Three race distances and all registration closes at 8 p.m. on Thursday, 24 March 2022.
Meanwhile, Bad Bob Baker, Sharon Baker, Donna DiFolco, and Bruce Jamieson started off their 2022 World Masters with a 15 km skate race in Canmore today. Bad Bob reports: Times of NSCF finishers today for 15 km, Donna 48:19 (6th), Sharon 50:18 (13th), Bad Bob 49:14 (36th) and Bruce 1:02:09 (39th). Beautiful and fast conditions! 27-8 degrees. Owen Hanley skis classic tomorrow.
Sharon Baker finishes her 15 km skate race at World Masters–photo by Bad Bob Baker
Donna DiFolco finishes her World Masters 15 km skate race–photo by Bob Baker
Bill Husby (aka Poles) is back skiing after his ladder accident
During the Frank Soos Distance Race #3, The Unpleasantry, I was passed by Thomas St. Clair holding a broken pole in one hand and skiing outside the tracks with just one pole. I mentioned to our group of skiers that Bill was perhaps part of a growing trend.
Then today, Bill headed out to Smith Lake to keep him at the top of our Creme de la SCUM team in miles earned for our 2000-mile relay on the Race Across Alaska Winter Challenge. I hope that this didn’t jar any of his fractured ribs and that he will soon join our workouts again.
Sunday at SCUM corner without Bill–-photo by Joanna Fox
Sunday was a noteworthy SCUM ski. We had probably 4 inches of new snow that had been newly groomed and tracked. Temperatures were a balmy 8 deg F above zero. But our injured Creme de la SCUM leader, Bill Husby (aka Poles) was not skiing back and forth at the head of the pack. With his cracked lower rib and nondisplaced fracture of the right ulna, Poles will likely be Pole (singular) when he rejoins us. However, a half-strength Bill Husby will still ski faster and further than the rest of the SCUM.
PLEASE support Bill’s recovery by donating to the trails fund:
Tuesday evening, Bill Husby, who was Chief of Course for the recent Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association (RMISA) and Besh Cup races, was attempting to put bins of directional arrows overhead in the old shop. The step ladder slid out from under him. Bill fell backwards about 5 feet and landed on his right side injuring his ribs and his elbow (shown below):
Friday evening update from Bill:
Here’s the scoop: cracked lower rib (just let it heal) and a broken bone in the right elbow.
photo by Bill Husby
We need a mended Bill because of all his excellent grooming and the course work he does for Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks races. In addition, Bill has been racking up the most miles for our Race Across Alaska Winter Challenge team, Creme de la SCUM
Here’s are team photo with our ski poles substituting for Poles Husby:
Creme de la SCUM–photo by Mike Mathers
Heal quickly, Bill.
Not only do we miss your pace setting, without you out in front, no one gets the picture when one of us head plants into a snowbank. Joanna thought that her documentation of a snowy hat 0.5 km after the fact would stand up as evidence in a court of public opinion. I beg to differ.
She did not get the picture–photo by Joanna Fox
Recover quickly, my friend. We miss you. I hope that you get some sort of high-tech cast that allows you to ski and groom while your elbow heals.
Are you getting tired of skiing the same trails here in the Fairbanks area? Scott Brucker would like folks to come try out his ski trails in Minto in hopes that we’ll help promote his trails for future ski events.
He emailed:
I’d like to invite you and some folks for a personalized ski session of my trails. It was about 3 weeks ago I had a ‘jib’ ski and skate skied 14 miles of my trails, it was absolutely glorious. I’m trying to obtain/build better drags and figure out a way to put corduroy in the trail. I exploded my snow drag the other day, which really pissed me off when the hitch failed and caught a tree. I figure if I show people it is a good trail, they will pass that on by word of mouth and might be able to help host a race or get school ski programs to come out this way.
Here’s updated google earth Imagery of my trail system.
Roughly 400+ cords of wood now cut and stacked in the past 7 years. So exciting to see the scars I’ve let on the planet. I added about 1.5 miles to the trail from last year. Here is an image of a 9.5 mi route.
They can be combined with other trails for 24 miles of skiing if I really wanted to, but I’ve found maintaining that much trail is exhausting, time consuming, and costly. Right now I’m maintaining 14.5 mi trail as my longest, and a total of 17 miles of trail.
A trip to Minto might make a perfect spring break trip.
Contact Scott if you’re interested: email: sbrucker@yksd.com
Today, on the Blackhawk Loop, the SCUM groundhogs determined that we’ll have at least 6 more weeks of winter.
Look at the shadows that Bill and Mike saw today:
Bill’s shadows and groomed tracks on the Black Hawk--photos by Dan Johnson
Newly retired Mike Mathers casts long shadows
Don’t be discouraged by the temperatures on the Birch Hill web thermometer. The sun makes the trails feel much warmer now. You can ski under natural lights from about 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. now.
The groomers have been busy and the weather has cooperated. The biggest uncertainty regarding tomorrow’s 10 or 20 km freestyle event is whether the moose will be foraging along the classical tracks on the Sunnyside after the groomers set the racecourse. This might be a good reason to skate ski.
However, our easy ski today on the Black loops revealed something else on the ski trails that we haven’t seen in a while: amazing glide. Three of us crashed because our skis got away from us. Byron went down on the Corkscrew, I crashed on the Black Baron, and Joanna took a headfirst tumble on the Black Abyss. Byron was wearing teflon pants so he didn’t carry any evidence of his fall like Joanna and I did:
Photo by Bill Husby
Join us tomorrow, starting at 11:00 a.m. (unless you are Bad Bob Baker) for the Frank Soos Distance Race #2. Homemade gingersnap cookies (Frank’s favorite) at the finish.
After a week of shoveling out from the two recent storms that dowsed the area with snow and rain, the SCUM were delighted to ski in firm PistenBully tracks today. However, the only photos taken were when they ventured off into the ungroomed snow.
Here the SCUM set “old school” tracks on the Old Tower:
Photo by Dan Johnson
And here’s what the White Bear trail beyond Sonot Junction looks like:
Mom, Joanna, and Norma decide against skiing WB--photo by Dan Johnson
Joanna and Norma were feeling adventuresome so took off and skied Moilanen Meadows following these set tracks:
Moilanen Meadow tracks–photo by Joanna Fox
In addition to finding two downed trees on the trail, they found a Winter Trails sign:
Joanna and Norma with Winter Trails sign–photo by Joanna Fox
Norma led them out of the Meadows and back to the Birch Hill stadium but the chilled SCUM had already headed home.
Norma enjoying Moilanen Meadows–photo by Joanna Fox
They’d return for their first ski of 2022 as part of the Ski Your Age in Kilometers event on Saturday.
Today Dan Johnson led the SCUM up Moose Mountain following the trails the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks tour took on Saturday. Once again, Bad Bob Baker had newly groomed their course.
Trees and moon along the trail:
SCUM on Bad Bob’s Moose Mountain trail—photos by Bill Husbyunless noted otherwise
SCUM before sunrise:
Tim Woster--photo by Dan Johnson
Bill Husby–photo by Dan Johnson
Eric Buetow--photo by Dan Johnson
Sunrise on Moose Mountain–photo by Dan Johnson
Sunrise poses from on top:
Eric Buetow
Bill Husby
Dan Johnson
Tim Woster
Moose Mountain SCUM–photo by Dan Johnson
Our leader, Dan raises the SCUM flag (his hat) above Mastodon Rock. He wished he’d had Frank’s poles to raise it higher:
The tour finished with a well-deserved toast, thanks to Eric and his highly fortified and aged eggnog.
Sonot Kkaazoot 