Category Archives: 2022 Sonot Kkaazoot information

Congratulations and Thanks

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Congratulations to all the skiers who successfully finished their 39th Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot event yesterday. The grooming team did a fantastic job of firming up the trails after our recent assault of fine-grained snow. However, the lingering cold weather made skiing challenging.

Please check the draft results and let us know if you see any errors in times, names, or age categories. Just send an email to contact@sonotkkaazoot.org and we’ll make the changes in the final results. The results won’t be updated immediately as head timer, Anna Sorensen is heading off for a well-deserved vacation.

Overall winners are listed on the “About” page above and on the “Sonot History” page. The winning times reflect the challenging conditions. Only Elsie Weiss of the UAF Ski Team was able to ski her event faster than last year’s winner.

Help me thank all the volunteers who made yesterday’s Sonot Kkaazoot possible. Please check the “Volunteers” page and provide the Sonot organizers with the names of others who assisted us.

Finally, save the date for the 40th Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot, 27 March 2027. Race directors Alex Morris and Cyrus Freeman promise us springlike weather.

Frank Soos Distance Race #3

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Sunday’s Frank Soos Distance Race #3, The Unpleasantry turned out to be a tough tour on trails that were in immaculate condition at 9:00 a.m. before the 2 deg F snow started falling. The 70-year-old SCUM wave started at 10:00 a.m. when the PistenBully corduroy was still visible beneath the fluffy half inch of new snow. The tracks were ghastly slow so the three skiers on classical skis were skiing in the skate platform as were those of us who arrived with skate gear. The snow was absolutely lovely, but we didn’t see any lynx or moose tracks to distract us from our 3-lap tour of the White Cub and White Bear loops. Our tour took the “kid” among us 3:23:44.6, a full 1:34.16 behind FXC coach Jesse Wilkins. I had the opportunity to enjoy almost an hour more time on the White Bear than this “wannabe 70-year-old SCUM”.

A number of skiers didn’t start or finish because of illness, equipment failures, or better judgement than those of us who prevailed. A huge thanks to Chris Puchner, Pam Laker, Anna Sorensen and all the other volunteers who hung in there with smiles and encouragement. We really appreciated you.

Here are the results by distance:

https://zone4.ca/race/2023-02-19/647504b0/results

Troyer displaces me as Sonot Kkaazoot caboose

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Eric Troyer displaced me as Sonot Kkaazoot caboose this year, and now I think he’d be a perfect replacement for me as the Sonot Kkaazoot blogger. He’s a far superior storyteller and makes me seriously question why I am working on an MFA in creative writing.

Here’s the URL to Eric’s 35th Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot, alternative 50 km:

https://notquiteoverthehillcorrineanderic.blogspot.com/2022/03/when-is-30k-race-not-30k-race-when-you.html

Award winning skiers on new Sonot Kkaazoot courses

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Congratulations to the top three skiers in each of the new Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot distances:

Men’s 50 km: Galen Johnston with a time of 2:35:05.8; Wells Wappett, 2:36:30.2; and Alex Morris, 2:39:12.4.

Women’s 50 km: Rosie Fordham with a time of 2:43:15.8; Kendall Kramer, 2:48:08.3; and Alison Arians, 2:49:55.5.

Women’s 30 km: Meredith Schwartz, 1:53:00.5; Mallory Presler, 1:58:11.4, and Inga Peterson, 2:52:35.9.

Men’s 30 km: Kieran Kaufman, 1:37:05.8, Owen Wooller, 1:40:10.1, and Thomas St. Clair, 1:42:06.6.

Men’s 10 km: Elias Engman, 32:38.0, Peter Delamere, 33:59.0, and Reid Merrill, 35:41.2.

Women’s 10 km: Hannah Delamere, 41:55.1, Lilli Bond, 41:55.5, and Ellie Abrahamson, 43:02.2.

More out-of-towners ski new Sonot Kkaazoot courses

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The 35th Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot introduced skiers to three new courses, all at Birch Hill. These courses led to interesting demographics with respect to skiers’ hometowns. In the 10 km event, we had seven skiers from California (Los Angeles or Palmdale) and one from Connecticut. The 30 km course was dominated by local skiers with only one skier from Anchorage and one from Port Angeles, Washington. In the marque 50 km event, we had 10 finishers from Anchorage and the Mat-Su area, two skiers from Estonia, and one from New Hampshire.

We hope that out-of-town skiers return for the 36th Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot and bring your families and friends. Hopefully, we can safely return to having the celebratory awards ceremony with our handmade age-class woodels.

Early registration ends Monday night

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Sonot Kkaazoot organizer, Bad Bob Baker has recruited help for staffed feed stations, so sign up now for the 35th Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot.

https://register.chronotrack.com/r/66115

Early registration ends at 11:59.59 p.m. ADT on Monday, 21 March 2022, and ALL REGISTRATION CLOSES at 8 p.m. on Thursday, 24 March 2022.

If you are not skiing, please consider volunteering for the Sonot Kkaazoot. We still need timers, and Gina Baker Chythlook will provide you with homemade goodies while you work. Bad Bob Baker would also appreciate some help with Sonot Kkaazoot course set-up and take-down as his normally boundless energy has been compromised by post-COVID fatigue.

Please let me know if you can volunteer your assistance: contact@sonotkkaazoot.org

Sonot Timers Needed: Will be kept well fed and caffeinated

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Bad Bob Baker has been recruiting volunteers for the 35th Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot and is using his daughter Gina, as a secret weapon. Gina Chythlook will serve as Sonot Timing Building “Hostess” (Bad Bob’s term), providing coffee, soup, and homemade goodies in the basement of the timing building. I can personally attest to the high quality of Gina’s goodies, as pre-pandemic she provided soups for the Sonot Kkaazoot awards banquet, and goodies for Bad Bob’s Moose Mountain tour at her parents’ house.

The greatest volunteer need is currently for Sonot Kkaazoot timers to work with Anna Sorensen, who will train her volunteers well. If you are planning to ski the Sonot Kkaazoot, you may want to volunteer to help Bob with stadium set-up or take down so that you can take advantage of Gina’s treats and hospitality.

2022 Sonot Kkaazoot Course Maps

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2022 Sonot Kkaazoot course maps with course profiles are available for download at the “Courses (download)” tab at the top of the Sonot Kkaazoot home page.

We sincerely thank John Estle for putting together this fantastic course maps.

Bad Bob Baker has made sure that all participants in the Sonot Kkaazoot will get their money’s worth of skiing. According to John’s software, the 50 km Sonot Kkaazoot course is 50.728 km and has 1,689 m of total climb. Those skiing the 30 km course, will get 30.707 km of trail with 1,035 m climb. Even the 10 km skiers will get a little bonus because the 10 km course measures out at 10.231 km with only 288 m of climb.