By Gavin Kentch
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It is November, and there is snow on the ground in Alaska. Also in New England. Maybe not so much at most points in between; it’s been a pretty grim start to “winter” in the Mountain West. Maybe not grim grim, because shorts and a t-shirt weather is objectively pretty nice, but also not not grim, because shorts weather in November is a bad sign for skiers.
In Alaska, meanwhile, a state where the background security text on driver’s licenses reads “The Great Land” (it’s actually derived from the Aleut alyeska, which is culturally sensitive and neat, but is also maybe a little too on the nose for a place that refers to the rest of the country as “Outside”), people are skiing, and have been for nearly two weeks now. In Anchorage, I guess; a few weeks longer than that up in Fairbanks.
Last weekend saw a trio of time-trial efforts in Anchorage and environs, as the state’s fastest skiers at APU, University of Alaska Anchorage, and University of Alaska Fairbanks geared up for the winter ahead. Here are some photos of those efforts, with a few details on who raced what. (Cite: This is all from reading between the lines via Strava uploads and some photos provided from the APUNSC media person; nobody is inviting me to these internal time trials. Unrelatedly, click on any photo in the tiled galleries to enlarge.)
Friday, November 14
Race: APU skate sprint simulation, over the Andrew’s Hill section of the 5/7.5km Lekisch Loop, Kincaid Park, Anchorage. (This is a bit shorter in total distance than your typical sprint course, but the Strava segment starts with 41m of elevation gain over just 850 meters — the full unofficial sprint course here is roughly one kilometer — so it definitely skis harder than its distance may imply.)
Insight I can find from stalking Strava: Michael Earnhart had a “decent quali,” but “couldn’t find that dog in the heats.”
Winner: lol this is APU, I could tell you but then I’d have to kill you
Saturday, November 15
Race: APU, UAA, and UAF 8-kilometer interval-start classic time trial, 4km loop, Girdwood. Back to Strava segments again, the loop has 137m of gain over 4km, nearly all of it coming in the first 1.6km. It is not easy.
Insights I can find from stalking Strava: Murphy Kimball logged 14,995 trophies in Clash Royale, then lost. Also, Michael Earnhart noted that he “had chest strap hr today for all you nerds.” I feel seen. (Earnhart’s MHR in the race, since you asked, was 186.)
Winner: The nine fastest times for this segment on Strava all date to last Saturday, with Earnhart at the top, but there may exist some athletes in the world who are not on Strava (?!), so this is not dispositive (shoutout to Michael though). Only one performance in the women’s top-10 dates to Saturday, so no thoughts on the women, sorry. Lots of fast skiers to pick from between those three teams, clearly.
Sunday, November 16
Race: UAA, UAF, and Alaska Winter Stars 9-kilometer interval-start skate time trial, Jodphur Loop, Kincaid. This course (again per Strava, not per anything more formal) has 55m of climb over just about 3km on the nose, so it was a little more humane than the other courses in this roundup. But that said there’s not much rest out there; none of the downhills is long, none is technical, and you basically just have to push for the entire 3km. Three times in a row. Skiing is hard because it is hard in different ways.
Insights I can find from stalking Strava: Tabitha Williams (UAF/British National Team) had a strong race, but added, “Although my shins hurt SO bad like when you skate ski for the first time, last lap was just trying to stay on my feet and not to fall on the corners could hardly ski. Also Alaska is SO F-ING COLD went straight to the van and started shivering and shaking definitely did some damage to the lungs out there today.”
Winner: Rosie Fordham (UAF/Australian National Team), with Williams one second back, per Strava. No clue on the men, sorry.
[I don’t think I have photos for Sunday, sorry, and don’t really want to drag Tabby by embedding her Strava post of her sitting in the van under a blanket freezing. If anything, as I said on my own Strava for the day, shoutout to Tabitha Williams for the heads-up on how brutally damp and cold it was so that I could do my intensity that day in shell pants and a jacket rather than a race suit.]
Racing continues in Anchorage this weekend with a pair of interval-start races, 10km skate on Saturday and 7.5km classic on Sunday. They will be the first FIS races held on the continent this season, following the cancellation of last weekend’s Race to the Outhouse #1 and #2 due to insufficient snow at the venue. If anyone knows the course for the Anchorage Winter Start races, lmk. I am serious; I’m looking to race, and it feels like everyone else in Anchorage already knows this. Thanks.
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