On February 24, 2019 at 2pm, I found myself at the start line of the Iditarod Trail Invitational, a race on the Iditarod Trail in which competitors on foot, ski, or bike go from Knik, Alaska to either McGrath (300 miles) or Nome (about 950 miles). I was signed up to attempt to ski to McGrath. I was in a good mental state, but it was not enough.
2019 ITI Failed Ski Attempt
On February 24, 2019 at 2pm, I found myself at the start line of the Iditarod Trail Invitational, a race on the Iditarod Trail in which competitors on foot, ski, or bike go from Knik, Alaska to either McGrath (300 miles) or Nome (about 950 miles). I was signed up to attempt to ski to McGrath. I was in a good mental state, but it was not enough.
ITI 2020 Ski Gear List
At the bottom of this post I have a list of all of the gear I used to ski to McGrath and its approximate weight. It worked well and I would bring all of it again if I repeated the trip or if I were going to Nome. If you have any suggestions or questions, please feel free to leave a comment. A few items deserve a bit of explanation:
The Snowscape 9 Skin skis I used are a little shorter and sportier than traditional skis, so they're fairly easy and stable underfoot, and offer good maneuverability and control on the narrow portions of the Trail (most of it). They use an integrated strip of skin underfoot so I didn't need kick wax or fish scales. Even after almost 300 miles on the trail, the strip showed little wear. (On Anchorage's icy and dirty trails, I seldom got anywhere near that mileage on the skin strips). The XXL size that I used is only 175cm long with stiff flex--that's a good foot shorter than what I'd use in a conventional ski, but I found their performance to be great. Their width is 49-45-47mm and for bindings I used low-cost Rottefella NNN auto bindings which performed reasonably well. I did get a little binding freeze periodically, which I easily fixed by applying some spray-on skin wax to the frozen spots.
The Snowscape 9 Skin skis I used are a little shorter and sportier than traditional skis, so they're fairly easy and stable underfoot, and offer good maneuverability and control on the narrow portions of the Trail (most of it). They use an integrated strip of skin underfoot so I didn't need kick wax or fish scales. Even after almost 300 miles on the trail, the strip showed little wear. (On Anchorage's icy and dirty trails, I seldom got anywhere near that mileage on the skin strips). The XXL size that I used is only 175cm long with stiff flex--that's a good foot shorter than what I'd use in a conventional ski, but I found their performance to be great. Their width is 49-45-47mm and for bindings I used low-cost Rottefella NNN auto bindings which performed reasonably well. I did get a little binding freeze periodically, which I easily fixed by applying some spray-on skin wax to the frozen spots.
2020 ITI Race Report (Ski)
The Race
On Sunday March 1, 2020, I lined up for my sixth start at the Iditarod Trail Invitational, a 300-mile human powered race on the Iditarod Trail via foot, bike, or ski. In my five prior starts I had finished twice on a bicycle, and once on foot. I also had two DNFs. This year I chose to compete on skis, and if successful, I would be the first racer to finish the race in all three disciplines.
On Sunday March 1, 2020, I lined up for my sixth start at the Iditarod Trail Invitational, a 300-mile human powered race on the Iditarod Trail via foot, bike, or ski. In my five prior starts I had finished twice on a bicycle, and once on foot. I also had two DNFs. This year I chose to compete on skis, and if successful, I would be the first racer to finish the race in all three disciplines.
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