Sonot Photos from Fort Wainwright

Posted on March 24, 2018 by Sonot Kkaazoot

Photos from the 2018 Sonot Kkaazoot Fort Wainwright road crossings are available at the link below. The photos are free to download. If you do download, please donate to the Birch Hill Trail Fund (https://nordicskicluboffairbanks.wildapricot.org/Donate/). If you would like a larger version of a photo just send an email to Eric at fbxskierparent@gmail.com. He’ll ask again for you to donate to the Birch Hill Trail Fund, but he’ll send you a larger version of the photo(s) for free.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/Nordic-Ski-Club-of-Fairbanks-106945789335550/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2012647878765322

2018 Sonot Kkaazoot results are posted

Posted on March 24, 2018 by Sonot Kkaazoot

Corrections have been made in provisional results, and thus official 2018 Sonot Kkaazoot results have been posted:

https://sonotkkaazoot.org/results/

Bad Bob’s report from the Chena River

Posted on March 24, 2018 by Sonot Kkaazoot

At 6:20 a.m.: “River looks great. Everything is frozen hard. Minus 3 on the river, plus 3 up on the bank. Clear skies.”

Remember that 50 km classical wave starts at 9:30 a.m. on the river, 40/50 freestyle at 10:00 a.m., and 20 km freestyle at 10:30 a.m. Wear your shades and sunscreen.

6:00 a.m. report: +15.4 deg at Birch Hill

Posted on March 24, 2018 by Sonot Kkaazoot

In case the Birch Hill weather station gets overloaded with hits, the temperature at the Birch Hill stadium at 6:00 a.m. was +15.4 deg F and calm.

Saturday morning report from Tom Helmers

Posted on March 24, 2018 by Sonot Kkaazoot

From Birch Hill head groomer, Tom Helmers: At the River this morning at 2:15 a.m. it was +7 deg F, +10 deg at the Lodge, +15 deg at Sonot Junction. At 5 a.m., it was +7 deg at the 5 km marker on White Bear.

Everything is looking great! The groomers literally were up all night making conditions great for the 31st annual Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot.

Sonot Kkaazoot looks good for Chena River start

Posted on March 23, 2018 by Sonot Kkaazoot

At the end of late registration for the 31st annual Denali State Bank Sonot Kkaazoot, we have 306 skiers entered. Of those skiers, 123 are signed up to ski the 40 or 50 km events with the majority of skiers opting for the shorter 20 km course on the Chena River.

Bad Bob Baker, chief-of-course, has drilled ice on the Chena River in all the usual problem areas, and has determined that the race is a go for the traditional Chena River start and finish.

Day-of-race registration, bib pick-up, and Sonot Kkaazoot hat sales will be in the Doyon, Ltd building from 8 to 9 a.m. on Saturday. After 9 a.m., you may pick up your bib on the Chena River from Dan Johnson. He’ll have a table with bibs and bib ties outside near the start. DO NOT DISTURB the timing crew in the visqueen shelter.

You may leave your dry clothes in the Doyon, Ltd. building as a security person will be working until about 4 p.m. Doyon, Ltd. has been a Sonot Kkaazoot sponsor for many years and we really appreciate their contribution to holding this unique spring event.

Sonot Update: Two days out

Posted on March 22, 2018 by Sonot Kkaazoot

The temperature at the Sonot Kkaazoot race start this morning was much colder than predicted at -10 deg F. Bad Bob will be out on the river late this afternoon to determine ice thicknesses so that we can report the location of our race start at early bib pick-up tonight at the Doyon, Ltd. building from 5 to 7 p.m.

Bad Bob will drag the Chena River portion of the Sonot Kkaazoot course again this afternoon if you want to personally check it out before or after you pick up your bib.

Still trying to decide whether to sign up? Check out the awesome Sonot Kkaazoot informational flyer designed by Rebecca Heaton that is available for download on the home page.

Here are some photos that Bad Bob took on Wednesday:

Ramp down to the Sonot Kkaazoot start area (all photos by Bad Bob Baker)

Chena River trail three days out

Chena River trail near Hamilton Acres sm

Sonot Kkaazoot trail near Hamilton Acres

Wildlife captured on the trail three days out

River ski trail ALMOST race ready

Posted on March 21, 2018 by Sonot Kkaazoot

Several of the SCUM (Sonot Kkaazoot organizers) skied from Graehl Park to the Trainor Gate bridge on the Chena River to inspect the Sonot Kkaazoot ski trail after groomers Ken Coe and Bill Husby had brought down the Birch Hill drags to use in tandem with Bad Bob’s special river drag.

Early in our ski we met up with Bad Bob who was drilling the ice to check on ice thickness and reports that he never hit water with his foot long drill bit:

Bad Bob checking ice thickness sm.JPG

The corduroy was wide enough for two skaters to ski side by side as shown here:

Robert Hannon (Sonot military contact) and Carl Hemming (bib distribution staff) ski on newly groomed Chena River on Wednesday around noon.

However, Robert with his intensely focused journalist’s eyes managed to find an imperfection in the dragged surface that caused him to make a spectacular dive to avoid catching his tip on it.

Robert finds imperfection in grooming

Although temperatures were still in the single digits as we started out, the bright sunshine made “sliding around in springtime” fun. The trail was great under all three highway bridges where the groomers had harvested snow from the surrounding area and packed it down to cover the icy areas.

Enjoy the Chena River ski trail! The sunshine and easy speed is fantastic!

Three days before Sonot update

Posted on March 21, 2018 by Sonot Kkaazoot

The sun is out in Fairbanks and the 8:00 a.m. temperature this morning at the Sonot Kkaazoot start on the Chena River was 0 deg F. It is 14 deg F at Birch Hill. The highs predicted for today, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are 28, 28, 31, and 28 deg F, respectively.

Three trail groomers are out on the Chena River today getting things ready for Saturday’s race, and we will hopefully post some photos later today.

Remember, early bib pick-up is Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Doyon, Ltd building near the Sonot Kkaazoot start. PLEASE pick up your bib (and any out-of-town skiers who may be staying with you) Thursday night. We will have pulled all bibs for the two high school ski teams so one person can pick up the entire team’s bibs on race day. Skiers arriving in Fairbanks on Saturday morning can arrange to pick up their bib from the day-of-race organizer at the start/finish area on the Chena River after 9 a.m. if you email contact@sonotkkaazoot.org and let us know.

As of this morning, we have 268 entries with 159 skiers signed up for the 20 km event and 109 skiers doing the longer 40 and 50 events. All race registration is online and “day-of-race” fees are effective after early bib pick-up on Thursday.

REMEMBER, if you are not a USA citizen and want to register for the 40 or 50 km events, you must do so by Thursday, 22 March 2018 at 7 p.m. The longer races enter Fort Wainwright and we must get prior approval for foreign nationals to participate.

Sonot Kkaazoot hats to be sold at bib pick-up

Posted on March 18, 2018 by Sonot Kkaazoot

A limited number of the Sonot Kkaazoot hats specially made for our 30th anniversary have been re-ordered and will be for sale for $25 cash or check only at the Thursday evening and Saturday morning bib pick-ups at the Doyon Ltd building. These hats with a purple tassel come in two sizes: S/M and M/L and will be available for sale only to Sonot Kkaazoot racers or volunteers. If you missed the race last year because of the USSA Distance Nationals or were out-of-town and unable to volunteer, this is your chance to own one of these distinctive and desirable hats. The band is fleece-lined making the hat a perfect spring toque for Interior Alaska.

Sonot Kkaazoot hat modeled by hat’s artist, Margo Klass and Frank Soos, primordial SCUM in charge of Sonot bib pick-up and swag