From the National Weather Service Fairbanks Facebook page:
I think the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks groomers will have no problem with sufficient snow covering the Sonot Kkaazoot courses.
Fairbanks snowfall statistics
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Category Archives: Weather and snow conditions
Sunday without Poles
Sunday was a noteworthy SCUM ski. We had probably 4 inches of new snow that had been newly groomed and tracked. Temperatures were a balmy 8 deg F above zero. But our injured Creme de la SCUM leader, Bill Husby (aka Poles) was not skiing back and forth at the head of the pack. With his cracked lower rib and nondisplaced fracture of the right ulna, Poles will likely be Pole (singular) when he rejoins us. However, a half-strength Bill Husby will still ski faster and further than the rest of the SCUM.
PLEASE support Bill’s recovery by donating to the trails fund:
https://nordicskicluboffairbanks.wildapricot.org/Donate/
I’m willing to wager that Bill will be back on his skis and snowmachine sooner if he knows that his work is needed and appreciated.
Last ski of 2021
After a week of shoveling out from the two recent storms that dowsed the area with snow and rain, the SCUM were delighted to ski in firm PistenBully tracks today. However, the only photos taken were when they ventured off into the ungroomed snow.
Here the SCUM set “old school” tracks on the Old Tower:
And here’s what the White Bear trail beyond Sonot Junction looks like:
Joanna and Norma were feeling adventuresome so took off and skied Moilanen Meadows following these set tracks:
In addition to finding two downed trees on the trail, they found a Winter Trails sign:
Norma led them out of the Meadows and back to the Birch Hill stadium but the chilled SCUM had already headed home.
They’d return for their first ski of 2022 as part of the Ski Your Age in Kilometers event on Saturday.
Santa and SCUM skate FWW traverse
The amazing Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks groomers had packed and tracked all the major trails at Birch Hill recreation area on Saturday so we had infinite choices today. However, first Santa had to decorate a tree with edible ornaments:
As we were skiing in a winter storm warning, Santa came prepared. Brightly colored lights adorned his hat so that he didn’t need Rudolph or any reindeer for that matter. After skiing the Blue loop (where Dan momentarily lost his “Ho Ho” baseball cap), we skied Outhouse to midway and headed down the Sunnyside trail. At Powerline cutoff, we encountered a mother moose and calf above us:
We chased Eric and Dan down the Sunnyside and Cliffside to the Fort Wainwright alpine hut. Then we headed up the Sonot Connector, where we found amazing glide even on the uphill sections.
We took a break in our climb when the seven SCUM found LOL ornament #7:
However, this feat wasn’t encountered without mishap. Afterall, seven SCUM were involved. See video of how the incident played out:
When we got to the top of the Sonot Connector, we headed back toward the stadium with five of us doing Moilanen Meadows chasing Santa. When we got back to the Santa tree, we encountered the A SCUM.
All of us wish you a wonderful holiday season with family and friends. Plan to celebrate 2022 by skiing the 35th annual Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot:
Lovely new snow brings out the merry SCUM
New snow and temperatures over 30 deg warmer than they’ve been brought out the merry SCUM on Friday led by a dapper Santa:
Here was the gang on the Tower loop:
After Medevac, Dermot was planning on leading us down the Black Baron. However, upon seeing newly set tracks, Santa decided that we’d do the Relay and Tower loops again. The tracks were so fast that one of the younger SCUM was chomping on the tails of Mom, who fell and ended up making a snow angel that destroyed a section of tracks:
Everyone agreed that all the new snow made the trails seem magical. It looks like even more snow is headed our way. Hooray for the grooming team. Make sure you’ve made your trail donation.
Training for the 2022 Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot
If I recall correctly, it was mid-20s below both at the top of the tower and at the biathlon range. The thermometer on the red building said about -15 deg F.
Rat Ponds Tour at -31 deg F
If you dress properly, even -31 deg F, you can enjoy beautiful trails and scenic lakes without leaving Fairbanks. Being part of the Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks grooming crew, Bill Husby enjoys skiing on trails maintained by others. So, on Monday, Bill headed out on the Rat Ponds tour that had been groomed and marked by Stan Justice. These photos show what he found:
And here is Bill’s documentation of the tour:
Fortunately, for us wimpy skiers, a strong temperature inversion has now set up, so we can avoid the cold temperatures Bill endured by skiing high. However, this post shows, with some advanced planning, enjoyable skiing is possible regardless of the temperature.
Recovery SCUM ski after Frank Soos Distance Race #1
After “racing”1 the 15 km Frank Soos Distance Race #1 in slow, newly fallen snow on Saturday, some SCUM skiers were actually willing to follow directions.
Here’s what SCUM looked like on the Outhouse loop after skiing the Sunnyside trail to section line on Sunday:
And here we are enjoying the view from the Sunnyside trail at Powerline cutoff:
Although most of us only managed to ski 5 km in an hour on Sunday morning, I was able to “claim” one of the LOL’s 12 ornaments of Christmas, specifically, #4:
The recent snows have definitely improved the trails (a huge shout out to the NSCF groomers, you guys rock) and this cold weather will allow the tracks to set up firmly. If you properly dermotize, you can claim more the LOL 12 ornaments of Christmas. I just need 11 more.
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1“Racing” in SCUM parlance means skiing a course without taking rest stops. Our speed is definitely relative only to standing still. Thanks to all the patient race volunteers!
SCUM begin training for 35th Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot
Although it was -10 deg F in the stadium at 10 a.m. AST, it was -22 deg F at the biathlon range 30 minutes later, and likely colder than that at the low point of the course for the Kinross Fort Knox Town Race from yesterday. As the B SCUM were finishing their ski of the 7.5 km course, we met up with Eric Troyer, an A SCUM who had been out skiing with the Nanooks before joining us. (At least that’s the story he gave us).
As we headed up the stadium hill on newly set tracks, we encountered the A SCUM (the faster, younger SCUM, who even travel to races), and the entire alphabetic SCUM headed up the new tracks on the Tower Loop.
When we got to the high point of the trails, we wanted a group photo, so we recruited an impromptu photographer. Kendall Kramer, who was skiing today in conditions just 110 deg colder than she had raced on Saturday, was gracious in offering to take our photo. A U.S. Ski Team Skier, Kendall is former FXC skier and West Valley skier/runner, and had just returned from the NCAA cross country running championships in Florida, where she finished 72nd of 250 of the best NCAA cross country runners in the nation. Although we thanked her for stopping to take our photograph, we didn’t congratulation her for her historic run yesterday. She was one of a trio of Nanooks at the NCAA national championships. Congratulations, Kendall!
Here is the collection of SCUM skiing today in brisk conditions:
And then being SCUM, Eric Troyer needed assistance to get back up:
However, while David assisted, the rest of the SCUM watched:
Dave ultimately was successful and smiling, while Eric took away a little snow from the trails:
So, if you’re going to be town for Thanksgiving, sign up now for the Beaver Sports Turkey Day Relays. It’s a good way to burn off those extra calories that you’ll consume. Some of the SCUM will be participating so your team won’t be last.
Here the link to information about the T-Day Relays, a low-key “race” where costumes and fun are important.
SCUM ski new tracks on Black Loops
The Black Loops retained significant snow pack from the early season snowfalls. So when the groomers set tracks on Wednesday and Thursday, they didn’t punch through to leaves in very many places. Thus, firm, glistening white tracks awaited us today. Temperatures in the stadium varied from -10 to -12 deg F over the course of our workout.
Here are four SCUM on the N40 loop:
In order to savor all the Black loop tracks, the SCUM first skied the Black Hole loops via Black Baron. It was likely close to -19 deg F at the bottom of the Black Abyss. The tracks were fast so the wind chill was significant.
However, we didn’t want to miss out on skiing down into the Black Hole over the old luge run. Nothing like doing the Black Cross on your second outing on skis, but that why Bernardo is a SCUM. Here’s an edited version of Robert’s and Bernardo’s descent of the bottom portion of the Black Cross hill:
Here are the SCUM again on the Flat Black section after having done the Black Hole loops first via Black Baron and the second time via Black Cross and returning uphill via the Black Funk. The skiers on skin skis were noticeably slower on the downhills, but weren’t quite as maneuverable on the corners as those of us on “old style” classical skis.
By the time I reached my car, I looked like a reverse pumpkin. However, now we have done all the black loops (and variations) this season.
I think there are now enough trails with set tracks for the SCUM to safely resume their Sunday group workouts.
Sonot Kkaazoot 