Chugach National Forest Town Hall Meeting
Chugach National Forest, and especially Prince William Sound, takes in some of the most extraordinary scenery and protected wilderness in Alaska. Charles Wohlforth shares what he learned when he attended a public meeting on changing management of the Sound, and you'll hear from people who think that’s both a good and a bad idea.
LISTEN NOW
Arctic Valley Ski Area
KSKA: Thursday, Dec. 8, at 2:00 p.m.
Arctic Valley is easily forgotten, because doesn’t advertise and is far off the beaten track, but it has the highest elevation, the fluffiest powder and some of the steepest slopes around. On the next show, we’ll learn about Arctic Valley, the changes happening there, and why you might want to go and try it out this winter.
LISTEN NOW
Memorial Day Clamming
Memorial Day is upon us, and with it, huge minus tides in lower Cook Inlet. Excellent clam tides are hitting at the same time as the starting weekend of the summer season. But razor clams have been scarce of late. We’ll have a researcher trying to find out why, as well talking about how to pursue razors, and going after steamers and butters, too. Biology, food safety, digging, camping, cooking. You'll even hear some secret recipes on the next Outdoor Explorer.
KSKA: Thursday, 5/23 at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm
Download Audio
Crow Pass History
The Crow Pass trail leads from the Girdwood Valley to Eagle River. It’s a great backpacking route, and also a historic portion of the Iditarod Trail that led from Seward to mines in the Interior. What you might not know is that the trail was rebuilt in the 1970s with girl scout labor.We’ll learn about the Crow Pass trail in history and meet a former girl scout who helped remake the trail 40 years ago.
KSKA: Thursday 11/7 at 2:00 and 9:00 pm
Listen Now
Sailing the Aleutians on the MV Tustumena
The Alaska Marine Highway System has been in the news a lot lately, beginning with the governor's veto of the ferry budget in the...
Revisiting training for fitness
If you’ve gotten a little sedentary over the winter, the next Outdoor Explorer will have the information you need to up your level of fitness. Host Charles Wohlforth will be joined by a coach, a physical therapist and a dietitian to talk about how to safely and successfully start a fitness program, to control weight, improve health or just enjoy life more. For those who already work out regularly, we’ll talk about how to take it to the next level, and even to endurance competition.
Thanks for listening!
Swan Lake Area Canoe Trails
This is a great time of year to be canoeing on the Swan Lake Canoe Route, when the leaves are turning and the fish are active in the cool weather, in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. On the next Outdoor Explorer, we’ll also be talking about floating the easy Swanson River, which may be the best float for beginners in our region and great for families. This is a show about one of the best areas to take your first self-guided wilderness trip.
KSKA: Thursday 9/19 at 2:00 pm and 9:00 pm
Listen Now
Anchorage Bike Trails
KSKA: Thursday, May 19, at 2:00 and Thursday, May 26, at 8:00 p.m.
Anchorage people love their bike trails. Still, while we want more, the trails we already have are worn out in places, and one trail had a bridge collapse. On the next Outdoor Explorer we’ll be talking with folks responsible for the paved bike trails, as well as a mastermind of the fun, world class single track mountain bike trails at Kincaid Park and on the Hillside.
DOWNLOAD AUDIO
Alyeska Memories
Alyeska Resort is an amazing place to have as our backyard ski hill. On this edition of Outdoor Explorer, we’re talking about how it got that way. Recording in Girdwood, we have Chris Von Imhof, the father of Alyeska, at the Roundhouse museum up on the mountain, with many good stories. And we’ll have Rosey Fletcher, who became an Olympian on the runs that Von Imhof built.
KSKA: Thursday, March 24, at 2pm and Thursday, March 31 at 8pm
DOWNLOAD AUDIO
Historic Alaska Expeditions
This week we revisit a conversation from 2014. Alaska’s outdoors people may think they’re tough, but how about paddling 40 days in a dugout canoe in the rains of Southeast Alaska in October and November, dressed in wool, without modern gear? On the next Outdoor Explorer, join host Charles Wohlforth and guests to talk about historic expeditions. What these guys did will amaze you. KSKA: Thursday, Jan 14, at 2:00 and Thursday, Jan 21, at 8:00 p.m. LISTEN NOW
McKinley Disasters
In 1967 the Wilcox Expedition attacked Mount McKinley with 12 young men. Only five came back alive. The disaster was the worst in the history of the mountain, and changed many lives and the way people thought about climbing it. Two authors have recently released books on the event, and both join us on the show to rehash what they remember from the deadly event.
KSKA: Thursday, July 17, at 2:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.
Download Audio
Active vacations
In 2017, Men’s Health named Anchorage the most adventurous city in the United States. We do love to adventure in our state with our friends. We also love to travel; why not combine adventure, travel and friends into a vacation? On this week’s Outdoor Explorer we’ll be talking with avid swimmers, bikers and runners who combine their vacation with activity. And although we all love to spend some time on the beach doing nothing, there is no better way to see the world than through movement in the outdoors.
Thanks for listening!
Revisiting train and ferry adventures
We Alaskans have a unique way to get into the backcountry, on our state-owned railroad or ferry system — two of the most fun forms of transportation around. On the next Outdoor Explorer, we’ll celebrate how the train and ferries can get families out to adventures hiking, skiing, paddling, floating and exploring in some truly exotic places.
Thanks for listening!
Swimming Alaska
In this Outdoor Explorer, we’ll be joined by Sheryl Mohwinkel, Melinda Greig and Jenny Kimball, open water long distance swimmers. This summer they swam the Nancy Lake Canoe Trail System, becoming possibly the first people to swim the traditional canoe route. Their future swimming adventures in Alaska are even more ambitious.
Outdoor Recreation Access in Anchorage Vol 2
On the next Outdoor Explorer, the second part of a two-part series on the Stewart Trail, a contested public access point to Chugach State Park. Our guests are Chris Reynolds, the treasurer of Friends of the Stewart Public Trail, and Kelly Becker, a long-time trail adjacent homeowner.
A conversation with Roman Dial
On the next Outdoor Explorer, we spend a full hour sitting with Roman Dial, one of Alaska’s greatest adventurers, to learn about his extraordinary life, and the tragic disappearance of his son, and how that ordeal was horribly exploited by reality TV. We’ll also get into many other tales, including how he helped start wilderness racing and developed the pack raft as a tool for Alaska travel.
Thanks for listening!
Outdoor Explorer: Catching up with Kikkan Randall and the year ahead for Anchorage’s nordic ski club
On this week's Outdoor Explorer, our guest is Olympic gold medalist Kikkan Randall. When Randall was young, she participated in Junior Nordic, a popular Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage program. Now Kikkan has returned to her roots as the new executive director of the organization.
Training for Fitness
Have you gotten a little sedentary over the winter? Host Charles Wohlforth will be joined by a coach, a physical therapist and a dietician to talk about how to safely and successfully start a fitness program, to control weight, improve health or just enjoy life more. For those who already work out regularly, we'll talk about how to take it to the next level, and even to endurance competition.
KSKA: Thursday, 3/13, at 2:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.
Listen now:
Chugach Front Linkup 2023: New Peak, New Record
In March, Ben Americus accomplished many firsts on the Chugach Front Linkup: the first late winter completion, the first to ski off the peaks and the first to complete the Linkup since Ptarmigan Peak was added as the 13th summit over 5000 feet. This week on Outdoor Explorer Ben joins host Lisa Keller to talk about how he added his name to Chugach Front Linkup history.
Tidelines Institute of Alaska
On this Outdoor Explorer, our guests are Laura Marcus and Zach Brown, the founders of the Tidelines Institute. On two campuses along Icy Strait in Southeast, Tidelines Institute offers a variety of immersive courses centered around
environmental leadership and science education.