Author Archives: Sonot Kkaazoot

Ten weeks until the 33rd Sonot Kkaazoot

Posted on by
Reply

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.

Fist pump sm

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.

Celebrate our recent cold weather

Posted on by
Reply

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:

ice thicknesses.png

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.

Sunrise ski on the Blackhawk trail

Posted on by
Reply

When we left the Birch Hill stadium around 10:18 a.m., it was +2 deg F with sunrise still almost 40 minutes away. We skied on fast tracks down the White Bear to the Sonot Connector, where Bill Husby, Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks groomer, had dragged and set tracks on the Southside classical trails yesterday.

Acclimated to the record warm winter weather to date, we were dressed as we normally would for double digits BELOW zero weather. We expected to find slow trail conditions. Instead the trails had firmed up so that the tracks were wicked fast. We made it to the high point in the trails a little before a spectacular sunrise (Photo by Bill Husby).

Blackhawk sm.JPG

Look at those deep tracks behind us. We then chased Bill down the challenging downhill corners where one of us fell four times. However, all that was injured was my pride as the trails have plenty of padding this winter.

As this is the season of giving, please consider giving yourself and others the gift of good health. Please contribute to the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks trail fund so we can continue to enjoy skiing on spectacularly groomed trails.

http://nordicskicluboffairbanks.wildapricot.org/Donate

Happy Winter Solstice!

Resolve to ski the Sonot Kkaazoot in 2020

Posted on by
Reply

The trails at Birch Hill are snow covered and conditions are spectacular. Make the commitment and sign up for the 33rd annual Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot.

https://sonotkkaazoot.org/register/

Have you wanted to ski the Sonot Kkaazoot but felt that you weren’t quite ready? Kristin Rozell’s Sonot Kkaazoot training course would be the perfect Christmas gift for you. Just let your special Santa know. Or, make a New Year’s resolution for a fitter, healthier self by having the Sonot Kkaazoot as your end of winter goal. Here’s the URL to register for Kristen’s on-snow class:

https://nordicskicluboffairbanks.wildapricot.org/event-3605979

Kristen will familiarize you with all the trails used in the Sonot Kkaazoot and provide you with valuable pacing and technique insights. Confidence is key to a successful Sonot Kkaazoot, and Kristen’s class that meets weekly from January 14 to March 17 will provide skiers with the skills and practice needed.

Fantastic skiing conditions at Birch Hill

Posted on by
Reply

Fairbanks skiers are thankful for our awesome Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks groomers, who have been busy all November as frequent snow storms have blanketed the trails. Please make sure that you contribute to the NSCF trail fund so that they can continue to do their masterful work.

Here’s the URL to the NSCF secure site for making your trails donation:

http://nordicskicluboffairbanks.wildapricot.org/Donate

Today the SCUM (Sonot Kkaazoot organizers) were attempting to ski the Grand Tour (the Birch Hill trails utilized for the Sonot Kkaazoot), and we actually rallied most of them at the top of the Tower loop:SCUM on tower sm.JPG

A few SCUM didn’t make today’s workout, so we’ll have to use photos from earlier skis when they failed to stay on the groomed platform:

Dermot down smRobert down sm

Unlike these guys, the women out skiing today were not picking themselves out of the snow:

Joanna and Norma small

Now that the trails all have a deep firm base, it time for you to make a commitment to ski the 33rd annual Sonot Kkaazoot.

Online registration is available at:  https://sonotkkaazoot.org/register/

This year are using the registration software that John Estle has been using for Running Club North races and the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks Town and Distance Races. Rather than raising the fees this year, there will be a modest registration fee added when you sign up to cover the cost of the software.

Enjoy the ski trails as you train for the 2020 Sonot Kkaazoot!

Brush cutting on far end of White Bear

Posted on by
3

Today on a beautiful autumn day at Birch Hill Recreation Area, we cut brush and overhanging branches back on both sides of the trail beyond Coronary Bypass (7 km cutoff), and cleaned up afterwards. The brush cutting party was organized by groomer Bill Husby (shown below in photo by Dan Johnson):

boss-man-sm.jpg

assisted by Dan Johnson, Dave Prusak, Dermot Cole (shown in another photo by Dan Johnson, working hard or hardly working):

working hard or hardly working.jpg

Bernardo Hernandez, Owen Hanley, Pat Reinhard, Carl Hemming, and Susan Sugai. Once the White Bear trail is mowed, this 3 km section will ready for snow.

Surprisingly, one of the brushcutters who worked for the entire 4+ hours, is a younger SCUM, who had to return to his regular work today after his Birch Hill mini-vacation. Not to be outdone by the pup, two of the brush cutters/tossers will be in the M9 and M10 age classes in the 33rd annual Sonot Kkaazoot.

There are areas that still need brushing on White Bear from about the 4.5 km cutoff to the 7.0 km cutoff where were started today. Bill Husby also mentioned that the bottom of the Black Hole is another trail needing brushing before winter.

Birch Hill Trail Reconnaissance

Posted on by
Reply

Much volunteer work takes place in the summer months to ensure that Birch Hill trail conditions will be great when the snow falls. Braving the mud and mosquitoes, we followed our fearless groomer today.

Two Sonot Kkaazoot organizers led by Bill Husby, trail groomer, surveyed the trails for areas needing summer brushing. To get us warmed up, Bill directed us out the White Bear backwards from the stadium, and we soon found ourselves in a mosquito-infested bog. We almost lost Robert in Moilanen Meadows.

Moilanen Meadows on 6-26-19 sm.JPG

Robert at the entrance to Moilanen Meadows

After fleeing the aerial hoards, we cut over to the White Bear just beyond the biathlon range heading toward the Fort Wainwright ski area.

Trail groomer leading us out of the White Bear bog.JPG

Bill Husby, groomer leads Robert Hannon in his fancy safety pants up the trail near the biathlon range.

In the sunshine at the base of the Fort Wainwright alpine hill, the mosquitoes dispersed, so Robert modeled his matching safety outfit purchased at Value Village.

Fancy Pants Hannon w matching safety gear sm

Robert Hannon and his matching safety outfit.

After climbing Cliffside and Sunnyside to the Outhouse Trail, we finished up on the Roller Coasters that were still wide and inviting in late June.

Roller coasters sm

Robert and Bill on the Roller Coasters on 6-26-19

Preparing for the 2019-2020 ski season at Birch Hill Recreation Area is well underway. Training for 33rd Annual Sonot Kkaazoot ramps up as the daylight hours shorten. Hill intervals start next week.

Snow after snowpack loss

Posted on by
Reply

for Sara Eliza Johnson

Before personal computers
and iphones,
White-out concealed
literary debris like this
wallowing in Spring mud.

After the shortest snow season
in 84 years,
today’s wasted white
betrays unkept promises.

Sliding on roadways,
Blizzaks and studs swapped
for summer tires,
we cling to old memories
splashing through break-up.

 

Select prior season:

2013:

Today’s snow teases
Trails steeped with yesterday’s warmth
No glide anywhere.

2014: 

Smith Lake still frozen
Holds ski possibilities
Atop uncertain ice.

2019 was the warmest March on record

Posted on by
Reply

As reported by the National Weather Service, March 2019 was the warmest on record in Fairbanks::

Capture

Temperatures reached 52 deg F at the airport on the day the Sonot Kkaazoot was held. This graph from the Alaska Climate Research Center show just how warm March was:

Fairbanks_2019March_thumb

So there were extreme weather conditions leading to this year’s shortened course.