Joanna’s right shoulder.
Here’s a close up with Thumper, who was visiting from Reno:
Mom was skiing with just one pole to avoid further aggravation of cartilage connecting her ribs to her sternum. Thus, she was looking around while she waited for the SCUM to chase Robert and Jeff downhill and spotted LOL ornament #5:
The photo makes this LOL ornament a giveaway for anyone skiing the trails regularly.
It may be chilly on the trails, but the newly set tracks allow one’s skis to glide so you travel more effortlessly than before the recent snow.
Although the Super Tour Races moved to Anchorage, fantastic skiing still awaits skiers in Fairbanks.
SCUM show up on Sunday after Turkey Day Relays
SCUM raced on three different Turkey Day Relay teams on Friday and despite one broken pole during the race, and a fall or two, the TDR skiers showed up on Sunday.
We found the Tower Loop to be much more enjoyable with the SCUM rest stops that weren’t available on Friday.
Come join us on Tuesdays and Fridays at 1030 a.m. and Sundays at 1000 or 1100 a.m. We won’t be meeting next Sunday because of the Super Tour Race being held at Birch Hill. Volunteer to help out and you’ll get to watch skiers who don’t need to stop for rest breaks.
More female SCUM today
With cold temperatures and very little snowpack on the trails throughout the Fairbanks North Star Borough, the SCUM need to be resourceful to find snow that geezers with broken body parts can safely ski. Although counterintuitive, the black loops have been less skied so the trails had a little forgiveness in them in the form of untracked snow. Today the “no Y SCUM” outnumbered the male ones. Nobody fell but Mom, but she’s learning to get up more quickly.
Negotiating the Outhouse Loop to access the Flat Black loop proved no challenge to the guys among today’s SCUM. The trees were magical with their hoarfrost icings, but the trails were not the beautiful corduroy that we become accustomed to by mid winter.
Sonot Kkaazoot 