The Medics - Ti and Dan @ CP 4 Borealis LeFevre

I returned to the island Sunday afternoon.  I got home and immediately took Dakota out to play.  I visited a few people around town, settled in on the couch without even unpacking and then fell asleep for nearly 10 hours straight.
I headed back to work this morning with renewed spirit, and a charge of being refreshed.

While getting caught up on things, I received an email from a from a friend that left the island a few years back  asking if I had been in Fairbanks lately..  I replied that I had, and then asked how they knew and why they were asking.

The reply was a simple one-liner taking me to this website:

http://titaniumpersonaltraining.blogspot.com/2010/03/word-of-thanks.html

Start of the White Mountains 100 - Photo: Bob Bolton

The inaugural running of the White Mountains 100 is complete.  50 participants started, 49 finished and only 1 scratched after running (yeah running) 60 miles of the course.

The following is from the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner article.

… Indeed, the first annual White Mountains 100, the brainchild of Fairbanks skier Ed Plumb, went off without a hitch. The trails were set up perfectly for the most part, the weather couldn’t have been much better and all but one of the 50 competitors who started the race finished. 

“By and large, everything went really well,” he said.

Cyclists took the top six spots in the race, including Oatley’s wife, Heather Best, in third place. Best finished just 1 hour, 11 minutes behind her husband. She beat out fellow Fairbanksan Kevin Breitenbach by two minutes and Ethan Kopacz of Anchorage was fifth in 14 hours, 11 minutes.

Best surprised herself and her husband by finishing third.

“I was thinking more like 15 to 20 hours,” Best said. “I felt good and trail conditions were great.”

She also had Janice Tower of Anchorage, a multiple winner of the Susitna 100 in Southcentral, breathing down her neck. Tower placed sixth overall, less than two hours behind Best.

Said Oatley of his wife’s performance, “She was flying.”

Mike Kramer of Fairbanks was the first skier to finish, placing seventh overall in 16 hours, 10 minutes to beat Brad Marden of Anchorage by 36 minutes and finish eighth overall. Fairbanks’ Max Kaufman was third in the ski division and ninth overall in 18 hours, 11 minutes.

“Those guys were a lot faster than I thought they could ski it,” Oatley said.

Kramer skate skied the entire course, though in some places it took creative technique.

“The trail was so narrow in some places it’s hard to skate,” he said.

“I did a lot of double poling and modified skate strokes that would keep your ski tips out of the willows. Whatever the terrain would give you is what I took advantage of.”

… Plumb, the race organizer who also finished 43rd with a time of 34 hours despite not getting any sleep the night before the race while dealing with last-minute problems, was thankful everything worked out as well as it did.

Judging from the feedback he’s received from competitors, the event was a success, he said.

“People are saying it was the best race ever; the most organized race they’ve ever been in; the best course they’ve ever been on,” Plumb said.

Plumb said he plans on putting the race on again next year, assuming BLM goes along with it.

Collin Cogley, an outdoor recreation planner with the Bureau of Land Management who handled the permit application for the race, was on the trail as an observer to make sure BLM’s stipulations were followed. For the most part, Cogley liked what he saw.

“I think it went really well,” Cogley said. “Things worked well at the trailhead for parking. There weren’t big clumps of folks on the trail. The folks that ran the checkpoints were on the ball.”

Race organizers did everything BLM asked and more in some cases, Cogley said.

You can see all the pictures I took out on the course under Adventures in the header navigation at the top of the page.  Or you can follow this link.

Bering Sea Ice Pack Edge

feeling like you have been in prison and your finally getting out.  It’s more like the feeling you get when you ask someone to marry you in a stadium with forty thousand people watching and the cameras are broadcasting it on national TV. and just before they say yes, they take a few minutes and stare blankly at you.  Leaving you to wonder what their answer will be.

You never really know if your going to get out.  If Vegas was looking for another event to bet on and keep odds on.  I’d suggest leaving Unalaska / Dutch Harbor.

The Tordrillo Mountains

You never know what the weather is going to do.  Our airport is a visual only facility.  That means no flight instrument landings.  The rules are very different for flying out here.  If the wind is too strong, or the gusts are too high, or the visibility isn’t enough or an alternate runway is not available and don’t forget if the planes are down for mechanical.  Your not getting here and your certainly not leaving.

I was lucky, yeah I say luck because really I am.  Getting out, ON TIME, on my scheduled flight was lucky.  With the storms we have had over the last two weeks.  I woke up, the skies were clear, no wind.  Oh yeah.  I knew I was getting out.

I’m happy to say I’m in Fairbanks, Alaska.  Its a crisp, calming 16 degrees, the skies are blue and clear.  All my gear has finally arrived and I’m preparing myself for the event this weekend.  Most of you know that I’m here  as a volunteer for the White Mountains 100 Ultra Race.

Mt. Hunter & Mt. McKinley (Denali)

The White Mountains 100 is a 100 mile human powered race across the interior of Alaska in the White Mountains about an hour north of Fairbanks.  Check out the White Mountains 100 website.  There are three disciplines to choose from.  You can Run, Ski and Bike.  I’m going to take a snowmachine (snowmobile) and all my winter camping gear and hang out along the route keeping track of racers, maintaining the check points, assisting in emergencies and evacuations and photographing the event.  Most of all I’ll be enjoying the incredible backcountry of Alaskas wilderness.

Snowboarding Ski Bowl, Unalaska - Dan

I remember when I came out to the islands to work.  It was a January and the island was covered with snow and the skies were that dark stormy gray you see across large bodies of water just before a big storm sets in.  It’s been a few years since I’ve seen good snow like this.  I don’t know the exact accumulation but it’s plenty enough to get out and really get in to some winter activities.  I like skiing and snowshoeing and have recently decided to try snowboarding. (thanks to the X Games).  On my last vacation I spent some time in Bend Oregon and a few days trying my hand up at Hoodoo snowboarding.  Besides the rain and the continuous shoulder and leg pain from wrecking I had a great time, enough of a great time to keep the board and bring it all the way back out here.

Snowboarding Ski Bowl, Unalaska - Reid

Until the past week and a half we have not really had enough snow to get out and do many winter sports, so the board sat in my loft under the bed until last Saturday when during a break in the storm I got Reid to go up Ski Bowl for a few runs.  It’s been snowing since then and today at lunch we made another run.

With any luck (and probably much to the aggravation of those not as welcoming with snow and winter as I) – I hope it stays for a while, a few weeks of good accumulation would really be nice.  The few of us winter sport and snow folks could really have a great time if the snow stays like this.  Right now the snow is perfect, it’s light and fluffy, not a lot of base but enough to keep going down the mountains, and I’m happy with it.

So… now all I have to do is learn to ride.

An Effort To Get In Shape

anything.  Maybe I should work on that some other time.
All that aside I realized after looking down at the scale this weekend that I’ve really been putting on the pounds.  I need to get back on track with my health and fitness.  So in preparation for the upcoming treks and adventures (and to lean up some), I’ve come up with a plan  that I think will take me back to my target weight class and improve my cardio endurance by mid March.
The idea isn’t to subject myself to a hardcore daily ass kicking regiment – rather a consistent daily exercise effort to burn some calories  and improve cardio.  I’ll wait until I’m on the trail to work myself to death.

Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays
Power hiking up Bunker Hill with a combined pack and body weight of  at least 260 lbs.

Tuesdays & Thursdays
Cardio through bike or treadmill

Sundays & whenever I can...
Church of Scuba

Everyday
Watching the calories…   eeergh

White Mountains 100

Excellent news!  The 2010 race is on!  The BLM permit request has been approved.

A handful of you know that I’ve volunteered for several outpost and trail volunteer positions with the Iditarod and The White Mountains 100 races.  I’ve been contacted by the organizers of both with the go ahead.  (now I just need to pitch it to my boss). If it works out I plan to run the White Mountains course before the race – just to get some winter  and cold weather trekking and camping in this year.  Winter in the islands has been really mild with little snow.

I can’t tell you how jazzed I am to be a part of this event!   Thanks Ed!

Below is a little about the race as taken from the official White Mountains 100 website.

Are you ready for an adventure in the remote beauty of interior Alaska? Come north to Fairbanks, Alaska for the inaugural White Mountains 100-mile ultra race. The race course cuts through the heart of the jagged limestone peaks that define the White Mountains National Recreation Area. This rugged wilderness will challenge racers with a variety of terrain and trail conditions, satisfying even the most experienced

White Mountains 100 Route

winter athlete. Steep climbs, bowel-clenching descents, sharp turns, areas of active overflow, glare ice, tree stumps, roots, and bare tussocks are all part of the White Mountains trail network. Sub-zero temperatures, strong winds, along with blowing and drifting snow may add to the excitement. Traverse this diverse landscape on skis, bike, or just your feet.

Click the map image to the right for a larger version of the race course.  Visit the White Mountains 100 official website for more information.