On Sunday, March 1, 2015, I lined up for the start of the Iditarod Trail Invitational, a 300 mile race that I would be attempting on a fat-tired bicycle in Alaska's late winter on the Iditarod Trail. A long chain of events led to that start for me.
Crow Pass Challenge
I am not an awesome mountain runner. Usually, when I sign up for a mountain race I wind up regretting it. But the Crow Pass Marathon had long been on my "someday" list of races. It is a beautiful 23-mile run from Girdwood to Eagle River through Alaska's Chugach State Park, one of the nation's premier state parks. So when my coach, Rebecca McKee, recommended I give it a try with one of her other runners, Ian McCool, I
Skiers who have skied the Iditarod to Nome
Adventurers wanting to ski the Iditarod Trail generally need to follow the trail set each winter by the Iditarod Dog-sled Race. In even years that is a Northern Route, in odd years it is normally a Southern route, and in low-snow or warm winters it is a route starting in or near Fairbanks (the "Serum Route"). This map has a general outline of the three routes (Note, In 2003 the skiers started in Nenana and did not take the detour to Shageluk that the mushers took--they went straight from Kaltag to Unalakleet). There may be other variations from year-to-year based on conditions each winter.
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.
Iditasport 100K Race Report 2020
On Saturday January 18, 2020, I lined up to attempt to ski the Iditasport 100k with 30 other racers (6 skiers, 17 cyclists, and 7 runners), all of whom, save four, would successfully complete the race despite fairly tough conditions.
The Iditasport traces its history back to Tim Kelley's and Bob Baker's 1991 ski from Anchorage to Nome which is chronicled in Tim's excellent book, Trails That Never End. The race continued as an annual event through 2001 when racer dissatisfaction with the then race director resulted in the creation of two new races to replace it (the Iditarod Trail Invitational to McGrath and Nome and the Susitna 100 which does a 100 mile loop centering on the Susitna River). In 2014 Billy Koitzsch revived the Iditasport with a primary focus on two events: a 100k race to Yentna Station (and back) and a 200-mile race to Shell Lake (and back). For a while the Iditasport also included longer events, but in recent years, Billy has refocused on the two core shorter distances, while the Iditarod Trail Invitational continues to offer longer races to McGrath and Nome.
The Iditasport traces its history back to Tim Kelley's and Bob Baker's 1991 ski from Anchorage to Nome which is chronicled in Tim's excellent book, Trails That Never End. The race continued as an annual event through 2001 when racer dissatisfaction with the then race director resulted in the creation of two new races to replace it (the Iditarod Trail Invitational to McGrath and Nome and the Susitna 100 which does a 100 mile loop centering on the Susitna River). In 2014 Billy Koitzsch revived the Iditasport with a primary focus on two events: a 100k race to Yentna Station (and back) and a 200-mile race to Shell Lake (and back). For a while the Iditasport also included longer events, but in recent years, Billy has refocused on the two core shorter distances, while the Iditarod Trail Invitational continues to offer longer races to McGrath and Nome.
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