Kate Mohatt (number 8,) was the Alyeska North Face Vertical Challenge Women’s champ. The Vertical Challenge will be held again next March.
Girdwood Rotary to hold mayoral candidates night
Girdwood Rotary will have a “visit with the candidates” social session from 6:15 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Candidates will be on the stage at 7:00 p.m. for the start of the “forum.”
The format will allow questions from the audience through a moderator. Tom Yeager will be the moderator and Kathy Recken will be the timekeeper.
The forum is expected to run around two hours. So far, five or six of the leading candidates have said they would attend, they include: Paul Honeman, Matt Claman, Eric Croft, Walt Monagan & Shelia Selkregg have indicated they will come. Dan Sullivan has a conflict but said he will try to make it.
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Kate Mohatt (number 8,) was the Alyeska North Face Vertical Challenge Women’s champ. The Vertical Challenge will be held again next March. |
Alyeska holds first winter North Face Vertical Challenge
The inaugural winter North Face Vertical Challenge event was held on Sunday, March 1.
The Blue Bird day drew 43 contestants challenging themselves to see how many runs that they could throw down on the North Face of Mt. Alyeska. The foot of fresh powder that fell on Saturday gave way to blue bird skies for the event on Sunday. Nine women and 34 men rode the tram from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and made a combined 1,209 tram rides that accumulated 2,448,225 vertical feet on the North Face.
The top contender for the Men was Aaron Stiassny; he racked up 39 runs for over 78,000 vertical feet of skiing. The top Woman was Kate Mohatt; she churned out 28 runs for over 56,000 vertical feet of skiing.
The winners received a private snow cat from Chugach Powder Guides that they can fill with their friends for another powder day in the CPG snow cat area. Other prizes awarded included a three night Motorhome package from ABC Motorhomes, $200 restaurant certificates from Alyeska Resort and $100 gift certificates from World Cup Sports.
The Vertical Challenge will be held again next March. Coming this September, another Vertical Challenge event is scheduled—Climbathon. Same tram, same terrain, different direction.
Alyeska skier rescued after skiing out-of-bounds: Skier must pay fine and bill for rescue
On Saturday, Feb. 28, Matt Davis, a 19 year old skier from Eagle River was rescued by the Alyeska Ski Patrol with severe life threatening injuries after hitting a tree while skiing in a permanently closed area. The rescue was called in to Alyeska Patrol dispatch by another skier with Davis by cell phone. The permanently closed area was well marked with closed signs and roped off, as well as being clearly marked on trail maps.
The rescue took approximately 100 minutes due to the nature of the terrain, and required high-angle roped lowers to get to the base of the mountain. Davis was transferred to Girdwood EMS and taken to an Anchorage hospital.
The standard offense for skiing in closed areas carries a penalty of losing skiing privileges as well as a $150 citation from the Department of Natural Resources. In addition Davis will be billed $845 for the rescue, which falls outside the standard scope of Alyeska’s responsibility.
Due to the technical aspects of this rescue and the nature of the injury, this operation could not have gone faster. Thirteen highly trained ski patrollers, including professional mountaineering guides and Alaska Mountain Rescue Group members were required for this response.
An Alyeska spokesperson said Davis was lucky the Alyeska Ski Patrol was available to respond and this extrication did not end up as a body recovery.
Davis is banned from skiing at Alyeska for one year and must submit a letter to the Times and the Anchorage Daily news apologizing for his mistake in judgment. In addition, he must take a skier safety test before he is allowed back on the mountain.
Senator Murkowski injures knee after a bad fall while skiing at Alyeska
U.S. Senator and Girdwood resident Lisa Murkowski suffered a severe knee injury while skiing at Alyeska on Sunday, March 8. Murkowski, 51, tore two ligaments and cartilage in her left knee after falling about 300 feet, said her spokesman Mark Brumas. Alyeska ski patrol quickly responded, and she was transported in a toboggan with her knee in a splint.
Murkowski flew to Washington where she received an MRI exam on Tuesday, March 10 and spent several days in a wheel chair.
House rejects amended omnibus package: Legislation would have included a bill establishing a National Heritage area in the Chugach National Forest and Turnagain Arm
An omnibus bill, Senate 22, was passed by the Senate on Jan. 15 by a vote of 72 to 21, however, the House rejected the bill March 11 on a vote of 282-144.
Locally, the bill would have included a designation for a National Heritage Area—the Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm Heritage Corridor as well as nine other national heritage area areas in the Lower 48.
To pass, the bill required a two-fifths simple majority vote.
The proposed National Heritage Area here in Alaska included the entire Seward Ranger District and part of the Glacier Ranger District.
The focus KMTANHA was to preserve and protect the cultural and natural heritage of an area and promote the area for economic development and secure federal assistance funds through the Dept. of the Interior.
In addition, the bill would have set aside more than 2 million acres of wilderness in nine states, created three new national park units, three new national conservation areas, over 1,000 miles of national scenic and wild rivers and four new national trails, a new national monument, three new national conservation areas, and four new national trails.
It also would have increased the boundaries of more than 12 existing national park units.
Nearly 100 bills were contained in the 1,200 page package. What may happen next is uncertain; the bill may, however, be broken apart into constituent bills, which will have to go through the legislative process again.
What will happen to the KMTANHA bill is unknown at this time.
Bike path bridge rebuild needs volunteers
Girdwood Parks and Recreation has undertaken a project to re-deck the bike path bridge across the railroad. It needs replacement and the estimates came in at many times what we organizers are capable of paying. So parks and rec has decided to supply the labor with volunteers.
The rebuild is expected to be completed over two long weekends, Friday through Sunday, May 1-3, and Friday through Sunday, May 8-10.
With more participants, the project may continue during the week and be completed earlier.
The work involves drilling, screwing, and nailing, and demolishing with chainsaws.
Support people are also needed for the project: sandwich makers, materials runners, and gofers.
Interested parties may contact John Gallup at 783-2308 before 9:00 p.m. or at johngallup@alaska.net
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Elyse Saugstad catches air during the Nissan Freeride World Tour at Squaw Valley where she took first place. |
Former Girdwood resident takes first place in Squaw Valley freeride competition
Former Girdwood resident, Elyse Saugstad the defending Champion of the Nissan Freeride World Tour took first place at Squaw Valley the week of March 6. Elyse skied an incredible fast smooth run taking cliff jumps with ease.
The competition was reduced to one run, on the Solitude Face of Squaw Valley. The much anticipated second run on the Tram face was called off because of a large snowstorm that hit the area during competition.
The third stop on the tour is Tignes, France. Last year Elyse won this event and hopes to duplicate her success at this venue. Europe has had an incredible amount of snow this winter, so the competition should be very good.