Girdwood to Penguin Traverse

The arrival of snow in the high mountains of South Central Alaska is eminent but Karol, Jen and I managed to tag one of the area’s classic ridge traverses recently, sneaking a good one in before snow closes the door on running up high. Girdwood to Indian via the high ridgeline that looms above the Seward Highway spanning between California Creek to the South and Penguin Peak to the North is one of the best outings found here. Roman Dial, no stranger to Alaskan adventure, calls it THE best ridge traverse he’s done. Hyperbole? Perhaps. But it’s been on our lists for a while and we were psyched to have a look.

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Summer Distractions

I haven't been writing much for the last few weeks as news worthy events have been slim. One interesting opportunity that came to pass recently was that two friends and I bought a small, dry cabin on the Kenai. It should serve as a perfect base camp for ski, hiking and mountain bike adventures. The drive from town has always been a bit of a buzz kill for me so now we can eliminate some of the commute for multi-day excursions. We're putting in new windows and cleaning up the yard but otherwise the place is ready to go. Stay tuned for more on that. One thing is for sure, if you told me a year ago I'd own a condo and a cabin in Alaska I'd have shot coffee out my nose (at least, if I was drinking coffee at the time). 

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Kilian Jornet and Emelie Forsberg Come to Mount Marathon 2015

Mount Marathon 2015 is finally here. For those paying attention to the mountain running scene probably know that Kilian Jornet and Emelie Forsberg are both making an appearance at the 100^th running of the event.

Matias Saari, Kilian Jornet and Emelie Forsberg in Anchorage this week.

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2014 Alyeska Climbathon

The end of the summer has been busy with work and moving into a condo I decided to purchase. I know. That sounds crazy. Many felt I would never stay in Alaska, being perpetually homesick for the Tetons. But I spend at least 50 hours a week at my job and I tend to like this one so I think I’ll stay for a bit. I’m not one to plan too far into the future but I decided that having my own place to base from makes sense. The other thing I noticed is that if I don’t go back to Jackson too often, I forget how great it is.

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Mount Marathon Lead-Up

Local favorites Matt Novakovitch and Eric Stabel at Bird Ridge photo: Cole DealMount Marathon Race is one week away. I’ve prepared as methodically as I ever have. I’ve raced two events and hit target performances with PRs on both. The performance data from my Suunto Ambit 2 indicates that I’m spot on with both fitness and rest. I just finished my de-load week with only a couple of 1 hour bike rides and a short run. This was preceded by a good week of training, about 12 hours worth.

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