AlaskaCross 13

The AlaskaCross race just finished a few days ago. Here are a couple links to news articles about this year's race.

News Miner Pre-Race Article

News Miner Post-Race Article


Also, check out the finish line sign-in sheet. 

1987 Pre-Race Article

Check out this article from the Fairbanks newspaper 25 years ago just before the 1987 race.  It has some background info about some of the racers who ran the earlier races.  These guys were tough.  I had to cut out part of the article because of copyright considerations but I left in the relevant stuff.  

The Alaska Mountain and Wilderness Classic is not for the Weak of Heart. 

August 18, 1987

In fact, some say you have to be crazy and insane to even attempt participating in the grueling 235 mile race from Mentasta Lake to the Denali Park Hotel. 

The third annual Wilderness classic will start at 9 a.m. Saturday at Mentasta village.  Race organizer Roman Dial, who also will participate in the event, expects the winner to reach the finish line in about five days. 

In the wilderness Classic each participant must find his way to the finish line without the help of any motorized vehicles or pack animals. 

Generally, there are two different routes a person can take to reach the finish line.  One involves travelling through swamps and valleys while the other includes crossing several glaciers. 

No matter which route a participant takes they must negotiate the treacherous Nenana River to reach the finish line. 

Once the race starts, the only checkpoints are at Fielding Lake and at the Nenana River.  If racers decide to follow a different route they must tell the race marshal of their intentions prior to the start. 

This year’s Classic is actually split into two different events-a “short” jaunt of about 100-miles to Fielding Lake and the annual 235 mile race to Denali Park. 

Two time defending champion Hank Timm of Anchorage heads the field for this year’s race.  He holds the course record of five days and 23 hours. 

Dial and Dave Manzer of Nelchina, who crossed the finish line together in second place last year, are also entered along with Adrian Crane of Ohio and Tom Possert of California, who also crossed the finish line together in fourth place. 

Possert and Crane are both considered ultramarathoners.  Crane has run from the floor of Death Valley in California to the summit of Mt. Whitney. 

Others expected to be at the starting line are Fairbanks runner-mountaineer Dave Dixson, Dave Innis another ultramarathoner from California, Howard Akens of Ohio, David Poppe of Delta Junction, UAF rifle coach Randy Pitney and 60 year old dick Griffith of Anchorage.  Dick was the guy who introduced us to pack-rafting in Alaska,” Dial said. 

Contestants will be competing for a variety of prizes including a four pound Sherpa packraft and a half ounce gold nugget donated by the Gold Prospectors Association of America. 

As of Wednesday, there were three competitors expected to compete in the shorter 100 mile race.  They are Claire Holland of Delta Junction, Bruce Bench of Eielson Air Force Base and Bruce Smith of Anchorage. 

The race has been cleared by the Bureau of Land Management. 

The rules for the race are fairly simple.  All travel must be self-propelled and self contained.  In other words, each competitor must carry everything needed from start to finish without the benefit of pre-planned caches or aid stations. 

Racers may not use any portion o the Alaska Highway system with the exception of that portion of the Parks Highway between McKinley Village and the first Parks Highway Bridge crossing of the Nenana River downstream of Riley Creek. 

Littering is grounds for disqualification.  Purposefully dropping gear is considered littering. 

All racers must reach the Fielding Lake checkpoint by 9 a.m. Aug. 19 or they will be disqualified.  Those competing in the longer race also must check in at the Nenana River by 2 p.m., Aug. 22 or they will be disqualified.  All racers must reach the finish line by 6 p.m. Aug. 23. 

All participants dropping out of either event are required to notify appropriate race personnel. 

There will a post-race banquet at 2 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 23 at the McKinley Denali Salmon Bake at 238.5 Mile Parks Highway.  The banquet is free to race participants and checkpoint personnel.  There will be a $10 charge for all others wishing to attend. 

2011 Race Report from Winner Luc Mehl

 Check out this race write-up from Luc Mehl who won this year's race with three other guys.  Luc has some great pictures on his blog of this year's race and a lot of other adventures too.  Here's a link.  Luc Mehl's blog.

2011 Race Write-up - Copied with permission from Luc's blog:

The 2011 Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic didn’t fail to deliver. I partnered with John Sykes, my companion on spring trips to Sanford and Carpathian. We went as ‘independent nations’ with Tyler Johnson and Todd Kasteler, meaning that both pairs were self-sufficient in case anything went wrong or our paces didn’t match. Our team was well-suited for this semi-technical route; John and I were on Denali this May/June, Todd and Tyler were on Dhaulagiri (8167m, Nepal) in April/May.

Several old friends attended the race this year, including fan-favorite ‘ultra-heavy’ Rob Kehrer, who is basically my nemesis, and John Lapkis, who would hold the record for most finished courses upon reaching McKinley Village. Rob teamed up with Greg from Sleeping Lady Brewing Company, who tried to convince everyone that the first beer or two hydrates better than water.

It was also fun to start with friends nervous and excited for their first classic. Besides John Sykes, Dave Chenault from Kalispell and Paige Brady from Anchorage were ready for the suffer-fest. Notably missing from the race where Chris and Bobby, which meant that a victory was possible. Traveling the shortest route and teaming up with Tyler and Todd, both previous winners, made me more optimistic about winning than I’d dared before.

John and I practiced ‘Kama Sutra Packrafting’ in Goose Lake to see if we could share one boat and reduce the weight in our packs. I’d paddled some miles with a 120-pounder sitting up front, but John’s 6’4″ frame didn’t fit quite as well. We used the ‘beast with two backs’ position to get across the Delta River, but switched to ‘Luge’ for the Yanert. Todd and Tyler swam instantly in the Delta, tried a second time, and then Tyler ran back to the start to grab his boat and paddle.

We started with 25 pound packs that included a 30m rope, crampons, ice screw, limited hardware, and 7 lbs of food.

We had an incredible team dynamic. Everyone stepped up to take lead and set the pace at different stages of the course. I was very confident about John’s crevasse navigation skills after we skied down Sanford in the dark, so I let him know we were expecting him to be on lead through the crux field of crevasses. Despite having slept 20 minutes in ~48 hours, John stayed alert and led us through hundreds of crevasses hidden by blowing snow and a fresh foot on the ground. Cumulatively we had 36 crevasse breaches, but never anything that we couldn’t pull ourselves out of.

It was too cold to sleep for more than a few minutes; no one got more than 30 minutes of sleep during the 64 hours on the course. I had a really strong sense of deja vu while navigating the Yanert Glacier and moraine. I kept thinking, “I’ve done this before… we just need to keep moving down glacier, it doesn’t help to stop and evaluate each route option… where did I do this? Was I with Tyler? John? When did I pick through a moraine and then packraft?” I replayed all the glacier trips I’ve done and couldn’t find a match. I told Todd about it and he said, “Weird. Tyler just told me the same thing.”

Floating the Yanert was really cold for John and I. We flipped the raft 3 times despite the stability of the luge position. We stopped three times and Tyler and Todd had a fires roaring to warm us up. On the 8 mile ATV trail exit we were moving fast, but even so I wasn’t able to generate enough heat to warm up. I didn’t get warm until we got to Anne Beaulaurier’s empty cabin conveniently located 1/4 mile from the finish. We cranked up the electric and wood stoves, and found Missy Smith’s chili waiting for us in a slow cooker. Unbelievable!

The victory was really meaningful for all of us: the third victory on three different courses for Tyler, consecutive wins for Todd, youngest winner for John (22 years old), and winter-summer victories in the same year for me. We were so thrilled! And a bit loopy…

Thanks to Black Rapids Lodge, Anne, and Missy for the hospitality, and especially Michael Martin for organizing the race!

No news yet.

Well, the 2011 Wilderness Classic racers have been underway for three days now.  There is no news yet on anyone finishing or dropping out but you'll be the first to know once I do.  The course is a bit shorter this year so it's possible someone could come in within the next day or so to the finish line.  I'll keep you posted. 

Good luck 2011 Racers!

Good luck to everyone running the race this year.  Make wise decisions and enjoy the experience.  

FYI:  The course has changed a bit from last year.  The race will start at the Black Rapids Lodge instead of at the Gerstle River. 

Here are some last minute updates from the race director Michael Martin.  

Alpacka Rafts has donated an Alpacka raft as a prize.  All the entrants to the race are eligible and the winner will be drawn after the race.  Just a note, Alpacka is the go-to place if you do any packrafting at all.  Here is a link to there website.  http://alpackaraft.com/

   

If you need a ride to the starting line, contact Michael Martin.  He has room to take 10 or 12 people.  Also, don't forget about the pre-race party at Dick Griffith's house Friday evening.  This party is a great place to meet other racers and check out the competition.  A lot of newbies find this gathering intimidating because the collection of raw talent that shows up is amazing.  Most experienced racers are understated but then you start talking with them and realize they've done endurance training in the last month that would put Ironman triathletes to shame.  Combined with a Grizzly Adams knowledge of the wilderness makes for some very interesting people.   

There will be a pasta dinner at the Black Rapids Lodge on Saturday the 16th for all racers and others. Racers will be paid for, others will need to pay for themselves.  Dinner starts at 7 p.m. at the Lodge.

2011 Race Prep

With the Classic just a few weeks away, if you are planning to do the race, you should be mostly prepared by now.  Your physical training should be done and you should rest as much as possible the last couple weeks.  Short runs and hikes and very mild exercise should be your goal.  Aim for as little stress as possible. 

I’m not the race director so I don’t know the exact number of entries but based on the number of requests for information I’ve received, it looks there are an unprecedented number of rookies that are interested. 

Use the remaining couple of weeks before the race to prepare yourself mentally.  The anticipation is bound to be intense but you can use and direct the nervous anxiety to prepare yourself.  Accept who you are and where you are at this point in your life.  Center yourself.  This may sound a little dramatic and new age-ish but if you don’t think about it now, you will in the middle of the race as doubts fill your mind and you question why you started.  There’s nothing like a hundred or so miles of true wilderness to amplify your personality flaws. 

Anyway, back to centering yourself.  Meditation, yoga and tai chi are all excellent ways to center your mind and keep your body limber.  Spend part of your meditation time clearing and slowing your mind by focusing only on your breathing.  The rest of the time visualize yourself in the race overcoming difficulties.  It’s most helpful to imagine the feelings and emotions you will encounter.  For example:  imagine how cold and tired you will be and the despair that comes along with it.  Then spend several minutes feeling how satisfied, competent and proud you are when you continue hiking through the cold, exhaustion and feelings of hopelessness. 

Most of all visualize yourself as confident, competent and making intelligent, safe choices. You don't have anything to prove, just enjoy the experience and the journey.  

Fairbanks Daily News Miner Article

Here's an article about the 2010 Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic race in the Fairbanks newspaper. 

Rookie Racer from Fairbanks . . .


Also, take a look at this video by Luc Mehl about his Classic experience in this year's race. 

Biking the Classic

2010 Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic Race Report

I'm posting the official 2010 race report below.  It sounds like this year was a doozy.  Really nasty hypothermia inducing weather forced the majority of the entrants to drop out.  Eighteen people started the race and six people finished. 

If you survived the race, congratulations on finishing or on making a wise choice to drop out. If you didn't do the race this year, you should probably be glad you didn't. Happy reading.

2010 Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic Race Report

The problems began early for this year’s trouble-plagued Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic. This year’s race, the 29th annual event, ran from the Gerstle river crossing of Highway 2 to McKinley Village, which is something like 120 miles away across the Alaska Range as the crow flies, and up to 180 miles depending on the route chosen. Even before the starting cry of “OK, let’s go!” on Sunday morning June 20th, problems began for race coordinator and racer Michael Martin when his partner (and son) awoke with fever and nausea, forcing a scratch only hours before the race. This left Martin scrambling to re-pack for a solo approach.

19 racers registered for this year’s event, including a higher than usual percentage of racers from outside. Racers came from Washington, Colorado, Utah and Florida. With one scratch at the start, 18 set out Sunday morning to navigate over or around the Granite Mountains between Highway 2 and the Donnelly Creek campground checkpoint on Highway 4. From there they would choose between any number of routes to reach McKinley Village.

As usual in the Classic, racers showed real creativity in routes and methods of travel chosen. The rules state that all travel must be self-contained and self-propelled. Racers are not allowed to add or leave anything once the race has begun. No help from non-racers. Luc Mehl and Eric Parsons had perhaps the most unusual approach, showing up with custom “tundra bikes” outfitted with a series of frame and other bags designed by pro-designer Eric (Revelate Designs®) which held their pack rafts, skis and other gear. They planned to ride the ATV trails around the Granite mountains, then ski (towing their gear and bikes in their inflated pack rafts), boat, ride and hike to the finish.

“Chunk” Bernard and partner Tyler Johnson planned a southerly route following the checkpoint at the Donnelley campground. They would walk south to Black Rapids, cross the Delta, ski up the Black Rapids glacier and follow a glacier route to the Nenana. They would then packraft the Nenana to the finish.

Most others chose to race along the north side of the range, crossing the Trident, Hayes and Gillam glaciers in various combinations and at various points. Most would float or walk the Wood river and float the Yannert, getting off before the Yannert enters a gorge near Denali Park, and walking into the finish near McKinley Village.

A team composed of 2009 Classic winners, Bobby Schnell and Chris Robertson was joined by Todd Kasteler. They planned to jog the first section to the checkpoint, and were accompanied by newcomer Danny Powers and the team of Chunk Bernard and Tyler Johnson, reaching the checkpoint in just over 13 hours. But the weather was not going to cooperate this year, and by the time even the fastest racers had reached the Donnelley checkpoint, most racers were hypothermic from sleet and rain, and many had been significantly slowed by fog and extremely wet conditions making travel across even good tundra “mushy”.

The “G Force” team of Jeff and Greg Gedney, joined by Floridian Jason Speigel found themselves overwhelmed by freezing rain and fog in the Granite mountains, not finding the Richardson Highway (and Donnelly checkpoint) for 36 hours. Speigel had a badly hurt knee by that time, and that combined with hypothermia caused the team to scratch at the checkpoint. Peter Calvin and partner Susannah Pratt originally made the checkpoint in good shape and crossed the Delta only to find that the weather was even further deteriorating in the high ground between the Delta and the Trident glacier, and returned to the Donnelley checkpoint where they left the race. In fact, by Monday evening 10 of the 18 starters had abandoned the race at or near the Donnelly Campground because of hypothermia, weather and/or injury. This included rookie Travis Carbough, who had made good time over the Granite mountains, but succumbed to the same weather challenges as many others.

Chunk Bernard and Tyler Johnson, having made it as far as Black Rapids on Monday, spent several hours evaluating the weather and making tough decisions about going on over the long glaciated route. They report that the peaks and glacier were completely socked in, and with regret, they also decided to drop out.

From the point of view of race director Martin, the language expressed in the AMWC application “Responsible racers will make timely decisions about whether to drop out or attempt to finish when difficulties present themselves….there is always another race.” is key at times like this. The Classic is perhaps the toughest cross-country race around, but it is meant to provide a challenge, not irreversible consequences. And in the 29 years of the race there has never been such a problem, largely due to the intelligent decisions of the participants at times like this.

The team of Rob Kehrer and Matt Reardon and solo racers John Lapkass and Michael Martin all eventually found their way to the Donnelley campground at various times on Monday, and began to consider whether to drop out or go on.

Each made a decision to spend the night at the checkpoint, assay the weather in the morning, and decide whether to continue. Because the weather seemed to be improving, all continued, crossing the Delta in the morning and heading for the high ground to cross the Trident. By this time, Martin’s original partner, Michael Peñuelas, was feeling better, and joined him for the second section.

In the meantime, the weather, although seemingly locally improving, continued to deteriorate, with thunderstorms, hail and sleet dogging the racers all along the route. The group of Bobby Schnell, Chris Robertson, Todd Kastener and Danny Powers, leading the remaining racers by a huge margin, themselves ended up hypothermic and needing an 11 hour layover in the mid-section of the second part of the course to warm up and regroup. Nevertheless, their finish time of 4 days and 48 minutes indicates that had the weather cooperated, they would have handily beat the record of 3 days, 17 hours and 54 minutes.

Martin and (at that point non-competitor) partner Peñuelas had the astonishing luck to film a wolverine crossing the center of the Trident moraine. They later scratched from a tiny airstrip on the Little Delta, realizing they would not make another exit point in a reasonable time, but were awed by the beauty and challenge of the route, and left the race in good shape. The same could not be said of veteran Classic racer John Lapkass of Anchorage, who suffered a medical emergency and was extracted by helicopter from the last-third section of the route, proving definitively the value of the required satellite phones for all racers. From his hospital bed, Lapkass expressed deep regret because he had been in great shape at that point, and poised for a satisfying finish at McKinley Village.

The only other finishers, sharing second place this year were Rob Kehrer and Matt Reardon, finishing in great shape (except for Matt’s impressively damaged feet) in a time of 6 days, 9 hours and 22 minutes.

According to Martin, who has participated in Classics since 1993, and served as race director for 5 of those years, this Classic was as “classic” as the race gets…a widely varied group of competitors, wildly imaginative routes, weather of every variety, and challenges at every step. This year also boasts the lowest finish ratio in memory, and emphasizes that this race is extremely tough and unpredictable, and that the objective hazard of the weather can make all the difference. According to Dick Griffith, holder of the record for the most Classic finishes, in reference to this years race, “They just don’t make ‘em like they used to.”

2010 - No more info yet.

I don't have any more recent race finishing info yet other than the comment someone posted this morning about Rob Kehrer and Matt Reardon finishing on Saturday night at 7:40 p.m.

By my count, that's six people who have finished the race and six people who have dropped out.  That leaves potentially five people who are still on the course. 

More info as soon as I get it. 

2010 Preliminary Race Results

Here's a quick update on The Race. 

17 people started the race this year.

Chris Robertson, Bobby Schnell, Todd ?? and Dan Powers won the race. 

Pete Calvin and Suzanne dropped out at Donnelly. 

Luc Mehl and his travel partner dropped out at Donnelly with a broken bicycle. 

Craig (Chunk) and his travel partner dropped out at Black Rapids. 

As far as I know, Michael Martin and John Lapkass were still in the race. 

That's all the info I have now.  Updates as soon as I find out more. 

2010 Race and Paddle to Seattle

If you are doing the Classic this year, hopefully you are ready because it starts in just a couple days! Here are a couple of links to webcams and weather info at different places along the typical route.  

Black Rapids
Maclaren Lodge
Cantwell

Also, you can now order your DVD of the Alaskan adventure film Paddle to Seattle on AlaskaeBooks. 

1987 Race

Check out this article from August 18, 1987 in the Fairbanks paper about the Black Rapids to McKinley Village route.  I had to do some electronic gymnastics when I was scanning in this older stuff but I made sure the whole article is there.  Some of these older articles I'll be posting as JPEG's and some as PDF's because if I just cut and pasted the text, you wouldn't get as much of the flavor of the physical article and you would miss out on the maps. 

Many thank you's to Roman Dial for access to this stuff!

1995 Anchorage Daily News Article

This article was first printed in the Anchorage Daily News on August 15, 1995.  It's about the Black Rapids to Mckinley Village route.  Reprinted in full with explicit permission from the Anchorage Daily News.  

TORTOISE OUTRUNS HARES - SAUNDERS CAPTURES

WILDERNESS CLASSIC

Anchorage Daily News (AK) - Tuesday, August 15, 1995
Author: CRAIG MEDRED Daily News outdoors editor ; Staff
After a 21/2-day-long game of cat and mouse through the wilds on the north side of the Alaska Range, Clark Saunders of Girdwood emerged at McKinley Village last week to claim victory in the 14th running of the 130-mile Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic.

Only two hours back, having encountered problems with a recalcitrant brown bear, were runners-up Kevin Donley and Marten Martensen, both of Anchorage. Martensen, a threetime winner of the Seward Mount Marathon, and Donley, a 35-minute 10-K road runner and seasoned mountain runner, stalked Saunders for 130 miles but failed to catch him.

The 36-year-old Saunders credited his past experience on the route along with rafting skills for his narrow victory over the two men in their mid-20s.

''It was sort of the tortoise and the hares,'' Saunders said.

Donley and Martensen were faster hikers, particularly on the uphills, Saunders said, but they lost some time trying to find the fastest routes into and out of several mountain passes. They also had to walk around rapids on the Yanert River. Martensen and Donley also had a little run-in with a grizzly bear in the dark, and that turned to Saunders advantage. The incident, Saunders said, came just after he was passed in the night about halfway through the race.

Saunders was by then sitting next to a fire, exhausted and hoping to lure the younger men into taking a break with the promise of warmth on a cold night. They resisted the trap, but went only a little farther before running into the grizzly bear in a creek bottom.

That brought them back seeking advice. Saunders said he didn't know what to do and didn't really care because all he wanted to do was sleep. ''They ended up going about 300 yards away and camping and building a big fire and drying out,'' Saunders said.

The bear stayed, too, however. '

'Somewhere around 1:30 or so, I hear some rustle, rustle, crack, crack,'' Saunders said. ''I see this large, hairy mass. I could see it was a bear, but it wasn't a huge bear. But I could see by its head it was a grizzly.

''It was on all fours sniffing under the tree-slash-bush where my food was. I was just thinking, 'I'm too tired for this."''

Saunders thought about yelling at the bear but decided that might scare it into charging. He wasn't, however, going to let it have his food. So, he said, he decided to run his fingers over the nylon on his 2-foot-high, one-man tent to produce a subtle but totally unnatural sound.

The bear heard it, got visibly nervous, ''and swayed on out of there,'' Saunders said.

He went back to sleep in seconds -- only to oversleep. When he woke at 4:45 a.m., Martensen and Donley were gone.

They didn't have much of a lead, however, and Saunders caught them when they struggled in thick brush he knew to avoid. He briefly gave the lead up one more time, but led the race down the Yanert River and sealed the victory there.

An experienced paddler, Saunders ran the Yanert River rapids in his tiny, one-man inflatable raft. Most other competitors decided to portage, and one of the handful of others who ran the big water ended up complaining this year's race was too easy.

For the first time in the history of the race, everyone who started finished. Twenty-six men and women entered.

''We need to move the course,'' former champ Brant McGee of Anchorage said. Traditionally, the classic has lasted no more than three years on any one course. The idea from the beginning was to move the race periodically to keep the route-finding aspect challenging, said organizer Roman Dial.

The race began as a 150-mile Hope to Homer race across the Andy Simons Wilderness Area of the Kenai Peninsula in 1982. It moved to a 245-mile course on the north side of the Alaska Range from Mentasta to McKinley in 1985.

From there it was on to the Wrangell Mountains and a 145-mile route from Nabesna to McCarthy in 1988 through 1990. In 1991, with McGee organizing the always informal competition, the race went north to the Brooks Range.

Last year, for the first time, it settled into the 130-mile, largely brush-free route across the north side of the Alaska Range from Donnelly to McKinley.

The route requires competitors to cross two glaciers, climb over a 6,000 foot pass, and float about 25 miles of river in little rubber rafts, and 26 people this year proved they could do that.

''It's not a wilderness race if everybody finishes,'' McGee said. ''It should be damn difficult to finish. The achievement should be in finishing. If everybody finishes, that diminishes the achievement.''

McGee finished third this year about two hours behind Martensen and Donley. As usual, Alaskans dominated the competition, but for the first time people from Outside the state faired well.Racers from Seattle; Boise; Reno, Nev.; Hanover, N.H.; and San Diego all managed to follow the unmarked, wilderness route from start to finish.

ALASKA MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS CLASSIC
1) Clark Saunders, Girdwood, 2 days, 12 hours, 20 minutes
2 & 3) Kevin Donley and Marten Martensen, Anchorage, 2:14:21
4) Brant McGee, Anchorage, 2:16:10
5 & 6) Roman and Peggy Dial, Anchorage, 3:09:03
7) Michael Martin, Seattle, 3:09:49
8) Dave Lucey, Anchorage, 3:10:15
9) Jeff Mailloux, Boise, Idaho
10,11,12,13,14) Skip Kula, Steve Daigle, Mike Wayt, Brent Widenhouse and Shane Metcalf of Anchorage, 3:15:43
15) John Lapkass, Anchorage, 3:19:15
16 & 17) Greg Tibbetts and Eric Sachs, Anchorage, 3:23:05
18) Mark Ross, Fairbanks, 4:02:10
19 & 20) Jeff Gedney, Reno, Nev., and John Sisson, Hanover, N.H., 4:04:37
21,22,23,24,25,26) Dick, Barney and Bobbie Sue Griffith of Anchorage, Brian Hall of Anchorage, Sue Ellen Christiansen of Fritz Creek and Tim Gillis of San Diego, 5:09:25.