Outdoor Explorer

On “Outdoor Explorer” we invite you to step outside into Alaska. Follow us to a new trail or fishing hole, learn what to pack, when to go and most importantly, how to stay safe. Learn about life-long fitness and get inspired to go outside in the back country or on the bike trails.

We’ll hear from the people who know the land best – outdoor guides, park rangers, coaches, authors, lodge owners, bush pilots, educators and you, the explorer. Listen Thursdays at 2:00 & 8:00 pm on KSKA FM, streaming live at alaskapublic.org.

We’re looking for your show ideas! Please send your thoughts for upcoming shows to: bork@alaskapublic.org

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!

River stories

The summer season is here and Alaska’s waterways beckon.  We’re taking the topic from four perspectives. An interview with a pioneer who made a lifelong career of floating remote rivers with inflatables. A story by a Minnesotan who got in some trouble on an Alaska river. A buyers guide to pack rafts. And a bear story that comes from an epic float trip. Thanks for listening!

Inclusive playgrounds and museum summer activities

On the next Outdoor Explorer, we'll meet an 11 year old girl and her mother who made a huge change in our city. When Anna Boltz was a toddler, her mother Leah realized that the city’s playgrounds, although meeting the law, were not truly accessible to a child like her who uses a wheelchair. Nine years later, Anchorage has a dozen inclusive playgrounds, with facilities that invite and engage people of every ability. We'll also hear about summer activities being hosted by the Anchorage Museum and about training to race in the Boston Marathon in a wheelchair. Thanks for listening!

Women of polar science

Sue Mauger is a scientist and conservationist who studies Alaska’s streams to learn the impact of climate change. So why did she go on a voyage to Antarctica? On the next outdoor explorer, we’ll discuss the unusual reason. Sue was invited to join a ship full of women scientists with the goal of learning about themselves and how they can be stronger in their work for the benefit of knowledge and the earth. Thanks for listening!

Bike fitting and the Texas 4000

We’re talking about cycling on the next Outdoor Explorer. We’ll chat with a physical therapist and a bike fitter to learn about getting the perfect fit for your health, as well as your performance. And we’ll have an interview about the Texas 4000, a cross-country bike ride for cancer arriving soon in Anchorage from the University of Texas in Austin. Thanks for listening!

Remote power & visiting Spencer Glacier

On the next Outdoor Explorer, we’re talking about about remote power. Solar panels are small and portable enough now that it makes sense to take them into the backcountry to charge batteries, extending your electronics and communications indefinitely. My guest is also an expert in setting up remote power systems at cabins, technology that is advancing to make power in your remote site much simpler. Also, we'll hear about climbing and rafting on and around Spencer Glacier. Thanks for listening!

What happened to Kenai salmon?

As the summer winds down, Outdoor Explorer looks at one of the worst years of salmon fishing in memory in southcentral Alaska. We’ll review what happened, why it happened, and talk about the impacts on anglers and communities. Thanks for listening!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jason-riedy/9378210627/in/photolist-fhHMhF-dcoBR9-a3xxzt-fnnxaD-nLmcRu-qCUfRC-dcoBvY-nN6G8H-nNoN9v-6bXsWM-c6AKsm-4T4Bhk-dcox96-dcoz3W-dcozE2-dcoyam-dcoAQ7-5zimC7-fo8aQe-db7DBH-8w5Adb-c6AJaq-eHskST-c6AKaS-CcPuv-9WhmnA-eeYG2g-pMvoVa-VqMD4z-db7A5a-fnBU4m-cfkKbW-cfkJYN-fonqLU-fi72Wb-bTM612-feU8xy-qrREtb-f4VLus-f4QhMA-f4UjYN-8crjbE-fonjPC-db7qmk-T71VjY-owXzY7-qUTDah-6dK6XZ-UGkH42-bhDmqk

Organic gardening and beekeeping

Gardening without chemicals turns out to be the right way, according to our next guest. Jeff Lowenfels has been growing things in Anchorage for a very long time, and through that experience he learned to get rid of anything that doesn’t naturally belong in his garden. We’ll also hear from a longtime beekeeping expert in Anchorage, who is even breeding bees able to make it through our cold winters. Thanks for listening!

Rockwell Kent centennial

Rockwell Kent was one of the most important artists to picture Alaska. And the legendary winter he spent with his son on Fox Island, in Resurrection Bay, happened 100 years ago. On the next Outdoor Explorer we’re joined by an expert on those events, and on Kent’s colorful life in general, to learn about landmarks in fine art and writing about nature that were created right here. Thanks for listening!

Caribou migration

One of the most spectacular biological events in the world is going on in Alaska right now, the migration of hundreds of thousands of caribou from their northern calving grounds to wintering areas to the south. On the next Outdoor Explorer, we’ll learn how do they do it, and why, and what makes them change the routine sometimes, using new areas after many years on the same course. Thanks for listening!

Enjoying the fall season

Some Alaskans think fall is an in-between season when we’re waiting for winter and the skiing, skating and snowmachine riding that is coming. But that’s a mistake. Fall lasts a long time around here these days-- we can easily get three full months of it. On the next Outdoor Explorer, we’re talking about the joys of autumn, when the tourists are gone and many good days remain, if you know how to dress for them. Thanks for listening!

Winter predictions and activities

Will winter bring snow, or will we wait through thaws, rain and darkness? On the next Outdoor Explorer, we have a climatologist to talk about the predicted El Nino that is expected to bring warm, gloomy conditions this winter. So that’s the prediction. For the response, we’ll have two other interviews. We’ll be talking about hibernation, not the best option, and about indoor ice... it's the sport of curling. Thanks for listening!

The outdoors and personal growth

On this Outdoor Explorer, we’re going to talk about how time spent outdoors can help us grow. Adrienne Lindholm has written a book about her path from mountain newbie trying to prove herself to becoming more interested in the journey. Carey Carpenter is campaigning for longer recess for Anchorage school children, and she’ll also talk about how outdoor adventures helped her cope with breast cancer. Lastly, we'll hear a story about getting more minorities to be interested in going outside. Thanks for listening!

Spruce beetles and climate change

The spruce beetle has changed the forests of southcentral Alaska, and it’s not done. On the next Outdoor Explorer, we’ll examine the forest changes driven by a warming climate. The most important factor has been these beetles. We’ll learn about their life cycle, impact, how to fight them, and what their explosion means for the places we recreate. We’ll also go deeper, learning what the best science predicts is next. Thanks for listening!

Outdoors and activism

On the next Outdoor Explorer, we have an interview with one of the world’s top professional snowboarders, Jeremy Jones, who has made more than 50 films about his exploits in Alaska alone. But that’s not all Jeremy is about anymore. As he saw winter eroding, he has become an activist to do something about climate change, and recruited other top skiing and boarding pros to become activists as well. Thanks for listening!

Catching up on Eklutna, ski prep & helping young girls

This week we’re checking in with the outdoor community here in southcentral Alaska, which is all about getting ready for the coming winter and being involved in the positive stuff that so many of our neighbors do for one another. We’ll have segments on reviving fish runs in the Eklutna River, getting your skis ready for winter, and volunteering to help girls in Guatemala stay active through puberty.  Thanks for listening!

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!

Crossing the Alaska Range

In 2017, Jen Johnston and Sam Hooper hiked the length of the Alaska Range, 1000 miles from Port Alsworth to McCarthy. It’s a tremendous accomplishment, but their story is not one of hardship and heroism. They love it out there, and on the next Outdoor Explorer, Jen and Sam talk about the privilege and pleasure of getting deep into Alaska with one another. Thanks for listening!

Horseback riding and a trip across the Americas

Felipe Leite rode a horse from Calgary to Brazil, unsupported. He crossed deserts and mountains and he says he nearly starved and he saw men killed by drug lords. Leite is my guest on the next Outdoor Explorer to tell about his horseback adventures, and his next big ride, from Fairbanks to Calgary, which will complete a journey spanning the length of the America’s. Thanks for listening!

“Arctic Solitaire” book and adverse weather gear

Paul Souders wanted see and photograph polar bears for himself, by himself, in a new way, and he did something to accomplish that no one else would have thought of. He put a 22-foot boat on a trailer and drove to the Arctic, voyaging north, through Hudson Bay, to the pack ice. The photographs he came back with are stunning, showing bears in a way I’ve never seen them. Thanks for listening!