Bruce Jamieson observes as Bad Bob Baker points to the spot where he got stuck in the overflow and chose to stop dragging. Photo by Bill Husby
As of 10 a.m. Sunday, 9 February 2020, from Bad Bob Baker:
The Chena River is NOT skiable. Countless overflow areas. Only the first 2 to 3 km from the Cushman Street Bridge are skiable.
REPEAT: Sonot Kkaazoot trail on Chena River is not skiable as of Sunday morning, 9 February 2020.
FYI: Bad Bob plans to groom the Chena River portion of the Sonot Kkaazoot again on Sunday starting at 9 p.m.
Remember, if you plan to ski that course onto Fort Wainwright, be sure to carry your government identification.
Bad Bob Baker groomed the Chena River portion of the Sonot Kkaazoot course again on Tuesday. He said “it’s very smooth and quite fast and at least 16′ wide at the narrowest. The sugar snow has firmed up and the skating is quite nice.”
REMEMBER, before you head out to enjoy Bob’s grooming, if you are skiing onto Fort Wainwright, you must be carrying government identification with you. If you leave the Chena River and venture onto the base where the trail is accessible by road, you can be stopped by military personnel responsible for security protection on Fort Wainwright. Make sure you have your valid government identification with you.
From Sonot Kkaazoot director, Bad Bob Baker:
“The grooming of the 20 km course on the CHENA RIVER was a success! This year’s Chena River is very smooth, with plenty of snow and very little icy sections. Today I just roughed in a 12′ to 16′ wide trail. I will got back on the river again in a few days and re-groom and widen it a bit more. After the re-groom it should be very good skiiing… even now with this first rough-in…it’s not bad.. As of today, the SONOT can be held on the river.. we’ll see what MOTHER NATURE has in store for us..”
Photos by Bad Bob Baker after 2/3/20 grooming on Chena River portion of Sonot Kkaazoot course
Today is Ground Hog Day. Punxsutawney Phil didn’t see his shadow so he has predicted an early spring.
Undaunted, the SCUM, having just finished 6 weeks of classical skiing on brutally cold snow, decided to check with their own local ground hog. Unnamed but photographed this summer on the first switchback on the Cliffside Trail as you descend, we assume his burrow is nearby. Although it was -10 deg F in the stadium when we started out, it was still -25 deg F at Fort Wainwright so probably -20 deg F at the burrow elevation.
To warm up are aging carcasses, we first skied up the Tower Loop, where our SCUM ground hog unsuccessfully searched for his shadow:
The Sunnyside Trail is appropriately named so we hoped that if we descended it to the upper reaches of the Cliffside, we might find our ground hog and his shadow. Unfortunately, the little guy wasn’t feeling social today.
On the snowfield just uphill from his burrow, the SCUM tried other approaches to determining whether our ground hog might have seen his shadow so that the Chena River would remain thoroughly frozen through the Sonot Kkaazoot:
Those SCUM lacking the hand skills of Sam Bishop,
got down into their closest approximation to a ground hog stance, and checked out for their shadows:
If you look carefully, you can indeed see our shadows on the snow slope. Thus, the Birch Hill ground hogs have determined that we will have at least another 6 weeks of wintry weather before those wonderful spring days arrive in time for the Sonot Kkaazoot.
So register now before entry fees increase later this month. Just click on the “Register” tab at the top of this website.
All photos and videos taken by Bill Husby, Birch Hill groomer for 14 years and SCUM for 20 years.
From the National Weather Service Fairbanks Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/NWSFairbanks/photos/rpp.364371981058508/449100109252361/?type=3&theater, we pass on their summary of January 2020 records at Fairbanks International Airport (remember there was a significant inversion at Birch Hill on many days):
However, it is now February and longer days means warmer temperatures. Here are the average temperatures for February:
and here are the Climate Predication Center’s forecasts for February 2020:
So, what is holding you back from signing up for the 33rd annual Sonot Kkaazoot?
With the 33rd annual Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot just 8 weeks out, it is time to be putting the kilometers into the bank. Today with temperatures in the Birch Hill stadium hovering around -16 deg F and snowing, it was an ideal time to do the North Classical trails especially for balance challenged SCUM. On a cold day like today, the only skiers who showed up for our Sunday workout were those old enough to remember skiing at much colder temperatures.
After warming up our 6 decade and older bodies on one circuit of yesterday’s Town Race #3 course, we headed off for the recently groomed North Classical loops. With Frank Soos leading the first part of the Classical Bear, he managed to dump a widow’s maker’s worth of snow onto our youngest SCUM, Sam Bishop. Sam decided that following the tallest skier among us wasn’t a good idea so he took the lead. At the Aurora Run intersection, we headed out the North Star trail and eventually came to the RSDH Bypass sign. As a faithful reader of the Sonot Kkaazoot blog, you will now know that this acronym stands for “Really Steep Down Hill” on this single track trail. Dermot Cole, photographer of the photo below, has another “S” word that he uses, but we’ve used the official acronym definition.
“Really Steep Down Hill” bypass sign
With the newly fallen -20 below snow, the RSDH was no challenge navigating, which is fortunate because with my down skirt fully zipped on the sides, I couldn’t snowplow. Dermot also took videos of our downhill ski technique so we could improve before temperatures warm up. Today, no one crashed even though we totally encased with frost from skiing on trails that varied from -15 to -25 deg F.
What does it take to ski at -20 deg F? Two chemical handwarmers in each of your mittens and a set for either side of your phone. And friends to ski with JUST in case something unexpected happens.
It was absolutely beautiful out on the trails today and while we weren’t skiing very quickly, we were getting quite a workout just to keep moving on both the uphills and downhills.
Although Shalene Frost won the women’s 20 km Distance Race #2 last Saturday by skate skiing, the majority of participants were classical skiing as the cold weather has lingered for over a month.
The long range forecasts show a 50 to 70% likelihood that the 8 to 14 day temperature outlooks will be below normal. Thus, most mortals training for the Sonot Kkaazoot should embrace classical skiing and plan to enter some classical races to test your fitness.
The Distance Race #3 will be held on Sunday, 16 February at 11:00 a.m. This event will be held in classical technique over 10 and 30 km courses. You can register for that race here: https://www.nscfairbanks.org/programs/races/distance-series/distance-series-3/
On Sunday, 8 March, the UAF Trails Club will host the 20 km classical Skiathon race and tour on the UAF trails at 11:00 a.m. Information and entry forms can be found here: https://uaftrailsclub.weebly.com/skiathon.html
Entry fees from this race support UAF trails so your $15 entry fee before March 7 ($40 on the day of the race) is a great investment in ski trails on the west end of the borough.
The trails at Birch Hill and UAF have ample snow pack and have been getting regular grooming so conditions are great if somewhat slow. Plan to enter some classical races and you’ll increase your fitness as the Sonot Kkaazoot draws closer.
There is now a flicker of daylight at 5:00 p.m. and although the temperatures are still rather chilly, Spring is quickly approaching. Preparation for the 33rd annual Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot is well underway. With the frigid temperatures that arrived around Winter Solstice and have hung around most of January 2020, ice conditions on the Chena River look more favorable for the Sonot Kkaazoot than they have in many years. Thus, Bad Bob Baker will be looking for a full complement of volunteers to staff the Fort Wainwright road crossings and timing hut on the Chena River on race day. If you don’t plan on skiing the Sonot Kkaazoot, please consider volunteering for this annual spring event. Just drop an email to: contact@sonotkkaazoot.org with your preference in terms of time and task, and we’ll put you on volunteers list.
https://sonotkkaazoot.org/volunteers/
Just because the temperatures are frigid, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be training if you dress appropriately. There’s even time for selfies and fist pumps as the sun rises earlier every day.
If you need a little guidance, consider signing up for Kristen Rozell’s Sonot Training Course: https://nordicskicluboffairbanks.wildapricot.org/event-3605979 . She’ll provide weekly workouts on Tuesday evenings that will familiarize you with the trails that you’ll ski during the Sonot Kkaazoot as well as provide you with specific training and pacing techniques that will make the Sonot Kkaazoot more enjoyable.
Cold weather is tough on groomers and grooming equipment so donations to the grooming fund are desperately needed to insure that trails are maintained throughout the long ski season. Here’s the URL to donate today:
http://nordicskicluboffairbanks.wildapricot.org/Donate
Supporting ski trails is definitely less expensive than hypertension and pre-diabetes medications. Exercise is a lot easier outdoors and with friends.
So why not sign up for the 33rd Sonot Kkaazoot now so that you’ve made the commitment to get out and train regardless of the weather? Just click on the “Register” tab at the top of this website.
The 200 grit snow that has fallen at Birch Hill at -20 deg F or colder doesn’t support a high glide factor. However, think about the great strength training you’re getting by having to work both uphill and downhill. Also, having the tracks so slow, reduces the windchill factor and the chances of getting your face frostbitten.
The cold start to 2020 has done wonders for the Chena River ice thickness. After having open water in December, the NWS has posted recent ice depths:
This gets the Chena River up to 79% of the normal ice thickness for this time of year, and increases the likelihood that the 33rd annual Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot will take place on the traditional course starting and ending on the Chena River downtown.
What’s holding you back from registering for the Sonot Kkaazoot? The entry fees will only increase as we get closer to race day.
Sonot Kkaazoot 