Classic 2013 Preliminary Report

This just in . . .

The 2013 Classic took 7 1/2 days to finish this year.  Five out of thirteen racers finished. 

That's all the info I have for now but I should have more soon. 

2013 Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic

For everyone who doesn't yet have an application for the 2013 race here it is straight from Luc Mehl.  
______________________________________

Show time! The 32nd Wilderness Classic, Thompson Pass to McCarthy, will start June 23rd.

Follow the links below for race information and application. I'm leaving May 19th for a month without communication, so please get questions, concerns, and rookie applications to me before May 19th. After May 19th, please direct question to Team Heavy:

Rob Kehrer, robkehrer@gci.net

Greg Mills, gregthebrewer@gmail.com

Deadlines:

• Rookie Racer Applications: May 19th (soft deadline... I can't help you much after that, but the other guys can)
• Returning Racer Applications: June 21st (but please let me know sooner!)
• Liability Release, $100 suggested donation: June 21st

2013 Application

2013 Information and Liability Release

2013 race info webpage

2012 Results/Links

2012 Race Roundup

It seems like every year the Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic exceeds expectations in way and this year was no exception.  The 2012 race was perhaps the most difficult race yet.  Fifteen people started the race at Thompson Pass near Valdez and seven racers finished.  As in past years, everyone exercised excellent judgment and there were no serious injuries.

There were three main routes racers used.  Take a look at this Google map for details on the routes.
Google Map of 2012 Race Routes


Final Race Results

Luc Mehl and Josh Mumm, 3d 22.5h, Bremner Route
Todd Tumolo and Gerard Ganey, 4d 4h, Ice Route
Roman Dial, 4d 9h 52m, Bremner Route
John Sykes and Mike Loso, 4d 12h, Ice Route

DNF: Dave Chenault, John Lapkass, “Team Heavy” (Greg Mills, Rob Keher, Matt Reardon), Todd Kasteler, Tyler Johnson, Danny Powers.

A couple years ago there was almost no information about the Wilderness Classic on the web.  Now you can find videos, detailed accounts of Classic experiences and fantastic photos of the race.  I'll post some links here soon.  A special thanks to Luc Mehl who has done a great job of organizing this year's race.  You can find all sorts of information, including videos and links on his blog. 

2012 Winners

Congratulations to everyone who competed in the Classic this year.  Thanks to everyone who posted information about the race and finish.  There is a good summary of the race this year here Bedrock and Paradox.  In a race that redefines brutality, this year seemed particularly brutal with many experienced and savvy racers dropping out of the race.  Luc Mehl and Josh Mumm came in first place, Todd Tumalo and Gerard Caney came in second place, and Roman Dial came in third being the first solo finisher. John Sykes and Mike Loso came in fourth place. 

2011 Final Race Results

Here is a report from race director Michael Martin who has volunteered as race director for many years.  Thank you to Michael who finished the race this year with a torn meniscus!  Congratulations to John Lapkass who now holds the record for the most finishes at eighteen.  John finished the race this year with a broken arm!  Congratulations to everyone who ran the race this year. 
 
Race Report

The 30^th annual Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic, in a slight break from tradition for the third year of this 3-year cycle changed the route somewhat more than usual, with a new start. Rather than the Gerstle River crossing of Hwy 2, the start took place as it did in the ’94-’96 series at the Black Rapid Lodge on the Richardson Highway.  This change eliminated the Granite Mountains crossing from the Gerstle River crossing to the Donnelly Wayside, and resulted in a route of approximately 150 miles for the majority of racers using routes which connected the Delta, Wood and Yanert rivers.

This change was made due to popular request from the majority of racers from the first 2 years and suggestions from other “stakeholders” to make the route more “accomplishable”, but still challenging.  In addition, the segment from the Gerstle River crossing to the Donnelly wayside was deemed “pretty much done”, and the really exciting and beautiful sections are predominately in the segment from Black Rapids to McKinley Village anyway.

Nineteen racers assembled at the Black Rapids Lodge on the morning of Sunday, July 17^th at 9:30 for a final pre-race information session by race director (and veteran of 14 Classics) Michael Martin.  Racers were treated to a pre-race dinner the night before at the beautiful Black Rapids Lodge where AMWC veterans shared stories with the many rookies, and everyone compared strategies and racing tips.

The morning of the 17^th was somewhat overcast, but warm, and provided ideal weather conditions for wilderness racing.  Most groups and individuals headed out for the “standard” route, starting with a float on the Delta downstream to McGuiness Creek where racers left the river and headed cross-country for a crossing of the Trident Glacier and on to crossings of the Hayes and Gillam glaciers, a walk or float of the Wood River and a final float of the Yanert River to a Moose Creek takeout near McKinley Village and the finish. 

Unfortunately, by Sunday night, the weather had deteriorated significantly, and some serious rain and snow were blowing through the several high pass crossings needed to travel between rivers.  The weather did improve starting Wednesday, allowing people to dry out.

Michael Martin and John Lapkass ran into each other on the third day (Wednesday) and traveled together from then on.  This is remarkable for several reasons.  One is that this is the 3^rd time that they have run into each other in the middle of absolutely nowhere during an AMWC days into a race, and then traveled together.

Another is this:

I was honored to have walked across the finish line to the 30^th AMWC with John as he eclipsed the record of most finishes of an AMWC previously held by wilderness travel and AMWC legend Dick Griffith.  Griffith had completed 17 AMWC’s, and John has now completed 18.  I, on the other hand, although holding the record for having been race director or co-director for most races, also hold the record for most DNF’s (did not finish).   So, the record holders for both Most Finishes and Most Did-Not-Finishes crossed the line together this year.

John and I both used the “standard” route, although we did not come across each other until the third day.

I was the oldest racer at 58 (Michael).  John Sykes was the youngest at 22.

Lapkass and Martin finished the race despite seemingly insurmountable odds including a severe forearm injury in Lapkass on day two and a torn knee meniscus on the third day in Martin.

We talked a lot over our 3 days together about how pain is all in your mind, and if you can just ignore it, you can go on.  (more difficult to ignore that your knee keeps making crunching sounds or that you can’t hold a paddle very well with a forearm that’s twice it’s usual size.)

OFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:

Place    Name(s)                                   Time (days, hours, minutes)

1          Tyler Johnson                          2d, 15h, 46m              

Todd Kasteler

Luc Mehl

John Sykes

2          Paige Brady                            3d, 12h, 20m

Dave Chenault

3          Don Moden                             4d, 5h, 43m

Chris Wood

4          Rob Kehrer                             4d, 11h, 50m

Greg Mills

5          Mark Carr                                4d, 21h, 50m

Ken Seavey

6          Bill Cenna                               5d, 0h, 5m

7          Jason Ruiz                               5d, 21h, 55m

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!

2011 Race News Article

The Fairbanks Daily New-Miner put out an article yesterday about this year's race. 

Check it out here.  News-Miner Article

More 2011 Winners

Slight correction to the last post.  The winning group included Tyler Johnson and Todd Kasteler as I mentioned before but also Luc Mehl and Jon Sykes.  The group of four finished in 2 days 15 hours and took a route that included a lot of glacier travel and a 6700 foot pass.  The four roped together for safety on the Yanert glacier and broke-through snow bridges on more than thirty crevasses.  Hypothermia, flipped rafts and lots of close calls added up to a great race.  Hopefully I'll get more information for you soon.  Also,there should be an article coming out in the Fairbanks Daily News Miner in the next day or two. 

2011 Winners

Tyler Johnson and Todd Kasteler came across the finish line earlier today and won the 2011 Wilderness Classic.  The journey sounds epic with lots of snow and abysmal weather.  That's all the information I have now but I'll have more details soon. 

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. 

1988 Magazine Article

1988 was the year of legends for the Classic.  Chuck Comstock flew off a cliff with his parapente, the race was held for the first time at the favorite Nabesna to McCarthy venue and strategy played a key role for the winner.  This article for Ultrarunning magazine details all of it. Enjoy! 

1983 Hope to Homer

1982 - The First Race

This is such great stuff!  Take a look at this article from 1982 - the first year the Wilderness Classic was run. 

As with the last one, you may have to do a bit of electronic manipulating and jumping from image to image to read the whole thing, but it's all there - except for the minor bits along the edges that have been worn away by time. Thanks once again to Roman Dial for providing the goods.  If for some reason, you can't t zoom in to read all of it, let me know. 

1990 Anchorage Daily News Article with 1989 Race Info

This is an article from the Anchorage Daily News that was published a couple months before the 1990 race.  It has a great summary of the 1989 race which involved some Wilderness Classic's legends:  Dial, Manzer, Crane, Possert and Comstock.  1989 was an interesting race year that made for some great stories. 

Manzer was in the lead trying to beat Dial's record time and then lost his packraft and almost drowned in the Chitistone River.  Crane and Possert found him extremely hypothermic and gave up their quest to beat Dial's record to help warm him up.  Chuck Comstock flew his parasail off a high point in the Wrangell's and narrowly avoided disaster.  This was also the first year that someone from outside of Alaska won the race. 

I've posted only a part of the article due to copyright considerations but I tried to give you a good rundown of what's in it.  You can pay to read the whole article on the ADN website or you can read the whole article by accessing ADN archives through your local library.  Here's a blog entry that tells you how to do it.  http://classicreport.blogspot.com/2009/12/accessing-anchorage-daily-news-archives.html

RACE TESTS TALENT, GUTS, SAVVY DANGER TEMPERS

COMPETITION IN ALASKA MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS CLASSIC

Anchorage Daily News (AK) - Sunday, July 15, 1990
Author: CRAIG MEDRED Daily News outdoor editor ; Staff

As the tiny, nylon raft hit the rock and bounced back toward the brown, swirling waters of the Chitistone River, wilderness racer Dave Manzer realized that his plan to win the 1989 Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic had gone horribly, horribly wrong.

The rock was to have been Manzer's salvation. He had reached for it in the way he had reached for so many others over the years, only this time he missed. Now, stuck in a waterlogged, oneman raft, he found himself hurtling into a watery abyss, and in the timeless milliseconds that come with fear in the most dangerous of situations, Manzer knew he had pushed too far.

Every terrified bone in his body warned him the turbulent Chitistone was on the verge of swallowing his little toy of a boat and making him the first fatality in the seven years of Alaska's wildest footrace. Always there had been the fear someone would die in this race. Danger was part of the game. The wilderness classic was more than an ultramarathon across the most primitive terrain left in North America. It was a test of bushcraft, a fastfading skill in the 20th century, and a test of judgment.

Few Alaskans had the skill, endurance and gumption to tackle the race. Fewer still were those from the Lower 48 the Outsiders with the unique but necessary mix of talents, spirit and guts. Here was a race so demanding that most people were afraid to run it.

"I've talked to a lot of people, and I've had a lot of people who are interested," said classic veteran Adrian Crane of Modesto, Calif. "But they're scared off. It's too tough." Up to 50 people consider or, more properly, talk about the classic in any given year. No more than a couple dozen ever show up.

Always they are a weird bunch guys like 61 year old wilderness adventurer Dick Griffith, who'd been on more crazy trips than most people could dream about; Roman Dial, a doctoral candidate in biology who'd spent his life careening between civilized universities and wilderness areas; Tom Possert, an ultrarunner who made his reputation by trotting from Death Valley to the top of Mount Whitney, the highest peak in California; and Brant McGee, a fellow seen most often in suit and tie directing the state Office of Public Advocacy. Why bother? "It appeals to my ego," McGee said. "It's a challenge not all that many people can do."

Nobody ever shortchanged the challenge no matter what route the race ran. And the course kept shifting, from bad to worse to not so bad. But always tough. Racers wanted the classic moved around the state every few years to keep any route from becoming standardized. That would prevent the fastest runners from gaining an edge on those best at orienteering and wilderness survival.

So, for a time, the race crossed the length of the Kenai Peninsula. Then it moved to the flanks of the Alaska Range, where the remoteness terrain and the thickness of the brush humbled everyone. And then it found the Wrangell Mountains. Experienced racers such as Dial, holder of the course record for the Wrangell route, liked that area because there was little brush to battle. A man could travel quickly through the boulders and scree. And there was exhilaration in floating the many whitewater rivers in a tiny, one-man, nylon boat or jogging through the Chitistone Canyon on the so called Goat Trail.

Trail, at least as applied to the Goat Trail, "was an euphemism for a faint shadow across a distant hillside that could be used to glean a route," observed Crane from his postrace vantage point at home in California. Racers debated if it was possible to slip off the Goat Trail and escape without serious injury. Such discussions scared off potential competitors and kept the race from becoming anything more than a curiosity.

Possert knew something about that. He would show slides of the classic at ultrarunning clinics around the country and talk about the exhilaration of wilderness competition. People would ooh and ahh at the slides, but nobody would step forward to sign up. "They'd say, "Those were nice slides,' " Possert said. "I think people are missing out on a lot."

What they were missing was America's toughest crosscountry competition. Of the 13 starters last year, 8 finished. Two of them Manzer from Anchorage and Chuck Comstock from Valdez could easily have wound up dead, if not for tenacity and a little luck.

A halfdead Manzer dragged his battered and hypothermic body out of the Chitistone River and onto a beach after his raft sank. Mumbling and incoherent from the freezing water, he was trying to make a fire when Crane and Possert stumbled upon him.

Comstock tried to climb 12,000 feet over the Wrangell Mountains and then fly to McCarthy with a parasail. The first leg of his flight ended in a glacial crevasse. Comstock crawled out to find himself on a ledge from which there was no way down.  He rigged a pair of skis to hold his parasail open and jumped. Luckily, the sail flew. Eventually, Comstock made it to the finish line.

Backpacker - Google Books

Check out yet another quick article on the 1989 Wilderness Classic.  Here's an article in Backpacker magazine I dug up out of the deep recesses of the internet.  The article switched around the dates of the races but it's still an interesting read and gives a bit more information on Chuck Comstock's audacious paraglider strategy. The article says that the race summary is of the 1988 Classic.  It's actually a summary of the 1989 Classic. 

Backpacker - Google Books

Have a great Christmas everyone.  

1989 Anchorage Daily News Article

This is an article about the1989 Wilderness Classic.  The article was written before some of the racers had finished, so it doesn't post the final results.  Because of copyright considerations, I can't post the whole article but I've posted part of it here.  If you would like to read the whole article you can go to the Anchorage Daily News archives and pay for it or you can read it through your library's online archives for free.  Here's a blog post that shows you how to do it. Library Access

"DUMB MISTAKE' ALMOST FATAL 

MANZER SURVIVESWILDERNESS CLASSIC

 Anchorage Daily News (AK) - Sunday, August 20, 1989
Author: MICHAEL VANAUSDELN Daily News reporter ; Staff

Dave Manzer was in reach of Roman Dial's Alaska Wilderness Classic course record when he screwed up.

Manzer, a fivetime veteran, instead nearly drowned and ended in a threeway tie.

Tuesday, though, he was flying through the 160mile race from Nabesna to McCarthy until he reached the Chitistone River.

For most of the dozen people entered, the river is something to cross with caution. For Manzer, it is something to speed down. He rode his inflatable raft down the wild river, a vein of white water he had mastered many times before, confident that Dial's record was in danger.

Then, pulling over to the side to dump water out of his raft, the Anchorage athlete and his raft smacked into a rock, sending Manzer into a swirl of water and thoughts of dying.

. . . . . . .
. . . . . . .

1.  Dave Manzer, Adrian Crane and Tom Posser:  3 days 6 hours 9 minutes
2.  Jeff Gedney of Fairbanks:   3 days 14 hours 15 minutes

Scratch:  Ralf Cuba, Harold Markham, Tim Gillis, Brandt McGee
Still on the trail when article was written:  Dick Griffith, Kathy SarnesHickok, Kathy Lambert, Klaus Oberle

1988 Anchorage Daily News Article

This Anchorage Daily News article is about the 1988 Nabesna to McCarthy route.  This particular race had a number of savvy outdoor experts competing in it including Dave Manzer, Adrian Crane, Roman Dial and Brant McGee.  This is probably also the most talked-about races of all time because it was the year legendary Chuck Comstock climbed solo up into the Wrangell Mountains and parasailed down thousands of feet to the finish. 

Due to copyright considerations, I'm only posting part of the article.  You can read the full article by accessing the Anchorage Daily News archives and entering the date and title of the article as search terms.  You can either go to the ADN website or access archives through your library. Here's a short guide how to find the archives through your online library website.  Library access. 

Dial Puts Best Foot Forward To Win 160 Mile Race

Anchorage Daily News - Tuesday, August 23, 1988
Author:  Craig Medred Daily News outdoors editor; Staff

His size 81 2 feet swollen to fit into size 10 boots, Roman Dial of Fairbanks led 23 other wilderness runners 150 to 160 miles through the Wrangell Mountains to win the Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic last week.

It took Dial 2 days, 16 hours and 28 minutes to complete the unmarked course along animal trails, over mountains, down rivers and across gravel bars.

He claims oversize boots were but one of his secret weapons for the race.

. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .

Final Race Results: 
Roman Dial: 2 days, 16 hours, 28 minutes.
Dave Manzer: 3 days, 4 hours, 19 minutes.
Crane and Possert: 3 days, 11 hours, 44 minutes.
Hank Timm, Claire Holland and Mark Stoppel: 4 days, 11 hours, 44 minutes.
Brant McGee: 4 days, 12 hours, 5 minutes.
Bob Kaufman: 4 days, 14 hours, 5 minutes.
Bob Groseclose, Rourke Williams and Harlow Akins: 5 days, 3 hours, 20 minutes.
Dick Griffith, Dave Poppe and Hollis French: 5 days, 7 hours, 10 minutes.
Chuck Comstock: 5 days, 13 hours.
(Comstock might have had the most unique strategy in the race. He went 13,000 feet straight up into the mountains on a beeline from Nabesna to McCarthy, and then tried to beat everyone by flying to the finish line with a parasail.)

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.