2024 marks the end of an era: thirty years of Alaska Mountain Wilderness Ski Classic organization by Dave Cramer and the staff at Summit Consulting.

The Winter Classic—an A to B wilderness ski event—has long been recognized as ‘the greatest value in adventure racing’ due to Dave and Summit’s incredible effort at organization and logistics. Much of the heavy lifting is done by Uta and Bernie Hicker, the hosts at Arctic Getaway Bed and Breakfast in Wiseman, which serves as the meet-up and finish point.

Unlike its wicked step-sister (the Summer Classic), the Winter Classic is done by the books … land use permits, insurance, lodging, food, and beer. After watching us load the trailer at a liquor store in Fairbanks, a random guy asked Dave for a job: “I’ve got an operator’s license!”

I assume that Dave’s motivation is partly due to his experience in the Classics—recognizing the value of a warm room and a full belly at the end of an exhausting winter adventure—but is mostly due to knowing how meaningful the Classics are to participants. It is not an understatement to say that my experience in the Classics was life-changing. And it must be rewarding for Dave to provide that experience.

Unfortunately, my body can’t take on any more Classics, but I wanted to be in Wiseman to celebrate Dave’s work and help with logistics. I washed a lot of dishes.

Photos from the start

Participants: Let me know if you want full-res copies of anything, full name listed, or anything removed.

Rolling update

Here’s a rolling update. I’ll make corrections as I receive them. And I’ll link to participants’ reports when they are available.

Sunday, March 31st: Start

Two teams—Miles, Cara, and Keane, and Danny & Dusty—head into the longer and seldom completed Arctic Refuge (I tried this route in 2018 and we ended up bailing out to Arctic Village) [overview map].

The remaining twenty-six skiers head into the Gates of the Arctic (here are my reports from 2010, 2011, and 2012) [maps: north, central, south]. Both routes have the same finish point—the Arctic Getaway in Wiseman.

Gates-side skiers soon split into two groups: heading south along the Itkillik toward Peregrine Pass, or west along the mountain front and Nanushuk River route ‘to see something new.’ Both options have potential avalanche hazards at the crux passes, but not otherwise.

Margaret turns back after a few hours due to knee pain—a smart decision given that old injuries don’t improve during a Classic. I’m still recovering from last summer’s course.

Monday

John W. and Mark H. ski back to Galbraith. John felt the onset of plantar fasciitis and Mark recognized that he would be traveling solo through the hazardous parts of the route, which was beyond his risk tolerance.

The Itkillik teams make another split: Chelsea, Christina, Ryan, Curtis, and Nicole head toward Peregrine Pass while Dane, Dan, Charlie, Josh, Toby, and Johnathan B. cut out of the Itkillik earlier, heading for Grizzly Pass south of Cockedhat Mountain.

Miles, Cara, and Keane roll with a finishing pace on the Refuge side—an 18-mile day.

Tuesday

Anthony spends the day butchering his AT racing boot hoping to reduce pressure on the ankle bone.

The Refuge folks make it over the pass … the technical/hazard crux of the route and the site of an avalanche close-call in 2018.

Wednesday

All of the Refuge-side skiers reach the midway checkpoint with decent travel (a ~20-mile day). Danny and Dusty opt to head to Arctic Village—a shorter option than heading to Wiseman [map]. Both parties encountered deep snow and were limited to 10 miles of progress.

On the Gates side, the Nanushuk River and Grizzly Pass skiers reach Anaktuvuk! A weather station in town recorded wind gusts of 40 mph. Haley’s inReach message said something like, ‘the wind has stripped away our enthusiasm.’ Malcolm, Haley, Charlie, and Toby fly out from AKP. The rest will continue via the Tinyguk Valley route.

The Peregrine Pass skiers (Chelsea & Christina, Curtis & Ryan, and Nicole) get spooked by avalanche conditions and backtrack to cut the corner to the N. Fork Koyukuk River (skipping Anaktuvuk). Cutting the corner involves a new crux: a canyon intersection that likely has steep ice.

I met up with Charlie back in Anchorage and he thought it was a good decision to avoid Peregrine Pass given the whoomphing he experienced farther north on the Nanushuk River route. “Whoomph” describes the sound of the snowpack when a strong layer collapses over a weak layer and air escapes from the (less dense) weak layer. A strong-over-weak structure is part of the recipe for avalanche activity.

Thursday

Anthony catches a snowmachine ride from an inholding cabin back to Galbraith (it would not have been legal for Bernie or Dave to do the retrieval because it is NPS land).

The Arctic Refuge crews struggle through deep snow and cover ~10 miles.

Friday

The Tinyguk folks make good time down the N. Fk Koyukuk.

Miles, Cara, and Keane push a 15-mile day, but that still puts them behind pace to finish the Refuge route.

Saturday

Skiers from the Nanushuk-Tinyguk route finish in Wiseman! Eben & Natalie, Josh, Jonathan B., Jonathan S., and then the rest: Dane & Daniel, Benjamin & Tyler, Chuck & Kirby, Eric & Nick.

Another low-mileage day for the poor folks on the Refuge side … 12-miles for Miles, Cara, and Keane.

Sunday

Curtis and Ryan reach Wiseman around 9 PM. Chelsea and Christina are expected ~4 hours later. Nicole expects to finish on Wednesday.

Miles, Cara, and Keane are getting crushed by deep snow. They are familiar with the route, have 10 days of food, and still … brutally slow conditions. They are looking into flight options. (From Sarah Richards’ FB updates.)

Likewise, Danny and Dusty are crawling through deep snow toward Arctic Village. They should arrive Monday.

Monday

Danny and Dusty reach Arctic Village and will fly to Fairbanks on Tuesday.

Miles, Cara, and Keane are looking for a weather window and landing zone for a chartered flight.

Nicole is going to get a ride via sled dogs to finish the last miles! Lucky!