Waning membership spurs Anchorage ski organization to change tack

Without much snow, the last couple of years have been tough for many winter-sport enthusiasts across Southcentral Alaska, especially cross-country skiers. And conditions have forced an Anchorage organization to rely on artificial methods to keep the ski community alive in the state’s largest city.

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Snow-making machines are a common sight for downhill skiers, but not so much in the cross-country skiing community — until recently.

“It’s basically saved Nordic skiing for the past two seasons,” Tamra Kornfield, the program director for the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage, said.

Artificial snow has been used on a portion of Anchorage’s trail system in Kincaid Park for a few years, but Kornfield said the process was intended to extend the season.

“Basically to save skiing in March,” Kornfield said. “So we do always kind of preemptively plan the season that way, but it really does help to get coverage on the rest of the trails.”

While snowfall so far this season has been better than the last couple of years and a few more trails are open, Kornfield said it’s still pretty thin, and most of the skiable trails remain on Kincaid’s snow-making loop.

Kornfield said having to rely so heavily on artificial snow is troubling, not only for the reputation of a state known for being snowy, but she also worries for the future of the sport that’s been an integral part of the winter for many Alaskans.

“When you’re not able to be on snow, kids don’t enjoy it as much, so your teams suffer, junior Nordic suffers, you just start to lose the population of skiing,” Kornfield said. “So there will probably be less skiers at whatever age they were skiing for these few years because of that lack of good coverage around Anchorage.”

But, despite the rough snow years, Kornfield said attendance remains strong at Anchorage’s more competitive races — such as the Besh Cup, where skiers are trying to qualify for bigger races like Junior Nationals or Arctic Winter Games. But, she said that hasn’t carried over to NSAA’s other events.

“The local series, the community races we have seen a drop in participation,” Kornfield said. “I just think people aren’t out skiing as much. And then the tour, we haven’t seen our typical participation from that because it hasn’t been the full length, and people just aren’t training and it’s not one of their goals this year.”

Historically, Kornfield said many of the ski-related events around Anchorage built up a large enough following that they basically sold themselves. But now NSAA is having to put a lot more thought into finding ways to reinvigorate the Nordic skiing community.

That effort includes the creation of new events that cater to a broader range of the local population, like the recent first-time event, the Solstice Tree Tour at Kincaid Park, which Kornfield said was a great success.

“A lot of people came out to that and it was encouraging families and people who aren’t necessarily skiers, and we saw more recreational users and first-time skiers than we have at any of our other events,” Kornfield said. “So that was really exciting.”

Ultimately, Kornfield hopes to rekindle the community’s passion for the sport and assure it that Nordic skiing is still an integral part of Anchorage — even if it is on artificial snow.