 | Alaskan Skiing | |
| Alaskan Skiing | |
Introduction
Cross-country Skiing
Downhill Skiing
Links
If you want some of the best skiing in the world, come to Alaska. We have some great ski resorts and large networks of trails for X-country skiers. Despite our excellent trails and slopes we still have plenty of wilderness for backcountry skiing and other fun things. As far as skiing for young people there are at least two groups in South Central Alaska: Junior Nordic for X-country skiers, and Spyder for downhill skiers. These are only a couple of the many groups in Alaska.
We get a fairly long winter so we can usually ski from late October to mid-march in the warmer places, like Anchorage. In most places in Alaska, you can ski year-round only high in the mountains and in quite a few places not even there. Anchorage is undoubtedly one of the best places for skiing in Alaska. We are near places such as Alyeska Resort, Kincaid Park, Hilltop and many other locations good for skiing.
I am very experienced in cross-country skiing. I have been doing it for six years and don't intend to stop because I do the ski program Junior Nordic and I am in the fastest group. Junior Nordic skiing is a good cross country group for ages 6-13. It is divided into groups that are different skill levels with the nicknames of animals (from novice to best Polar Cubs, Polar Bears, Otters, Wolverines, Hawks. All groups except Hawks are divided into numbers 1’s are best and the higher the number the slower skiing within that group). This program has been around for a while so they have many coaches and helpers. Some coaches were/are olympic athletes such as Nina Kemppel and Adam Verrier. Skiers work on both techniques (skating and diagonal) while learning trail systems throughout Anchorage and other places (practices take place near or in wherever the league is based). Skiers also get the opportunity to race and the more advanced skiers get a chance to skijor, ski-jump and take a biathlon clinic. I have skied in this program for 6 years and think it is excellent because of the way they run it with different levels instead of skiing all in one group which would hamper the faster people and push the slower people past their limit. The program also has a large emphasis on having fun. It is a fantastic program and probably one of the best of it’s kind in Alaska.
We have many events like biathlons and the infamous Tour of Anchorage (25, 40 or 50k) which takes you around Anchorage and lets you get a good feel for the town if you’re a tourist and are very athletic (I’ve done the 25k and gotten in the top 5 for my age group. We have lots of races here and many of them are based at Kincaid park. Anchorage is a very good place for X-country skiing.
Downhill skiing in Alaska isn't too shabby. The resorts are in good condition and have a variety of slopes. I am not an avid downhill skier but plan to start doing it frequently as soon as the cash comes in. As I’ve said before we still have plenty of wilderness so watch out for trees!
Now that you’ve heard a little about both of the types of skiing I hope you know more about skiing in Alaska. The Skiing in Alaska is incredible and nowhere else is quite like it.
The NSAA Website-The Nordic Ski Association of Anchorage Website. This is a very useful site loaded with info about local races as well as links to other sites in and out of Alaska.
Goski Alaska/USA-Index-this is a good site with plenty of info on the major ski resorts in Alaska and everywhere else on this planet.
XC Ski World-This page is great! It's loaded with info and links . It has info about equipment, competitions, and Resorts for novices and experts alike.
Alaska Junior Cross Country Skier-A great page that holds all about junior (through to high school) skiing
Alaska Website-this page is BIG!, really big. It holds all info on Alaska (or close)
World Extreme Skiing Championships-A good page about skiing and "backcountry adventures."
The Mountain Zone-like the title, this page holds lots about mountain sports (sorry, not a geography page). Definitely worth checking out. I've found it a little tough to load entirely beause of its size.
Ski Resorts-a good page with many ski resorts included.
(Photography Courtesy of Barbara Carlson)
