Skier at Karl Eid Jumping Complex. Photo: Eric Bork, Alaska Public Media 
The Hilltop summer ski jump. (Photo by Ammon Swenson, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage) 
Skier at Karl Eid Jumping Complex. Photo: Eric Bork, Alaska Public Media.
On this episode of Outdoor Explorer, we talk about ski jumping with the Anchorage Ski Jumping Club. Our guests will be Karen Compton and Zak Hamill. Karen has been instrumental in the recent dramatic growth of the Anchorage Jumping Club, and she’s also a parent of two ski jumpers. Zak Hamill is the Club’s program director and head coach. Have you ever wanted to become a ski jumper? It’s not as far-fetched an idea as you might think!
HOST: Adam Verrier
GUESTS:
- Karen Compton and Zak Hamill.
LINKS:
- NSAA Ski Jumping Program
- Summer ski jumping feature from KTUU
- Ryōyu Kobayashi sets hill record in Planica – 252,0 m
BROADCAST: Thursday, October 22nd, 2020. 2:00 pm – 3:00 p.m. AKT
REPEAT BROADCAST: Thursday, October 22nd, 2020. 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. AKT
SUBSCRIBE: Receive Outdoor Explorer automatically every week via:
Eric Bork, or you can just call him “Bork” because everybody else does, is the FM Operations Manager for KSKA-FM. He oversees the day-to-day operations of the FM broadcast. He produces and edits episodes of Outdoor Explorer, the Alaska-focused outdoors program. He also maintains the web posts for that show. You may have heard him filling in for Morning Edition or hosting All Things Considered and can still find him operating the soundboard for any of the live broadcast programs.
After escaping the Detroit area when he was 18, Bork made it up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where he earned a degree in Communications/Radio Broadcasting from Northern Michigan University. He spent time managing the college radio station, working for the local NPR affiliate, and then in top 40 radio in Michigan before coming to Alaska to work his first few summers. After then moving to Chicago, it only took five years to convince him to move back to Alaska in 2010. When not involved in great radio programming he’s probably riding a bicycle, thinking about riding bicycles, dreaming about bikes, reading a book, or planning the next place he’ll travel to. Only two continents left to conquer!
