While some of the Sonot organizers were buried with late registration and bib pick-up, the groomers were busy working on the trails. Here’s the Thursday update from Bill Husby:
“Today Tom took the ginzu down to the river and leveled the bumps between the RR bridge and FWW bridge. He also got above the RR bridge. We also added some snow by electrical box along the road. As of now that 200 meter section is beautiful corduroy with no vehicle ruts. There are piles of snow by the crossing areas ready to be shoved onto the road with the piston bully (PB) on Saturday morning making for little or no shoveling for the crossing staff.
Ken and I will be grooming the river tomorrow morning. Expect an update with pristine photos. Tom will start grooming all the BH trails with the PB tomorrow evening. He will also PB the Sonot Connector, road and down to the river. Around 0700 he and Ken will drag and set tracks on the river and wherever else they are needed. This should prove the best 50K course in the state of Alaska this year.”
So that’s the most recent report. The Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks are working hard to make the 2016 Sonot Kkaazoot special for all skiers.
One final note: Sonot Kkaazoot volunteers will be drilling the ice on the Chena River to make sure that the ice will safely support skiers and run all our equipment on Saturday.
A HUGE THANK YOU to all our wonderful volunteers who have come together to pull off the 29th annual Sonot Kkaazoot, and our awesome groomers who have allowed us Fairbanks skiers to continue skiing through our winter drought.
With early bib pick-up scheduled for tonight at the Doyon, Ltd. Building from 5 to 7 p.m., we already have 280 skiers signed up for the various events on Saturday. While 75% of the entries are skiers in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, 69 out-of-town skiers are currently planning to fly or drive to Fairbanks to participate. High school skiers from Galena, Nenana, and Anchorage’s Dimond High School will be at the start line on Saturday morning. Fifty eight percent of the skiers plan to ski in the 20 km event with 118 skiers currently signed up to ski the 40 or 50 km course.
Check to see that your entry has been recorded correctly.
We still have one skier who indicated that he was born in 2016, and hasn’t responded to our email query.
Thank you to all our foreign skiers in the 40 and 50 km events who have contacted us and provided their passport numbers as requested by our Fort Wainwright collaborators.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the course remains intact for three more days.
The Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks groomers dragged the Chena River again today. Then Bill Husby and friends skied the new corduroy as captured by Bill’s phone:
Here Carl and Jerome are approaching the Fort Wainwright bridge:
and here is the birthday boy enjoying the sunshine and fast snow:
Bad Bob Baker finished regrooming the 20 km Sonot Kkaazoot course this morning at midnight. The course has been groomed 20 feet wide including the 20 km turnaround area. Up and down the Chena River, the course is as much as 40 feet wide. Because Bob was grooming in the dark, he wasn’t able to see if there were areas with dirt or rocks showing.
Ken Coe and Bill Husby hauled two loads of manmade snow down to the Fort Wainwright bridge and combined with river bank snow. Here are some photos from Tuesday morning taken by Bill after their work and that of Bob last night. The Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks groomers plan to groom the river tomorrow so we’ll get an updated report. However, as of now, it looks like no snow enhancement work party will be needed.
ENJOY the fantastic spring skiing! Urge your friends to sign up for the Sonot Kkaazoot now.
This year’s conditions are perfect for those skiing their first Sonot Kkaazoot. Please note that on race day, classical tracks WILL BE SET on both sides of the skate platform.
Also, remember grooming doesn’t come free. Please donate to the Birch Hill trails fund:
We also are looking for more race volunteers so if you would like to support the Sonot Kkaazoot and the efforts made to groom the Chena River, please sign up at: contact@sonotkkaazoot.org
Today we skied from Birch Hill to the Chena River on the trails that will be used Saturday for the 2016 Sonot Kkaazoot. The preliminary grooming has already created a wide trail on the west side of Ski Road on Fort Wainwright that will allow skate skiers to easily overtake and pass slower skiers on the skate platform. There will still be two road crossings that skiers will traverse but these places will be staffed by volunteers with snow shovels and stop signs.
Here are photos from the trail on the west side of Ski Road today:
Pat on West Ski Road trail
Eric on West Ski Road trail
And here are Pat and Eric skiing up the base of the alpine hill after looking longingly at the rope tow to the left of them:
Pat and Eric on lower end of Sonot Connector
The new snow has really brightened up the ski trails on the Chena River, Fort Wainwright, and at Birch Hill. Skiing is awesome and temperatures are predicted to be springlike. What are you waiting for? Sign up now.
New for the 2016 Sonot Kkaazoot:If you are a foreign national and have signed up for the 40 or 50 km Sonot Kkaazoot, we need to give the Fort Wainwright authorities your passport number. If you are already registered for the 40 or 50 km events, please send contact@sonotkkaazoot.org your name, country, and passport number at your earliest convenience. If we do not have this information by bib pick-up, we will be unable to give you a race bib.
We apologize for the inconvenience. Because of increased security on Fort Wainwright, we must provide them in advance a list of non-US skiers and their passport numbers because the 40 and 50 km Sonot Kkaazoot courses traverse Army land.
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After a several month drought, several inches of snow fell over the Fairbanks area yesterday. Today the hoarfrost and snow crystals were glistening on the newly groomed trails at Birch Hill!
White Bear Trail on St. Pat’s Day (photo by Bill Husby)
All the snow shoveling that we did last week to cover areas where debris or ground was showing now lies beneath a blanket of fresh white snow. For those of you who might have been considering doing the 50 km classical Sonot Kkaazoot, the abrasive ground ice in the tracks is now covered. You will no longer need multiple pairs of skis to finish the 50 km course.
What are you waiting for? Trails look fantastic and the Chena River is still holding solid. Remember that regular registration for the Sonot Kkaazoot ends tomorrow. Join the 207 skiers who had already registered by this morning at:
If you have ventured out on the Sonot Kkaazoot trail from the Chena River to the Fort Wainwright Alpine area, you may have noticed that the ditch on the east side of the road where we’ve skied for the past 2 years, was far from ideal. This year the Fort Wainwright Birch Hill Ski and Snowboard area will be closing before the Sonot Kkaazoot weekend. Thus, the Sonot Kkaazoot trail will be on the west side of River Road over the pond to Ski Lodge parking lot. Then the trail will ascend the lower part of Alpine Ski hill before joining up with the Sonot Connector Trail.
With the wonderful new snow, the trails should be absolutely awesome.
Remember, regular registration for the Sonot Kkaazoot ends on Friday, 18 March 2016.
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:
Sonot Kkaazoot 