For those of you who haven't checked out Roman Dial's packrafting book yet, you should. Packrafting is an essential skill for surviving the Wilderness Classic and even if you're not adventure racing, it's fun to do.
A packraft is the Supercub of hiking. It opens up lots of backcountry terrain that wasn't possible before.
Packrafting
Friday, January 8, 2010
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
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
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.
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.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
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.
Backpacker - Google Books
Have a great Christmas everyone.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Another Adventure Racing Book
If you're looking for last minute Christmas shopping ideas for yourself, here's another adventure racing book I just came across that you can add to your collection. This one is a little more basic than other books I've listed and is meant mostly for beginning adventure racers but it's still a worthwhile read. Besides, it's fairly inexpensive if you buy a used copy off of Amazon.
Monday, December 21, 2009
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
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
"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
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
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.)
Monday, December 14, 2009
Accessing Anchorage Daily News Archives
Since the Wilderness Classic started in the early 1980's the Anchorage Daily News has occasionally printed articles with race results and a summary of the race. Most of the articles were written by outdoors reporter Craig Medred, an experienced outdoorsman and veteran of the Classic.
If you go to the Anchorage Daily News website, you can search for past articles in archives but you can't read them unless you pay a fee. However, it's easy to access the archives for free through your local library. With a library card and an online library account you can access the entire set of archives online without charge. You probably need to get a library card in person but once you have a card, you can usually set up an online account within a day or so by emailing or calling the library.
Luckily for people who live out of Alaska, most local libraries connect into Newsbank or similar online services that archives newspapers from around the country.
Go to your library's website and find the database page. The newspaper section of the database is usually easy to find. Sign in with your library card number and PIN.
Since I've already posted as many full articles as Anchorage Daily News will allow me to, I'll be posting the title of past articles along with the date it was published and a summary so you can easily find the archived full text version. If you have any problems finding a specific article, feel free to email me and I'll see if I can help.
If you live in Anchorage you find newspaper archives by signing in here at the library website. Loussac Library Database Page.
If you live in Fairbanks you can go to the Fairbanks Library Databases here. Fairbanks Public Library Database Page.
If you're a student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks you can access Anchorage Daily News archives here. UAF Database Page.
If you're a student at University of Alaska Anchorage or APU, you can access the Newsbank database here. UAA and APU Database Page.
If you're in Seattle, you can access the library database page here. Your link will be called Newslink instead of Newsbank. Seattle Public Library Database Page.
If you go to the Anchorage Daily News website, you can search for past articles in archives but you can't read them unless you pay a fee. However, it's easy to access the archives for free through your local library. With a library card and an online library account you can access the entire set of archives online without charge. You probably need to get a library card in person but once you have a card, you can usually set up an online account within a day or so by emailing or calling the library.
Luckily for people who live out of Alaska, most local libraries connect into Newsbank or similar online services that archives newspapers from around the country.
Go to your library's website and find the database page. The newspaper section of the database is usually easy to find. Sign in with your library card number and PIN.
Since I've already posted as many full articles as Anchorage Daily News will allow me to, I'll be posting the title of past articles along with the date it was published and a summary so you can easily find the archived full text version. If you have any problems finding a specific article, feel free to email me and I'll see if I can help.
If you live in Anchorage you find newspaper archives by signing in here at the library website. Loussac Library Database Page.
If you live in Fairbanks you can go to the Fairbanks Library Databases here. Fairbanks Public Library Database Page.
If you're a student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks you can access Anchorage Daily News archives here. UAF Database Page.
If you're a student at University of Alaska Anchorage or APU, you can access the Newsbank database here. UAA and APU Database Page.
If you're in Seattle, you can access the library database page here. Your link will be called Newslink instead of Newsbank. Seattle Public Library Database Page.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Alaska Adventure Racing
Here's a link to another adventure race in Alaska. It looks like they have a race coming up in the middle of January somewhere in the Chugach mountains. I don't know much about it other than looking at the website but if it's in Alaska in January, it's bound to be cold, dark and fun.
Alaska Adventure Racing Website
Alaska Adventure Racing Website
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