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Sitting down with trail builder and Anchorage ski racing pioneer Jim Mahaffey | Outdoor Explorer

By Adam Verrier

Published March 20, 2025 at 2:03 PM AKDT

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Black and white photo of a man talking to another man. — Anchorage ski racing pioneer Jim Mahaffey at the 1973 Nordic Championships in Minneapolis.

Trail builder and Anchorage ski racing pioneer, Jim Mahaffey, visits the studio to discuss his arrival in Alaska in the 1960s, the early years of the Alaska Methodist University Ski Team and the construction of the APU ski trail system in the U-Med district in Anchorage. Jim’s program pioneered the early development of women’s cross-country ski racing and his program supplied many of the members of the first American women's Olympic teams in cross-country skiing. Most of the Anchorage bowl’s trail systems and many of its organized ski programs can trace their lineage back to Mahaffey.

HOST: Adam Verrier

GUEST: Jim Mahaffey

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Adam Verrier

Adam Verrier grew up in New Hampshire and has lived in Norway, Sweden, and Michigan, but moved to Alaska immediately after graduating from the University of Wyoming in 1992 and has lived here ever since. Adam enjoys all kinds of outdoor activities and was a member of the 1994 Olympic Team in cross-country skiing. After getting out of elite-level ski racing, he found a job appraising rural and remote real estate, primarily in the Aleutian Islands, Bristol Bay, Pribilof Islands, the Alaska Peninsula, Kodiak Island and Cordova – all places that require travel by air or sea. His work allows Adam to explore remote areas of the state and to meet the interesting people who live in those places. When not traveling around Alaska for work, he is a volunteer assistant coach for the University of Alaska-Anchorage Ski Team, and also does ski race announcing / commentating for major events in Alaska and around the country. A committed bicycle commuter, Adam enjoys going on bicycle and motorcycle adventures every chance he gets.

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