Get real. Get off your rear. Get revved up for spring.
Published: March 22, 2007
Last Modified: March 22, 2007 at 07:01 AM
"When it's springtime in Alaska (It's 40 below)."
-- Country singer Johnny Horton, 1961
The uncomfortable truth of this winter of global warming is that it has been colder than bejesus.
Coldest run of February and March weather since 1971, according to the National Weather Service, with March still in there battling to tie 1956 as the coldest ever recorded in Alaska.
As Johnny lamented, "When it's springtime in Alaska, it's 40 below.''
So stop complaining.
All of this cold really means only one thing: The winter's snow is well preserved and ready to rock.
Elsewhere in America, spring might mean it's time to put away the skis and get out the running shoes or clean the bike and fishing tackle.
OK, look. This is Alaska.
If you're seriously into biking, you've already been out for weeks taking advantage of local trails -- not to mention a new winter world of wilderness snowmachine trails all over the Susitna River valley -- frozen into pavement. Fat tires might help in places, but in general, the trails are so firm you don't even need those.
Trails in many places, in fact, are frozen so hard it's more fun to ride a bike than a snowmachine. The suspension systems built into modern snowmobiles are amazingly forgiving, but they're still not made for riding moguled, white pavement.
If you're a serious angler, of course, you know fishing is a long way off. Boats are, at the moment, frozen in the Homer harbor, which looks better for ice skating than anything else, and the weather in Anchorage isn't fooling anyone into thinking the fishing season might start early this year.
No, this is a real Alaska spring.
The weather is speaking the truth: Ski, snowmachine, snowshoe, climb ice.
The days are long. The sun is bright and, against the backdrop of what has often been zero or colder night air, it feels even warmer than in most springs.
Get off the sofa. Quit moaning about how cold it has been. And take advantage. The opportunities are boundless.
The cloak of snow that normally covers Alaska this time of year was transformed into a ground-covering armor of white by the usually warm weather and rain that preceded the cold snap. So you can go almost anywhere in the backcountry.
Even itty-bitty, easy-to-walk-in snowshoes are good enough for roaming places adjacent to Anchorage in Chugach State Park where you'd normally be fighting through muskeg bog and alder thickets. There's been enough snow this winter that in a lot of places, those alder thickets are now just branch tips sticking up out of the white pavement.
The snowmachining is only going to get better up north as the snow starts to soften a bit.
The Arctic to Indian traverse, an Alaska classic, is beckoning cross-country skiers with the promise of plenty of snow on the Indian end, which can already be starting to melt out along about now in really warm years.
The Alyeska Resort in Girdwood boasts its best skiing of the season over the course of the next month and a half or so.
The spring crust skiing for skate skiers looks to hold a ton of promise for the Portage Valley and Turnagain Pass.
So just do it!
• Play outdoors columnist Melissa DeVaughn will return next week. ADN Outdoors editor Craig Medred can be reached at cmedred@adn.com.
Seasonal order
Part of enjoying spring to its fullest is proper planning. Before you make the call on your next adventure, visit and bookmark these Web sites for ideas, conditions and prices.
Weather
• Get Anchorage and area weather conditions and forecasts from the National Weather Service at pafc.arh.noaa.gov.
Nordic skiing
• Get area trail conditions and ski tips from Cross Country Alaska at www.crosscountryalaska.org.
• Get crust skiing conditions and tips at Tim Kelley's Alaska Performance Backcountry Skiing site, crust.outlookalaska.com.
Alpine skiing/snowboarding
• Visit these sites for conditions and price information for popular local hills.
Alpenglow at Arctic Valley: www.skialpenglow.com
Alyeska Resort: www.alyeskaresort.com
Hilltop Ski Area: www.hilltopskiarea.org
Snowshoeing, touring
• For maps and trails around Chugach State Park, visit www.dnr.state.ak.us/parks/units/chugach.
Snowmachining
• Get trail conditions, trip tips, news and notes at aksnow.org.
Bikes
• MTBR.com has an Alaska forum at forums.mtbr.com.
Misc.
• Visit ADN's Outdoors section online for news, notes and event and class listings: www.adn.com/outdoors.
