The 39th Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot is scheduled for Saturday, March 21, 2026!

Thanks to Cyrus Freeman and Alex Morris stepping forward to be race directors for the 39th Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot, we will be opening registration in mid-January 2026.

Bad Bob and Sharon Baker are sharing their collective race organization wisdom with these young men so this year’s Sonot Kkaazoot will be great. With our abundant December snowfalls and cold temperatures, this is the motivation we need to get out and train when trails are chilly and glide is less than optimal.

A huge thank you to Cyrus and Alex for stepping forward to continue this spring ski celebration in Fairbanks.

On 29 April 2025, we posted that the current Sonot Kkaazoot director was stepping down after 37 years. To date, no one (or group of people) has stepped up. A lot of work is needed to make the Sonot Kkaazoot happen, so the race won’t be possible without a race director. Bad Bob and Sharon Baker are willing to help the new organizing team but have retired from doing it themselves.

Even in 1988, the Chena River threatened to move the inaugural Sonot Kkaazoot off the Chena River. However, a last-minute cold spell allowed race organizer, Bob Baker to start and finish the first Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot on the Chena River near the Cushman Street Bridge.

A total of 23 skiers competed in the 50-km race, and another 8 in the 20-km event. As the Fairbanks News-Miner reports, “the first Sonot Kkaazoot cross-country ski races came off without a hitch Saturday, with Tim Kelley and Dexter Ittner posting victories in the two races.”

Bob and Sharon Baker organized that first Sonot Kkaazoot and the majority of the following 37 events. In his post-race report to the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks board of directors, Bob announced that the 38th Sonot Kkaazoot will be his last as organizer. It’s been a long run for the Bakers. Since 1988, the Sonot Kkaazoot has grown almost tenfold in race participants and in the volunteers required to successfully put on the event. Volunteers younger than the SCUM are needed as our physical and mental abilities are rapidly declining.

If you know of someone interested in taking over the organization of the Sonot Kkaazoot, urge them to contact Thad Keener, executive director of the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks. His contact information is: executivedirector@nscfairbanks.org.