Outdoor Explorer from KSKA

January 9, 2013 - 11:03 am

Inside Root Glacier in Wrangell St. Elias National Park & Preserve, Alaska. Photo by Nathan Harvey.

In Alaska can you walk out your backdoor and embark upon an epic outdoor adventure. We live for hiking, mountain biking, bore tide surfing, skijoring, snow machining, aurora gazing, dip netting, pack rafting, berry picking, moose encountering feats. We hold dear the special places we do these activities. The opportunities are endless as well as the risks.

Photo courtesy Camila Grajcarek.

On Outdoor Explorer a new radio call-in show from KSKA – Anchorage we invite you to step outside into Alaska. Follow us to a new trail or fishing hole, learn what to pack, when to go and most importantly, how to stay safe. Learn about life-long fitness and get inspired to go outside in the back country or on the bike trails. Then go to outdoorexplorer.org to start mapping your route and reserving your cabin.

Photo courtesy Annie Feidt.

We will learn about Alaska Native subsistence life ways as well as sport hunting, fishing and non-consumptive use of wildlife. We’ll hear from the people who know the land best - outdoor guides, park rangers, coaches, authors, lodge owners, bush pilots, educators and you, the explorer. Meet us on KSKA FM Thursdays 2:00 – 3:00 pm starting February 21, 2013.

Here’s what we have line up for the first 6 shows:

Episode 1: Cross Country Ski Trails
Episode 2: Aurora Viewing
Episode 3: Amateur Mushing
Episode 4: Ice Climbing
Episode 5: Teaching Kids How to Downhill Ski
Episode 6: Outdoor Activity Groups

HOST: Charles Wohlforth
Email: cwohlforth [at] alaskapublic [dot] org

Charles Wohlforth is a life-long Alaska resident and prize-winning author of numerous books about Alaska. A popular lecturer, he has spoken all over the United States and overseas. Wohlforth lives with his wife, Barbara, and their four children. They reside in Anchorage during the winter, where they are avid cross-country skiers, and in summer on a remote Kachemak Bay shore reachable only by boat.

Among Charles’s 10 published books, four are directly on our subject, with exhaustive coverage of outdoor activities all over Alaska and in the national parks. Developed through two decades of travel and outdoor exploration alone and with children, they include Alaska Day-By-Day, Frommer’s Alaska (15 editions), Alaska for Dummies (five editions), and Family Vacations in the National Parks (three editions), as well as contributions to the books National Geographic National Parks, Frommer’s National Parks of the American West, and Outside Magazine’s Guide to Family Vacations. In addition, he has written extensively on outdoor topics for magazines, including: Outside, Sunset, Alaska, Alaska Airlines, Outside Family Vacations, and others.

Charles’s work in radio dates to the founding year of KSKA, when he hosted a volunteer program on local musicians. As a brand-new high school graduate in 1981, he worked as a production assistant and news reporter here. In 2009 he returned to the station as host of Hometown Alaska, later hosting 1on1, and filling in as host for Talk of Alaska.

PRODUCER:
Kristin Spack
Email: kspack [at] alaskapublic [dot] org

A Massachusetts native, Kristin Spack earned her degree in communications from Loyola University New Orleans. She spent summers as an intern at WGBH – Boston for the PBS documentary series, American Experience. Hurricane Katrina eventually led Kristin to Alaska and soon KSKA – Anchorage where she is a radio and web producer. In addition to Outdoor Explorer, she is the producer of Addressing Alaskans a weekly radio show featuring local lectures recorded in Southcentral. She also edits and produces content for the web and manages radio production at KSKA. Hiking the iconic 27 mile Crow Creek Trail and crossing the bone chilling Eagle River on her fifth day in Alaska gave Kristin an instant respect and thirst for outdoor excursions in the Great Land. She enjoys hiking, camping, cross country skiing, fishing and prospecting with her fiancé Andrew and dog Porter.

ENGINEER:
Dave Waldron

Born and raised in Alaska, David began his radio career in 2000 as a volunteer DJ at UAA’s radio station KRUA 88.1, where he hosted a weekend music show. In 2004 he was hired as the station’s Music Director, and held the position until his graduation in 2007. In 2008 he was hired by Alaska Public Media as an operator and audio engineer. In addition to Outdoor Explorer, he currently engineers the statewide programs Alaska News Nightly and Talk of Alaska for APRN. He also produces the weekly KSKA segment Townsquare 49 Radio. David enjoys snowboarding, hiking and fishing.

SUB HOST:
Annie Feidt

Annie Feidt moved to Alaska in 2004 with her husband, Dave, expecting to have a few years of fun adventures before moving back to the lower 48. But they quickly fell in love with the state and have no plans to leave anytime soon. Annie enjoys cross country skiing, back country skiing, trail running and biking. Lately, she’s spending a lot of time introducing her young daughter to fun activities, like splashing in mud puddles. When she’s not recreating outdoors, Annie is Senior Editor/Producer for the Alaska Public Radio Network. Her radio stories have appeared on Morning Edition, The World and Marketplace.

CALENDAR: Listen for the Outdoor Explorer calendar highlighting 2 – 4 outdoor upcoming events or deadlines in Alaska about half way through each program. Events will be posted on datebook49 where listeners can also post events.

RIDE ALONG VIDEO: See Alaska through the eyes of our guests. Many radio guests will be supplied a GoPro helmet camera and asked to take it with them on an outdoor adventure before the show. The video will be discussed during show and posted at outdoorexplorer.org. Before we taped the pilot (MP3) episode of Outdoor Explorer Dylan Watts, Alaska Pacific University Ski Center Coach took the GoPro on it’s first cross country skiing adventure in Anchorage’s Kincaid Park.

MUSIC: “Got It All” (open) and “Sleep Forever” (close) by Portugal. The Man. Watch the Sleep Forever music video featuring Wasilla grown, lead singer John Gourley mushing in Alaska.

LISTEN LIVE: Thursdays 2:00 – 3:00 pm (LIVE) Alaska Time, repeating 7:00 – 8:00 pm on KSKA

WHERE TO LISTEN: KSKA Anchorage FM 91.1, Girdwood FM 91.9, Seward FM 88.1, outdoorexplorer.org (live web stream) or subscribe to the Outdoor Explorer podcast

LISTEN ANYTIME: Receive Outdoor Explorer automatically every week via:

PARTICIPATE: Outdoor Explorer facebook

Please share your outdoor photos, videos, comments or questions for our guests
Comments posted before show time may be read on-air
Help us plan future shows by going to outdoorexplorer.org to see what’s Coming Up. Post comments with guest suggestions or ideas.