Even though no significant snow has fallen in the Fairbanks area in 2016, preparations for the 2016 Sonot Kkaazoot are well underway. Snow has been moved under the Steese Highway bridge so skis won’t be damaged by rocks embedded in the river ice. Classical tracks will be set on the Chena River both outgoing and incoming directions on race morning. Trail conditions at Birch Hill continue to be fantastic.
Regular Sonot Kkaazoot registration ends on Friday, 18 March 2016. All entries received after that will be charged late registration fees up to and including bib pick-up from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, 24 March. After bib pick-up, all entries will have to pay day-of-race fees.
Friday night, Bad Bob Baker took a skid-steer down to the Chena River and put a 10 foot wide snow path under the Steese Highway Bridge over the ice and rocks. The snow didn’t adhere well to the slick icy surface. Bad Bob will groom the river when he gets back to Fairbanks after Spring Break. In the meantime, there is now a snow path under the Steese Highway Bridge.
Nordic skiing in Fairbanks continues to be fantastic! In addition to groomed ski trails at Birch Hill and UAF, the Chena River has been groomed in preparation for the Sonot Kkaazoot. The snowmachines on the Tanana River have made skate skiing great there, too.
Today, the Sonot organizers were enjoying the brilliant sunshine on the trails:
at temperatures ranging from the mid-teens to mid-20s above zero. What an unusually warm (and dry) winter we’ve had in Interior Alaska this season.
So far, 164 skiers have signed up for the various Sonot Kkaazoot events. Why don’t you join them? This link will take you through the process:
Classical tracks will be set on the Chena River for both outgoing and incoming skiers so you don’t have to skate ski to enjoy any of the Sonot Kkaazoot events.
We have 2 skiers who have registered, but haven’t paid, so they don’t show up in the official entry list. Please make sure to enter your credit card information to complete your registration. Also, check to make sure your registration information is correct as this spreadsheet will be used for timing and results. We have one skier registered who is only one month old according to his date of birth, so please check that you entered your birth date instead of the current date.
Birch Hill trail donations have been down this season, so groomers are having to cut back their efforts. Remember that donations pay for all the grooming at Birch Hill Recreation Area including maintenance on the equipment. We, the skiers, pay for grooming, not the Fairbanks North Star Borough.
We still need volunteers for the Sonot Kkaazoot. Even if you plan to ski the Sonot Kkaazoot, we need help with the bib pick-up, and with set-up and clean-up for the Sonot Awards soup, bread, and potluck event. We will also need help hauling snow under the highway bridges on the Chena River.
If you have friends or family who are not planning to ski in the Sonot, we really need help with timing and with staffing the road crossings on Fort Wainwright. If you want to see the wonderful folks who have already volunteered, a current list is available here:
Work on your spring time tan by skiing on the Chena River. Sonot Kkaazoot 20 km course has been groomed by Bad Bob Baker to perfection. Here’s his first hand report submitted yesterday afternoon:
What a nice day to ski the Chena River, as I just finished grooming it at 3:00 pm today. I groomed the start/finish area right up to the centennial bridge and it turned out much better than I thought it would, very flat and plenty wide for a SONOT START. I also roughed in the 20 km turnaround, The whole CHENA RIVER is groomed at least 16 FOOT WIDE, and wider in some places. It’s very safe for skiing right now, as long as one skis atop the grooming. There is bad gravel and ice under the STEESE HIGHWAY BRIDGE and the FT. WAINWRIGHT BRIDGE. Taking you skis off for both of these are a must. SO, Please, everyone get out on the CHENA RIVER and test out the SONOT KKAAZOOT course!
With a little more than two weeks left to register for the Sonot Kkaazoot at regular entry fee rates, what are you waiting for? The skiing has been great and some skiers were even pacing the dogs today on the Tanana River (photo by Jerome Jackson).
Yesterday at Birch Hill, some of us were avoiding a coronary bypass
while others were skiing without a hat to avoid a system meltdown:
This warm El Nino winter has been great for skate skiing in Fairbanks. So make the commitment now to ski the 2016 Sonot Kkaazoot. Check out the 154 skiers who have already registered on the Entries page (https://sonotkkaazoot.org/entries-2/) and then go to the Register page (https://sonotkkaazoot.org/register/) and join them.
Homer has plenty of snow to host the 2016 Kachemak Bay Nordic Ski Marathon on Saturday, March 12th. With scarce snow throughout southcentral Alaska, skiers preparing for the Sonot Kkaazoot may be interested in Kachemak Bay Nordic Ski Club’s race/tour. They will have 20K (race and tour) and 40K (race) options. Participants who register online by March 10th save $10. Register online here:
Early registration for the Sonot Kkaazoot ends at 5 p.m. on Friday, 26 February 2016. After Friday, registration fees will go up $10 per entry. If your name is on the Entries page, you are all set.
If your name is not on the entries list and you have not registered since the page was last updated, you will need to register online. We did not distribute paper registration forms for the 2016 Sonot Kkaazoot.
You have until 5 p.m. on Friday, 18 March 2016 to register at regular registration fee level. Late registration and day of race fees are substantially higher. You may change events at no extra cost up until bib pick-up.
If you’ve been sweating what to use for kick wax on the 30 km Distance Race #3 to be held Sunday at Birch Hill Recreation Area, you could be in Wisconsin with 10,000 other skiers worrying about wax for the various Birkie events there tomorrow.
Bad Bob Baker, originator and longtime organizer of the Sonot Kkaazoot, is searching the world (literally) for races that will give him a special edge in the Sonot Kkaazoot. Baker and Dave Edic, former Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks skier, are currently wax testing for tomorrow’s 55 km Classical American Birkebeiner Marathon. Here’s his update on wax testing near the course (that is currently closed to save the snow).
“Today Dave and I tested waxes for tomorrow’s BIRKIE. It was raining fairly hard and 38 degrees. We found that most of the universal Klisters were all working OK, but not great. Zero’s were worse and slower. We also tested red Klisters, with and without silver and other great sticky stuff. Bottom line is nothing came close to a great kick wax. However, we did manage to get totally soaked while testing and we ran into David Norris, Lex Treinen, Tyler Kornfield and other APU racers, who all got wet testing too. They are all skating tomorrow and gave us a smile as to say, we’re glad we aren’t classic skiing. The BIRKIE course has not been groomed all week, so our testing was in an area sort of near the BIRKIE course. They will groom the race course sometime after midnight, so the actual conditions on race day morning will remain a mystery until we arrive at the start in the AM. Dave and I have now decided to just wax our skis up with a base klister and a universal klister, head to the start with lots of other waxes and a torch and iron and pray that things go well. I will carry some kind of crazy wax with me in case I lose my grip and bonk, just to get me to the finish. Present attitude is …”CAN’T WAIT TILL THIS IS OVER”.. ENJOY your FAIRBANKS ski conditions! It could be worse.”
Let’s just hope that Bad Bob and Dave Edic manage to stay ahead of this 85 year old skier from Anchorage:
Thanks to Bad Bob Baker, we have action photos of Chris Puchner and Bruce Jamieson skiing in their 30 km freestyle events at World Masters. Good job, guys!
Sonot Kkaazoot 