Outdoor Explorer

A huge proportion of Alaska is covered with ice. A lot more than has towns and cities or anything man made on it. That’s a lot of country to explore, and its truly beautiful, like another world. On the next Outdoor Explorer the topic is glacier travel. We’ll be talking with a guide who takes newbies on glacier treks, a photographer who specializes in glacier journeys, and a glaciologist who goes to work on glaciers, and knows how they’re made. KSKA: Thursday 6/20 at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm Listen Now

Over the course of humanity's time on earth we have learned much from nature. In modern history science and adventure have had a symbiotic relationship. On this show we’ll be talking to Dr. Caroline Van Hemert, who travelled from Bellingham to Kotzebue by row boat, skis, packraft, canoe, and on foot. In the 2nd half of the show we’ll be talking with Dr. Kathy Kuletz, who has studied seabirds in Prince William Sound and the North Gulf of Alaska since 1978. Thanks for listening!

It’s been a bad year for avalanches in south central Alaska, with several deaths occurring in the mountains. Still, we have more information to avoid avalanches than ever before. On the next Outdoor Explorer we'll visit with the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center to learn how the staff there studies the snow and predicts whether or not backcountry activities will be safe, and what you need to know for your own adventures. KSKA: Thursday, March 17, at 2:00 and Thursday, March 24, at 8:00 p.m. DOWNLOAD AUDIO

On the next Outdoor Explorer, we will continue the series Travel School with Jodi Harskamp and Neal Stanbury and their children, Tui and Leif. As they are wrapping up their time in California in Death Valley National Park, LA county goes into lockdown, forcing them to leave early and head for Arizona and beyond.

On the next Outdoor Explorer, our guest is Hank Lentfer, author of the book “Raven’s Witness: The Alaska Life of Richard K. Nelson.” Richard was Alaska’s Writer Laureate from 1999 – 2001, but he is maybe best remembered for his National Public Radio show “Encounters” that was centered around the sounds of Alaska.

On this episode of Outdoor Explorer we're joined by Haley Johnston, the co-chair of the Chugach Park Fund’s Citizens Advisory Board. The Chugach Park Fund was established in 2016 under the umbrella of The Alaska Community Foundation and since that time has been a critical part of improving trails, signs and facilities in Chugach State Park. Haley fills us in on past, present and future projects.

On this show we hear from several guests about climate change and its impact on the sports and recreational activities that so many of us love. We cover how the climate in Alaska is changing, what these changes mean for all Alaskans, and what we as individuals can do to help combat climate change.

March is decision time for college bound students. This Outdoor Explorer features Alaska's outdoor university degree programs and the value they add to the outdoor profession.

KSKA: Thursday, May 5 @ 2:00 pm. On the next Outdoor Explorer we’ll have two different father-daughter teams who reconnected through big adventures. One pair rode motorcycles from Alaska to college in New York, the other came from Wisconsin to build a cabin in northern Alaska. DOWNLOAD AUDIO

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

KSKA: Thursday, April 07, at 2pm and Thursday, April 14 at 8pm In Alaska, we rely on air taxis and private pilots to go hunting, hiking, floating and to climb mountains. If you’ve been doing that long enough, you’ve been on some scary flights, as I certainly have. But for some reason we don’t talk about that much, or about the people who have died, as if we thought we couldn’t do anything about it. On the next show we are having that talk.

Planning for the outdoors comes at all levels, both personal and for State Park staff. On the first half of this Outdoor Explorer we'll talk to Ricky Geese, Director of Alaska's Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation, and Zach Babb with the National Park Service's Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program about the Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan, or "SCORP." This document is in draft form and the state is looking for input from the public. It help sets the state's priorities when it comes to managing state parks for the next five years. It is also full of interesting data about outdoor recreation and tourism. On the second half of the show Rick Roth of Alaska Mountaineering and Hiking discusses the newest outdoor gear in time for the holiday shopping season.

This week on Outdoor Explorer we dive into the Alaska Long Trail. It would connect Seward and Fairbanks via a multi user trail system.

On thi next Outdoor Explorer, we will have the last of the series Travel School with Jodi Harskamp and Neal Stanbury and their children, Tui and Leif. The last time we checked in they were visiting the parks of Florida. Unexpectedly, Jodi gets called back to work and the homeward bound journey begins.

A few years ago I got interested in a group that was cleaning up marine debris from beaches in Prince William Sound. I volunteered, and I was blown away by what a rewarding experience it was to pick up trash. On today’s show, we’re talking about beach cleanup, both on the wild, outer coast where stuff is washing up from Japan, and on our beaches here in Anchorage. And we’ll talk about creek cleanup too, which is coming up shortly, and where we get to tend to our own back yard. KSKA: Thursday, May 7, at 2:00 and 9:00 p.m. Listen now:

Alaska Indigenous Peoples have been living, playing, and thriving in Alaska for thousands of years. Outdoor recreation and tourism is perceived as being primarily a white person's game. Jody Potts-Joseph, Han Gwich'in and founder of Native Youth Outdoors is breaking that stereotype. Join Outdoor Explorer host Paul Twardock to hear Jody tell her story

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. Listen now:

The Alaska Ski for Women is one of the biggest women’s ski events in the World, and it’s happening in Anchorage on February 5th! This week on Outdoor Explorer, we’ll talk with founder Sally Burkholder, about its beginnings more than two decades ago. And we’ll also talk with Director Molly Mylius about this year’s event.

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!

On the next Outdoor Explorer we’re talking about sea kayaking in Prince William Sound. It’s a short drive from Anchorage, and it’s one of the most famous places to paddle on Earth. Many of us have great memories of paddling trips in the Sound. Others would probably like to try it but aren’t sure how to go about it, to be safe, and to break away on your own. Join us to share the feeling of silence in a quiet cove in the sound, and the practicalities of how to get there. KSKA: Thursday, 5/30, 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm Listen Now