Has Anyone Seen Winter 2014?

This site’s been quiet lately. We’re in the middle of the worst winter in several years. They say in Alaska you have to have a short weather memory. The frequent rain and wind can be demoralizing in both summer and winter. For skiers who only know AK from ski porn, well, that’s mostly fantasy. The reality is more painful and far less glamorous. I like to say that when it’s good, it’s pretty damn good but you’re gonna have to wait for it.

Seems like ages ago.And wait we have. I’ve documented some great days earlier this season, Thanksgiving and Christmas, oddly enough. But since the holidays, it’s been a slow dripping decent into skier hell. Seems odd to say that the best snow is on the East Coast right now. Even the mid west is getting dumped on more than any of the real mountain states. Brutal.

There’s a good chance that Nate Brown and I will get into the Pierra Menta this year. At least we hope so. We’ve both invested significant time and money into the application process which is no small feat these days. We purchased global rescue insurance to the tune of about $350 and joined the Chamonix skimo club in order to have the necessary liability insurance. That was another 100 Euros. And now we wait for the nod. Although I’m ridiculously psyched to get to do a Grand Course race (as any skimo racer should be) preparation is tough when there’s nearly no skiable snow on which to prepare. And with another week of above-freezing temps and rain in the forecast, it’s not looking much better in the near future.

Winter running game changers, for sure.Seems strange to even write this but I actually RAN on some neighborhood multi use Nordic trails the other night. It was a little punchy but mostly okay with Katoola Micro Spikes. But really, running…in January? WTF? I guess if I had half a brain I would have invested the time and energy in skate skiing this year. At least I’d be skiing. But even the Nordic scene is in serious jeopardy in Anchorage. The world-class trail system at Kincaid Park is a puddle-laden mess and, some say, unrecoverable for the season. Hell, dogsledding is almost done for the year at this rate which is a bizarre thing to say in Alaska.

Next summer's crucible - Mount MarathonInstead of skate skis I decided to buy a Nordic Track Incline Treadmill. I have designs on the mountain running scene next summer and this device offers a good option for winter’s freezing rain and late work nights. This thing goes up to a calf screaming 40% grade. I also managed a smoldering case of plantar fasciitis. Still looking for the silver lining on that one. But I try to stay focused. The last two winners of the Mount Marathon mountain race both spent significant time trudging on this very treadmill. I’ll miss some key time on it while in France but it remains an effective option. It also gave me an excuse to see what all the fuss was about with Breaking Bad. Someone gave me a television just for the occasion.

The other training distraction I’ve been doing is tooling around the hillier Nordic trails on skimo race gear. It’s mostly in the dark so I avoid the stares and questions from the curious. I use a pair of old, nearly bald mohair skins chopped short and trimmed narrow. There’s a 20-minute loop that gains 400’ and only requires one skin rip. Not exactly the perfection that is training on Snow King in Jackson but desperate times require desperate measures. I even bought a Salomon Nordic ski top to sort of fit in. Funny to say that I’ve had my new Hagan race skis and Scarpa Alien 1.0s for quite a while now and have not really skied them for real. Sad, I know.

As if to drive the point home for me, I was driving out Turnagain Arm today on the Seward Highway which runs between Anchorage and Girdwood along a stretch of the Cook Inlet. There’re a bunch of sweet trails that go up into the Front Range right from the road and they are now officially snow free. Good training options for skiers without white shit to slide on. As I was driving, I almost drove off the road when I saw two road cyclists training on the shoulder. Now, that’s just wrong. Dry, 45 degrees, windy as shit…perfect winter cycling training….but NOT in Alaska! You’re simply not supposed to be able to do this here now.  Dammit!

The other news of note I came across relates to the dozens of little ice climbs along the road cuts on this stretch of highway that keep local ice climbers happy all winter. Well, the road was diverted several meters because the climbs had all toppled onto the highway, no doubt causing some serious vehicular carnage…or worse. RIP, Roadside Attraction, WI4. Maybe next year.

Comments

[JCoates]

Sorry to bum you out, but the Northern Alps and Chamonix are pretty crappy this year too. Seems to me we get a lot of the same arctic weather patterns--when Alaska is doing good, so are the northern Alps. I thought we were going to start getting some snow finally, but the Foehn wind just started again so still looking pretty depressing. With that said, the Sud Tyrol (Italy) and Tessin (Italian Part of Switzerland) are going off right now.

[Brian]

JCoates,

Yeah, I've been avoiding even looking until just the other day and, you're right, not too encouraging. Better than here, for sure as there is some skiing on the high glaciers. But my trip is still over a month away and I'm hopeful things will change. For sure, this trip is one year too late, at least the way it looks now.