From the Ski for Light Bulletin - Spring 2014
Compiled By Peter Slatin
It's not about the carrot cake.
I say, keep it coming - we can take it.
After all, there are worse things than being served carrot cake for dessert four nights in a row. Like having no Olav Pedersen Race & Rally. That was a bummer for sure at the 39th Ski for Light International Week in Anchorage. But it was borne with the truly positive, all-embracing spirit that is Ski for Light, and that reminds us that the only true disappointment would be to have no Ski for Light at all.
That's clearly not an option as we hurtle toward the amazing milestone of our 40th Annual Week next year in Granby, Colorado. But before we get there, let's look back at Anchorage.
This was SFL's third meeting in Anchorage and the first since 2003 - and this time, though the snow was somewhat more sparse than we would have wanted, there was enough of it for every day except Friday. Saturday, we all joined in watching the ceremonial start of the Iditarod - the Last Great Race on Earth!
All winter long, as massive amounts of snow and blasts of frigid air enveloped the Midwest and Northeast, sightings of winter weather had been rare in Anchorage; it seemed that the 2014 SFL international Week might suffer the bizarre, climate-change adjacent happenstance of a second winter in the Last Frontier with negligible snow. But that was not the case. There was just enough snow on the ground at the fabulously groomed Kincaid Park to allow for some of the finest tracks many SFLers - including this one - have ever skied in.
The week started on an auspicious note; our first day out was a treat, with those crisp and mostly gentle 5- and 10K trails so gracefully designed and groomed. That was repeated over the next three days. But each day was a bit warmer, culminating with a Thursday night meltdown that forced the Race/Rally cancellation on Friday - only the second time in SFL's 39 years that the race had to be surrendered.
Indeed on Thursday, while the Northeast and Midwest shivered, the temperature in Anchorage reached a startling 49 degrees Fahrenheit - a record for that day - and overnight, the ski area where our race and rally were to take place became an icy swimming pool. Overnight, though, saw a super freeze, and the calls started coming in to our trail masters in the wee hours of Friday morning. Even before the sun rose, some of SFL's best skiers went to check out the course, and found it a practically un-skiable sheet of glass. The Planning Committee, which had been meeting every morning throughout the week at 7 am to make sure the days flowed smoothly, held off until mid-morning before deciding to cancel the event; it had been hoped that the warming sun would make the trails safe for skiing. That did not happen, and as each bus arrived at the Nordic Center at Kincaid Park, our great ski venue for the week, Event Chair Nancy McKinney boarded and gently explained the situation.
Was it disappointing? Of course - but Ski for Light took it in stride and grabbed the opportunity to turn the day around. There were various events, including a walking tour of downtown Anchorage led by John Soucheray. Of course, if the race had been held on its traditional Saturday, the terrific groomers at Kincaid would likely have been able to set new trails, because below-freezing temps returned in time for the ceremonial start of the Iditarod. Ski for Lighters turned out in force to watch the 60-plus teams of dogs and mushers - and their starting companion riders, including first-time Ski for Light guide Ingrid O'Connor, who accompanied Norway's Joar Leifseth Ulsom, as they set off along a main street in Anchorage on their grueling trek. Some of us were patient enough to wait in line for the hand-made doughnuts and reindeer sausage sandwiches that some enterprising souls were offering up to long lines of hungry spectators, as the cheery - and bleary - voices of the play-by-play broadcasters wafted out over the crowd. Ingrid, a first-time guide from New Jersey and the sister of veteran guide Sonja Baker, got to take her seat on the sled after winning a fiercely competitive raffle at Ski for Light that netted more than $2,000. Along with riding at the start of the race, Ingrid and a few guests went to a special lunch with all the mushers and got to meet many of the dogs, a privilege many guide dog users would have given their canines for (teeth, that is).
It wasn't all just great daytime skiing. Our evenings were full, from a lovely concert given by local hero Hobo Jim to a raucous Polka Night to a sleigh ride and an open mike at a local pub that featured yet another blowzy performance from Andrea Goddard, among others. Special interest sessions, the Silent Auction, and a tearful award ceremony on Banquet Night with very special honors going to Harald Vik were powerful highlights of the week.
Other honorees on Banquet Night included first -time guide Josh Russell of Seattle and first-time skier Eliza Cooper of Brooklyn, each of whom gave heartfelt speeches declaring that they will be back at Ski for Light. Lucy Zapata of Arizona was the first-time skier who was awarded a complete set of skis, poles and boots as the 2014 Jan Haug Award winner. We know this engaging and dedicated young woman will be back as well.
Bj�rg Dunlop - who has been back many, many times and has devoted untold hours to Ski for Light - including helping to assemble this Bulletin three times a year - took home the coveted Bjarne Eikevik President's Award, which has taken up temporary residence in her upstate New York home until it finds a deserving new home next year.
As Ski for Light's newly installed president, Scott McCall, notes in his message earlier in this bulletin, this year marked Marion Elmquist's final year as president. We are grateful - and better off - for her wonderful contributions in this role, and we are pleased that she will continue to be an invaluable member of the Ski for Light family. She will also be an invaluable resource for Scott as he embarks on this, his second tour in this important role. We wish them both all the best.
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