Citizen Ski Racing
Tour of Anchorage 2013 from ATMI on Vimeo.
You don't have to be an Olympian to participate in a Nordic ski race. Anchorage has races for the rest of us, where fast skiers can duel at the front while older and less competitive skiers push their personal limits. The Tour of Anchorage is the biggest race of the year, with up to 2,000 contestants covering up to 50 kilometers, but local volunteers organize many other cross-country ski races during the winter that are open to anyone willing to try. KSKA: Thursday 1/9 at 2:00 pm and 9:00 pm Listen Now
The First People in what is now Chugach State Park
In this Outdoor Explorer, we will learn about the First People in what is now Chugach State Park. My guest will be Aaron Leggett, Senior Curator of Alaska History & Indigenous Culture at the Anchorage Museum and President of the Tribal Council of the Native Village of Eklutna.
Snowmachines: Not just for motorheads
What if you’re new to Alaska or you were born here but you were raised by skiing purists and you want to know what riding a snowmachine is all about? This week's show is for you. We’re going to talk about why snowmobiling is fun, where you can go in this vast state, and how you can get into the sport as a beginner. The new machines are reliable and easy to use--it's not just for motorheads. Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015, 2:00 Download Audio
Sailing into retirement
What’s your retirement fantasy? How about sailing from Alaska to Mexico and exploring the warm waters there? On the next Outdoor Explorer, we'll feature a couple who did just that, sailed away the day after finishing work, and returned back into port in Alaska four years later. Along the way, they tested their boat and their marriage. And they came back with the stories and experiences of a lifetime. It's an inspiring tale you won't want to miss.
Thanks for listening!
Small Game Hunting
Small game can be an entry for young people into hunting, but it’s also is a tradition for sportsmen going back centuries and shows up in classic literature from all over the world. On the next Outdoor Explorer, the topic is hunting upland game birds and small mammals.
KSKA: Thursday, Dec. 4, at 2:00 and 9:00 p.m.
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Get outside Alaska!
On this Outdoor Explorer, we’ll have two guests who are inspiring people to get out and move. Heather Helzer, the founder of the Virtual Race Across Alaska Winter Challenge, and Amy Bushatz, host of the podcast Humans Outside, will share their enthusiasm for fun challenges that will motivate you to keep moving in the outdoors, all year long and regardless of the weather.
Changing maps
KSKA: Thursday, October 19, at 2:00 p.m. The old, increasingly inaccurate maps Alaskans have used for decades will soon be gone, as our state is being completely remapped. On this next Outdoor Explorer, we’ll learn how the changing climate has made the maps we all use outdated and even unsafe, and the huge effort to fix that. We're talking maps with the people who use them, make them and study them.
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Action and Scenic Photography
Using a camera to capture the spectacular places and outdoor sports we love can seem like an impossible task. On the next Outdoor Explorer, join us with two guests who have dedicated their lives to making amazing photographs that bring the outdoors to life.
KSKA: Thursday, May 28, at 2:00 and 9:00 p.m.
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Salmon fishing closures and restrictions
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game recently closed or restricted king salmon fishing for the coming season in the Susitna River and Little Susitna drainage, and cut commercial fishing in the northern Cook Inlet. The problem is not enough kings. On the next Outdoor Explorer, we’ll explore why this is happening and the impact of this decision, as king catches have sagged in various areas of the state for several years.
Thanks for listening!
Alaska Sports Hall of Fame | Outdoor Explorer
Hear from Harlow Robinson, executive director of the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame. On April 30, the Hall will induct the class of 2024.
The joy and sorrows of an outdoor family: Raising and losing Cody Roman Dial
For millennia Alaskans raised families in the outdoors. Peggy and Roman Dial raised a family and lost their son living the outdoor life. Roman has written a book titled The Adventurer’s Son and on this week’s Outdoor Explorer we talk to him and Peggy about the joys and sorrows of raising their family.
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!
Skiing Skeetawk in Hatcher Pass | Outdoor Explorer
Meet Skeetawk manager, Megan Justus, and find out what's in store for the growing ski operation.
Urban outdoor exploration
According to The Trust for Public Land, 54% of the nation’s residents live within a 10 minute walk of a park. In Anchorage, that number is 74%. For many residents of an urban area, access to a park near their neighborhood as a child is the first outdoor exploration of life. For adults, a neighborhood park offers a quick trip into nature to recreate and relieve stress. On the next Outdoor Explorer, we’ll be talking with the visionaries, the planners, and the builders of our urban park space.
Thanks for listening!
Long-Range Snow Machine Expeditions
For the next Outdoor Explorer we’re in Fairbanks for a kind of adventure that is uniquely arctic and Fairbanks hard-core: long range expeditions by snow machine. We'll be joined by UAF scientist Matthew Sturm, whose studies of snow led to a career of traveling the breadth of North America on snowmachines with a team of very tough motorheads. We’ll learn about those trips, and how to prepare for motorized travel in some of the most remote spots on the globe.
KSKA: Thursday 12/55 and 2:00 and 9:00 pm.
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Arctic Warriors
On the next Outdoor Explorer, we’re talking about Arctic Warriors and the skills they learn and practice. We have two officers in the studio whose military training has helped them make it through Alaska’s harshest weather. One was on a caribou hunt on North Slope when the weather took a dangerous turn. The other led a successful Denali ascent over the summer. What does the military teach about surviving outdoors? We’ll get into that question on this show.
KSKA: Thursday, Jan. 29, at 2:00 and 9:00 p.m.
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Athletic Injury Prevention and Avoidance
This week we have an important show for anyone who exercises to keep fit. We're talking about injury prevention and recovery. You can avoid a lot of the injuries that come from overuse and excessive effort, and we’ll tell you how to speed your recovery if you do get hurt. As with so many things, a lot of it is mental.
KSKA: Thursday, March 31, at 2pm and Thursday, April 07 at 8pm
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Noise and light pollution
KSKA: Thursday, April 20, at 2:00 p.m. One way of thinking about wilderness is to remember what’s not there. Wilderness is never crowded, or full of artificial noise or electric light. Noise and light would cover up the good qualities in nature - the delicate sounds and the bright stars and aurora of a winter night. On the next Outdoor Explorer, we’re looking at the problem of keeping the wilderness quiet and dark, which unfortunately takes some effort for us, in our bright noisy world.
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2020 Alaska Sports Hall of Fame
On this Outdoor Explorer, Harlow Robinson, executive director of the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame, will catch us up on
the Hall’s class of 2020. The planned induction ceremony for the event, the moment and the individuals to be honored
was slated for April, but the celebration has been delayed to next year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ice Fishing
What goes on inside those tents you see on the frozen lakes around town? On the next Outdoor Explorer,we’ll find out. The topic is ice fishing. Folks do it on stocked lakes all through the city--that’s another unique thing about Anchorage--and in the backcountry they catch great big fish through the ice. We’ll find out how to do it and why. What’s the attraction of fishing in the middle of winter when the water is frozen?
KSKA: Thursday 1/30 at 2:00 and 9:00 pm
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