Byron Broda skate skied his 50 km virtual Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot in 4:38:31 today.
Byron writes: “I finished just before it finished me. I needed those short k markers near the finish. 48k, 49k and 50k are about ten feet apart at the timing building,
Nice temps. Good glide but trails a little soft.
This completes my Sonot hat trick, 10, 30 and 50. That ought to hold me over âtil next March. Now rest.”
Luke Langhorst skate skied his virtual 50 km Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot on Sunday in a time of 2:44.44. Luke is a 34 year Fairbanks skier, so becomes our first reported 50 km finisher under 65 years old, and our first one to complete the 50 km on skate skis!
Let’s see more younger skiers taking the 50 km virtual challenge.
Luke writes: “My Garmin had the course right about 29.5 mi, so a little shy of 50 k for the full course, according to my watch at least. I started right around 4:20. The temperature showed 22* and it felt hot early on before the sun went down a little and I was shaded in the trees, but the snow was skiing a bit slower than that in parts, especially in the lower spots on White Bear. It was a fun time and a great way to push on a Sunday evening.”Â
Ben Bragonier skated the virtual 30 km Denai State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot on Monday in 2:13:30.
Ben writes:
I just wanted to see if I could complete the course and remain lucid enough to drive home.
(A word to the wise — give bindings and baskets a wiggle and shake before setting out. My right binding came off my ski a little bit after Heart Rate Hill. I thought I was going to have to walk out. I can tell you that this was a horrifying prospect ! I was saved after I located a missing part as well as by my thought to use a pole tip in lieu of a binding tool to get things repositioned).
Beautiful skate conditions made this stout course possible for me. I made attempts/probes/slogs for the 30 KM on three prior occasions only to âcall itâ before heading out onto White Bear. In contrast to last weekâs conditions, Monday evening was perfect.”
Ben’s persistence paid off, and it sounds like he was still quite lucid on the White Bear to be able to repair his binding during his race. Congratulations!
Dan Johnson skied the virtual 50 km Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot in three segments, where he used his classical skis with grip tape for the first two days and skated the third. His time was 4:48:24.
Dan writes:
“I skied the 50 km Sonot over three days, Sunday (19.3 k), Monday (16.2 k) and Tuesday (13.4 k), March 21,22,23. Total time was 4:48:24.
It was beautiful skiing all three days although a little cold on Sunday and some fresh snow today (Tuesday).”
Although retired, Dan still has a current RN license, so he documents his work. Here’s how he tallied up his 50 km Sonot:
I got almost 49 km:
19.3 @ 1:57 (the 20 k loop we all did together… allowing for starting timer in car before walking up and putting on skis);
16.2 @ 1:35:04 (Stadium to Relay to South Tower, down Tower to Stadium, Warmup, Blacks, Blue, Outhouse, Relay, Tower, Medevac, Roller Coaster to Stadium);
13.4 @ 1:16:20 (WB Access to WB, WB, MM, WB Access to Stadium, Warmup back to start point) = 48.9 (call it 49) @ 4:48:24
Thus, Dan Johnson becomes the fourth SCUM to complete the 50 km virtual Sonot Kkaazoot. In between doing the virtual 10 km Sonot Kkaazoot on Wednesday, and the 50 km over Sunday through Tuesday, Dan shot more arms with COVID-19 vaccine than kilometers skied in doing his virtual 10 and 50 km Sonot Kkaazoot.
So what is your excuse for not skiing the virtual Sonot Kkaazoot? Where are all the younger skiers?
Frank Soos, who normally handles the Sonot Kkaazoot bib distribution during normal years, skied his virtual 50 km classical Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot on Saturday with a time of 5:07.10. Frank is an award-winning writer and professor emeritus of English and Creative Writing at UAF so he doesn’t rely on electronic gadgets. He wears a watch that stores laps. He doesn’t need anything else than his skis and poles. Saturday he also had a cooler of food and beverages that he situated in the stadium area.
Frank writes:
“I did the first 30 km in 3:04.48. And did the whole thing in 5:07.10. What surprised me was that I did the last 20 at about the same pace as the first 30, and that I was pretty consistent over that distance. I did think I was going pretty slow as I went. At one point on the last White Bear I thought about looking at my watch, but thought, âWhatâs the point?â I could not go any faster. And in that mix was the 20 minute or so break for food and ski swap.
The trails did seem faster, at least White Bear did until the bottomâ0 when I went by the thermometer. But judging from the pole marks not many people are doing this event. Or maybe theyâre just waiting for warmer weather. The weather yesterday was perfect for me. The blacks were slow going down, and I had to herring bone very little getting out of there. I like the downs to be slow, the ups to offer good kick.
I did use tar green wax on both pairs of skis, Start binder, and I did still have wax after 30 km on the first pair, whether it would have gotten me another 20 or not I canât guess. But if you think about the traditional Sonot, I probably could have made it on one pair of skis since the river doesnât ask much of the wax.”
Congratulations, Frank. You’re the first skier to finish the virtual 50 km Sonot Kkaazoot all in one day. That’s an awesome accomplishment for a 70 year old skier.
To make sure that he was going to ski his virtual 90 km of Sonot Kkaazoot courses over the widest possible trail conditions, Bill Husby skied his virtual 50 km classical Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot in three installments for a final official time of 4:37:08 (corrected at 2322 on 3/21/21). Total distance was 49.44 km.
On Thursday, Bill skied the start of the 30 km course: Relay, South Tower, RC bypss, Warm-up, and Black Loops
On Friday, he skied the bottom of ramp, Blue, Outhouse, Relay, Tower, Medivac
Today, Sunday, Bill skied hut to Blue, Outhouse, Relay, Tower, Medivac, WB, MM, Warmup twice.
Congratulations to Bill Husby, who becomes the first skier to classical ski all three virtual Sonot Kkaazoot courses. This week he skied the 10 km course twice, the 30 km course yesterday, and today he finished the 50 km. Bill skied the Sonot loops so many times that he mistakenly added the wrong 30 km loop to his earlier calculations for his virtual 50 km. However, his official corrected time and documentation are now shown above.
Now that he has classical skied the 90 km of virtual Sonot Kkaazoot courses, he should skate ski all three courses this week.
This morning, SCUMs Dan Johnson and Robert Hannon paced their mom (and coach) as she completed her 50 km virtual Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot on classical skis in two installments. In doing so, Susan Sugai keeps her streak of completing all “50 km” Sonot Kkaazoot intact.
On Saturday, she skied the 30 km course, where Joanna Fox kept her company for the first 11 km as they chatted and noticed that the black loops were enjoyable at their leisurely pace. After the blue loop, Joanna called it a day and took the requisite selfie of us at that point.
Then SCUM mom had to get to work and push through on the remaining trails of the 30 km course. Thanks to the beautiful tracks on the White Bear and Moilanen Meadows (yes, she made an additional donation to the trails fund, NSCF trails fund), her kickwax held up even though the temperature increased from 1 at the start to 15 deg F at the finish. Temperatures in the black loops were well below zero.
Here is the documentation for the 30 km course (click on figure to enlarge map):
On Sunday, Dan Johnson and Robert Hannon skied the 20 km loop with Joanna and Susan. Susan wrote: “After we got onto the White Bear, the guys started chasing Joanna who had left us after the Outhouse and Relay loops. However, catching a glimpse of Dan or Robert at times motivated me to keep moving faster than I would on my own. My pace for the 20 km was much faster than for the 30 km and at a lower heart rate. Tracks were much faster so I doublepoled or tucked a lot more than Saturday.”
While skiing up the penultimate major climb in Moilanen Meadows, a gray and white bird larger than a kestral dove right over my head. I’ve since learned from Mark Ross, ADF&G bird biologist, that it was likely a goshawk. I viewed the sighting as a good omen.
Here’s the data for the second installment:
Thus, 71 year old Susan Sugai skied her classical 50 km virtual Sonot Kkaazoot in an official time of 5:57:41. This leaves only the 30 km Sonot to do over Sonot weekend when she hopes snow temperatures will increase enough to make skate skiing (her preferred technique) feasible for her aging carcass and bionic knees.
The SCUM mother and Sonot blogger is looking forward to the 35th annual Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot in 2022, when she hopes there will be timers, 50 km of perfectly groomed trails, feed stations with music and enthusiastic supporters of springtime skiing, and handmade woodels for age class winners.
Sonot Kkaazoot 