| Author | Message | ||
     Geforce |
Ya know, my first impression after arriving in "Fairbanks" (which btw, some sadistic @ss decided that -34 degree weather would be "fair"... I have since started calling it "Frozenbanks") wasn't so great. I was tired, within about 20 seconds of walking outside I started coughing, snot froze to my face. My fingers wouldn't work...and I couldn't stop SHIVERING then WHAM! I fell square on my ass. A day or two later... the people are AWESOME up here, the sites are SPECTACULAR here and everyone knows how to have a good time. I'm only here for a week more, but I find myself volunteering to be stationed here. The city is laid out nicely, it's spacious and has plenty of stuff to do. The base is seems well organized and there is ALWAYS talk of weekend adventure! The bitter cold seems terrible at first, but so long as the wind isn't blowing our gear works REALLY well up here. I don't know if I could handle the short riding season...I would have to get a Rotax powered snow machine to make up the difference! | ||
| Sifo |
My nephew arrived there not long ago. Sounds damn cold to me. If you run across Mike Kandel tell him his uncle says hi from Illinois! | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
I used to love watching "Northern Exposure" on TV. But apparently it wasn't even shot there! | ||
| Geforce |
We are heading to "North Pole" Alaska today to see Santa's workshop. This should be interesting. | ||
| Hammer71 |
Tell "Santa" he owes me for these gifts "he brings" on the 25th. | ||
| Geforce |
LOL, will do. One thing I cannot figure out is why my Droid X (Verizon) will not connect to the 3G network. I saw a lady with a Droid II (Verizon) at the hockey game on friday night and she was crusin around on 3G. I asked her if it was Verizon, she said yes... Not sure why mine isn't updating. When I dial *228 I get Alaska Wireless and get booted off the update. Grrr. | ||
| Blake |
Try turning off phone then back on? Mid Winter isn't for two more months, darkness and brutal frigid cold most cannot even imagine. I'd like to see a video re-enactment of your arrival, too funny!  | ||
| Moxnix |
North Pole, ha! My last year in Alaska, 1985, I build a house and hangar at Bradley Sky Ranch just W. of N.P. 12 miles east of, and always 12 degrees colder than, Fairbanks. Don't worry, by mid-January your blood will thicken so much you can tell when it's -35 degrees 'cause you zip up your parka. Hey, I'm not kidding. At -65, if you pee outdoors you have to walk backwards. Wait until spring and the clouds of mosquitos arrive. | ||
| Geforce |
I want to try the boiling water trick while I'm here. Not sure what temp it has to be outside though. | ||
| Ljm |
It's an acquired taste. Or something like that. Having been here for more than 50 years, I guess it there must be something to living here. On the other hand, heading out to Phoenix to thaw out now and again is fun too. | ||
| Geforce |
I might be in your neck of the woods LJM in January. FT Richardson area. Hoping to glimpse the Aurora at least once while I'm here also. | ||
| Ljm |
You are in the perfect place for it. Usually out at 0200 or so, head up on Chena Ridge Rd. above the city lights and ice fog. Should be around first three weeks of January, gone ten days at the end. Larry | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Nope Northern Exposure was shot in Roslyn Washington, just on the wet side of the mountains. When I was in college it was great because HOllyweird was in town. We had Twin Peaks up in North Bend Northern Exposure out in Roslyn and now of course Twilight out in Forks (and bits of the first Rambo too) Come to Washington, spend your money, then please leave ! | ||
| Geforce |
I remember that show when I was a youngin'. I wished I had the opportunity to hang out up here this weekend and get some sled dog training in. Mushing sounds like a BLAST! | ||
| Drkside79 |
can you see Russia? | ||
| Buellbozo |
Are there Paliens? | ||
| Ljm |
I can see Russia from my front porch. Well, when I had enough vodka. | ||
| Geforce |
After work last night I got the chance to experience dog mushing. We spent the entire day outside training Soldiers on this new weapon system and we were all a bit tired... but the allure of experiencing this ancient practice of attaching verbally training dogs to a somewhat sturdy/rickety sled and proceeding to further reduce the ambient temperature by politely asking the hounds to propel you across the tundra... well. That just sounded like something I needed to try! So, we loaded up and drove out only to find ourselves in large open field just north of Fairbanks. This field is used often to train new mushers and lies on the slope of one of the highest ridges here in Fairbanks. I took advantage of the Army issued gear and donned 6 layers of the extreme cold weather clothing system, attached boot spikes to my size 12 cold weather boots and then ran up to see if I could find my point of contact. Before I could come around the barn I stopped short next to a large snow drift only to see a piercing white light that broke through the darkness to greet me. “Cory?! Well, hello there! I’m Kathy!” I reached out to shake hands with the fur suited light named Kathy and was greeted with a warm, bare hand. “We are just getting the dogs ready, are you warm enough? I have several arctic parkas you can use.” I thanked her and showed her the gear I was wearing and she agreed that it would suffice for a “short ride”. We walked around the barn and I met yet another furry, white light named “John”. He also removed his glove in -20 degree weather to shake hands. I obliged and we came ‘round to see the dogs. The dogs were removed from their straw bed boxes and tied up one at a time to the guide rope of the sled. Once their paws hit the packed snow they knew it was time to MUSH! They all began to bark and jump and prance in anticipation of carrying our fat bodies around the field for an hour or two. Naturally I had to ask Kathy if they required any special gear for their paws and she chuckled. "Ohhh no dear, their paws are tough as rocks and they will be just fine. These guys LOVE to pull! Feel free to love on them, they like attention!" So I walk up to inspect the designated pedigree expecting an exotic and ancient Alaskan breed only to find that these dogs are... well, mutts. There seems to be a little bit of everything in all of them. Naturally I asked Kathy about this... "Oh, the best mushers are mixed! We've tried sticking to certain breeds but we found through the last 25+ years that the toughest dogs and the best pullers are those that get the "Heinz 57" treatment." After a few minutes Kathy and John attached 10 dogs to each guide rope. Each dog was pulling and jumping and barking with excitement. As I was inspecting one of the sleds, I heard a very strange noise behind me and I turned around just in time to see John hurling a chunk of snow at one of the trail dogs on his guide rope. He shouted some undecipherable tundra lingo and the dog quickly stopped chewing on the guide rope. "Those boys get so excited... *John pauses while lashing ropes* ...they start chewing on the guide rope and ya have 'ta tell 'em to stop! If your way out in the wilderness on a run and they chew through the guide rope when you’re not lookin'... *John stands back up and looks very seriously at me to drive this point home, almost as if he has experienced this himself at one time* ...well, let's just say that if you can't repair your guide rope, you are walking back! Out here, that could be a life and death difference eh?" I nodded in agreement and stored this little tid bit of information if/when I ever find myself mushing across the tundra. After the dogs were all secured we were introduced to the sleds and how the mushing process works. John demonstrated the basic riding positions and shared some tips of the trade. After a few pointers, I asked him if leaning with the sled was anything like riding a motorcycle. "Well, I guess you could say that, just make sure when we are coming down the slope... you don't make the dogs work too hard against the brake. This brake will stop the sled on very precarious slopes and solid ice if you do it hard enough." I stepped up on the skis and began to try and get a feel of the sled and body positioning. I felt reassured of the adventure because John was going to be doing the real work. I would be towed behind his sled by a 15' rope which would allow me to stand on the sled, lean and learn the mechanics of braking. John and Kathy mounted up on their sleds and called us forward. My buddy took the storage compartment on John's sled and I picked up the trail sled attached to his. The other two guys jumped in Kathy's sled, one in her sled storage compartment and the other on her trail sled. John turns around and says… “Ok Cory! Try to keep the slack out of the rope! Are you ready?” With a burst of freezing vapor from my mouth I managed to say “Good to go!” and we were off! “Here we go boys! Mush! Mush! Mush!” John shouted as he pulled the sled anchor up out of the snow and hooked it to the side of the sled. The dogs began to dig in with tremendous force and with a quick snap I was floating behind John on my own sled! Considering that the dogs were pulling three adult males, I was a bit intimidated at the perceived speed at which we began to accelerate through the snow. I learned later that my perception was off and that the darkness makes it feel like we are really moving. Either way, the dogs were pulling us faster than I could run at a dead sprint. I would unfortunately find this out later on in the ride. I had expected the tug and torque on the guide ropes to make the ride jerky and somewhat unpleasant but that was not the case at all. The dogs pull together, and maintain a constant speed against the weight of the sled. Within about a quarter of a mile, steam was rising from their coats and frost was accumulating on my eyebrows and eye lashes. Either way… I was having a BLAST! I started to experiment with leaning my body to the left and right of the sled and it was a good thing too, we had our first corner coming up. “Jeet! Jeet! Jeet! Come on boys! Mush! Mush! Mush!” John shouted through the darkness. I was trying to decipher what the word “Jeet” meant when I peered out into the darkness to see the tug rope drifting away! I had a quick moment of panic as I realized that John’s sled was turning…and well, mine wasn’t turning yet! I quickly weighted the inside ski and leaned my upper body in true sport bike fashion and the sled began to turn… a bit too sharply! Ok… well time to ease off a little and let her fix herself. There we go… the sled started to respond to my commands and in no time we were climbing up the slope and straightening out. In no time I had figured out the sled and I was staying on trail as we climbed higher and higher above the Fairbanks Valley. The dogs began to slow as the incline became steeper and we approached the top of the ridgeline. I looked up to see John pushing the sled as the dogs struggled so I mimicked his motions by driving my spiked boots into the packed snow and pushing with one leg until we came to a stop at the top of the ridgeline. John threw the sled anchor out and the dogs were panting and taking advantage of the break. He walked back to my sled and pointed out towards Fairbanks… “From this ridge you can see Fairbanks down in the valley, we are a few hundred feet above the city but this is a great place to catch the view!” I looked out into the valley to see a sprawling city glowing through the ice fog and trees. Above the icy haze stretched from one end of the horizon to the over were beautiful, pitch black skies littered with twinkling stars and… THE AURORA! Holy crap! Look at that! I turned to the north and could barely see the eerie glow of the aurora in the distance. The wisps of ionized particles danced and wafted as if it were an illusion. “Ohhh would ya look at that. We don’t normally see the lights this early Cory. I’d bet if you were up here a little later they’d be a lot better.” I managed to mumble something or another as my brain was rapidly trying to record and process the image of what my mortal eyes were viewing. John could tell I mesmerized so he stood and watched for a moment with me. “The best time is in the early spring, the lights can make the whole landscape glow. It’s truly amazing when we are out mushing on long overnight trips. It’s too bad we can’t turn ‘em on or off at will! They sure are pretty!” With that, we went back to the sleds and saddled up to head down the slope. “Ok Cory… Remember to use that brake and don’t let the line slack!” “Got it!” I shouted through the darkness at the headlamp. “Ok boys! Mush! Mush! Mush!” The dogs barked and dug in as we began to pick up speed… a lot of speed. I took John’s words to heart and I covered the sled brake with my foot and focused on the guide rope connecting our sleds. At first, this didn’t seem to difficult but, the darkness and the straight ride down meant we our path would be a little bumpy on the way down. Not to mention that John was grinding his sled brake and kicking a large amount of snow and ice up which blocked what little view I had. I didn’t think this would be a big deal until I noticed that my sled was drifting into the softer snow and off the trail. I had been watching the rope too much and my attention account was about to overdraft. The skis started to twist under my feet and my hopeless attempts to correct the instability were futile. I was going down. The sled buckled underneath my feet as it rode up on the softer snow and in motorcycle high side fashion I was thrown over and into the snow. My panic reaction was to execute a parachute landing fall which would have proved to be successful… IF… I had been traveling straight down to the ground, like a parachute would tend to take you. Instead, I was being catapulted laterally over the ground and the sled. I hit the snow drift with a thud and ploughed through the first few inches and then gravity took over and the slope decided that it would help me along also. I started to roll and after a few rotations I managed to use the momentum to spring to my feet and run after my sled… John was already hard on the brakes and telling the “boys” to slooooowwwww doooowwwwn. I quickly caught up, righted my sled and mounted the skis… I was embarrassed, but the adrenaline was flowing now! “Cory?! Are you ok?” “Good to go John! Nothing to it!” I heard John laugh as he let up on the brake and once again we began to head down to the bottom of the valley. This time I did much better, but I was not prepared for the intersection of trails and what it does to yours sled. It hadn’t been another quarter of a mile before the sled felt like it was going over ramps in the snow. “!@$#” I said to myself as the sled hit another intersection and the skis again buckled underneath my feet and down I went. At this point, the dogs were barking at Kathy’s sled still trying to come up the hill and John was focused on the next section of the ride. I righted myself and began to sprint down the slope. My boot spikes were cracking the hard packed snow and providing much needed traction in this winter wonderland. None of this mattered though; the dogs were simply pulling too fast for me to catch up even at a dead sprint. Luckily, John glanced back to see my sled turned on its side again and brought the convoy to a halt. “Oh boy… twice now Cory?! Are you sure you’re ok buddy?” “Oh yeah… *trying to catch my breath* …I just gotta… get the hang of this… Good to go John!” This time I wasn’t playing around. I parked my foot on that brake and kept the sled train at my pace. I had to switch feet on turns to help guide the sled in the direction I wanted to go which proved to be a valuable lesson in mushing. By the time we reached the bottom of the slope and came to a stop my hands were aching and felt like prosthetic attachments. John threw out the anchor and came back to give me a slap on the back and words of encouragement. “Sorry about the falls there, for the next trip up, how’s about you switch with Shawn and take a break while he tries to figure that sled out?” I ran back to the truck to grab my arctic mittens to let my hands thaw out for the rest of the ride. When I came back, Shawn was laughing about me eating snow not once… but twice! “We’ll see how you fair, it’s harder than you think brother!” I replied as I tucked myself into the cargo section of the sled. Sitting inside the sled was actually very comfortable. The added protection from the wind and snow greatly helped to warm me up and allowed me to focus on what John was doing with the dogs. Once Shawn was set we started mushing and quickly came up on Kathy’s team who was barreling down the slope to change out with the other two members of my party. “Ohhh, this is the fun part!” I heard John mumble. “Why’s that?” I asked. “Well, in competitions, races and trips it can get a little scary when you need to pass another team. You don’t want your sled to run over the other dogs and hurt their legs. So, we have to share the trail, or one team will stop or slow and allow the other to pass. Kathy has the speed so we are gonna let her come on by!” John gave a command the dogs pulled to the side through the soft snow and Kathy raced by in a flurry of snow and ice. John started the team to mushing and off we went, back into the darkness. “So, how far can you go in a day with one of these teams John?” “Well, it all depends, but the furthest distance I’ve been in one day on a sled with a team is about 80 miles.” John replied. I sat there in the sled and tried to fathom the enormous distance that would be in this environment. “That sounds like quite a trip! Can any of the dogs lead?” I asked. “Oh no, it’s odd… most of the dogs won’t lead, only a handful have the confidence to lead the team and you have to really take care of those dogs… they are the ones that can keep your team together and moving! If you try to put weak leaders up front on cross country trips you can get into trouble in a hurry! They will drive straight into a frozen riverbed or a hole in the ice and that can really ruin your day.” I sat there and digested the information John was explaining to me. As our ride came to an end and we said our parting goodbyes I couldn’t help but wonder what raw and pure adventure truly lies out there in the wilderness of Alaska. After shaking hands I poked my head into John’s truck to take a parting shot of his two “all stars” as they got preferential treatment and a warm ride home. I couldn’t help but think how important those two dogs really are when they are miles and miles away from home and civilization. This short but wonderful adventure will surely be something that I remember for many days to come. If you took the time to read this much, thank you and I hope I did a decent job of explaining the excitement. (Message edited by Geforce on December 09, 2010) | ||
| Geforce |
 Mushies are awaiting attachment to the guide rope. John and Kathy would place them in a sled harness that looks very similar to a full body cargo net.  Look closely at the sled materials and components... When questioned about sled construction, John stated that most sleds are hand made with lightweight materials and customized based upon their desired intent. Cargo sleds are a bit longer with deeper storage compartments. Race sleds are little shorter, not much, but configured to haul the required equipment and nothing more.  This is the sled we rode in. It is also one of John's competition sleds. Notice the blue sled anchor on the ground; this anchor is thrown out to allow the musher to dismount the sled and work/check on stuff. You can also see the two sled skis, the heel rest mat, and foot brake bar. When riding, you can place either heel on the heel rest mat which simply floats above the ice. The brake is operated with one foot and simply drags between the skis. When preparing the dogs for mushing, it is safer to tie the sled to a vehicle or tree to start. The dogs get a bit excited and will take off without the rider... this is not recommended.  Mushies are attached two by two down the length of the guide rope. John and Kathy attached them one side at a time. John did say that some dogs work better next to their litter mates than with other dogs. All the dogs on Kathy's guide rope were brothers or sisters and work as pairs for a total of 10 dogs.  This is the view from inside the cargo area of the sled while mushing. Notice the arrangement of fixed loops and different ropes to create the anchor point for the sled. As a military mountaineering fan I took some time to study the rope materials and knots used to create the guide rope. The main length of the rope appeared to be a kermantel static rope. Towards the front of the sled it was attached with a series of fixed loops of differing materials. They used pear shaped 72 KN locking carabiners and a dynamic kermantel rope encased in friction wrap to prevent burns and rubs. There are no "reins", "guides" or whips to steer or encourage the mushies during transit. I did not see any use of laid rope with the guide system, although I would be curious to know what the Inuits used before mountaineering technology improved. I would assume they used natural fibers to create heavy and durable laid ropes with no "shock asorbing" traits. Although... a series of leather strips wrapped or tied together to form a fixed loop could be used to create a shock absorber for the guide rope. If I have time tomorrow... I will try and stop by the museum to confirm my suspicions.  This picture was quickly taken while in motion from inside the sled cargo storage area. I was actually quite warm and comfortable as my bum was resting on a thick piece of foam. I was impressed with the coziness of this configuration. Given a couple of blankets to fill the gaps between my body and the sled cover I could easily fall asleep on a long trip. The ambient temperature was around -20 someodd at this time. If you look close, you can see that my right eye lash has started to form it's own ice museum display.  This picture was taken after our ride. We all took turns standing on the trail sled and snapping a couple of photos. It's difficult to smile when your face feels frozen, but I was smiling on the inside!  These are John's all stars. His two leaders are the MVPs of the team. (Most Valuable Pooch) They are treated like family members and stay in the house with John and Kathy. Kathy also has her own two all star MVPs. If you notice the dog on the left is licking his paws to warm them up after the mushing. The dog on the right paused breifly for a photo op and then continued to clear the ice build up around his mouth. (Message edited by Geforce on December 10, 2010) | ||
| Whatever |
Yeah the mushing is fun stuff! Got to go up in northern Wisconsin a few years back... will have to read the rest of your post after work...  | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Yup those dogs can pull, one of my neighbours, Patrick Logeais, won the World championship in his class in the WSA this year. And is European champion in the FISTC. He brings Father Christmas to the village " Christmas do" on a wheeled sled every year. Those dogs take of like a rocket! | ||
| Babired |
you did a wonderful write up! That was very fun to read and you are so lucky to have experienced something like this! I love it! | ||
| Skntpig |
Great story. Thanks for sharing. | ||
| Blake |
That's the best story I've read in a long time Cory! You ought to send it in to your base newsletter and other armed forces periodicals. Great stuff! (Message edited by Blake on December 09, 2010) | ||
| Sifo |
Really enjoyed that story Geforce. Sounds like you had a great time. | ||
| Carbonbigfoot |
Great read! | ||
| Geforce |
Thanks for taking the time to read it guys. It truly was a fun time and I would love to try it again sometime. John and Kathy have great dogs and over 25+ years of experience to share if/when you ever find yourself in Fairbanks. | ||
| Blake |
Just one thing... captions for the photos? | ||
| Xbjelly9s |
Cool story! So how did Shawn fair? | ||
| Geforce |
Captions updated... Shawn did MUCH better than I did. Although, he did have a few questions of me before we took off. He did a great job and did not fall off the sled once. The other guys all fell off once except Shawn. After this outing, we headed over to Silver Gulch (Brewery/Resturant) and shared our stories over a couple of tasty microbrewery beers. Each of us attributed Shawn's success due to his short height (5' 4'') and unfair lower center of gravity advantage. Unfortunately, I had the most falls out of the group. Although I blame that on height and being the first to try it. lol |
