Boat building
KSKA: Thursday, March 16, at 2:00 p.m. Boat building is much more than carpentry. Boats can be an extension of a builder’s heart, connecting to traditions and place, and relating a paddler’s physical and spiritual being to the ocean. The guests on this show are skilled craftspeople who have spent their lives building and repairing wooden boats, and building traditional Inuit kayaks.
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Getting Ready for Paddling Season
The ice will soon go out soon on our lakes and rivers. The sea otters are ready to pose for our pictures. On the next Outdoor Explorer, we’re getting ready for paddling season. Host Charles Wohlforth and guests will be talking about canoeing, kayaking, rafting, rivers, lakes and the ocean -- gear, safety, planning and packing. We'll be dreaming about the trips we would love to take, and talking to folks who have done them.
KSKA: Thursday, April 17, at 2:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.
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Active vacations
In 2017, Men’s Health named Anchorage the most adventurous city in the United States. We do love to adventure in our state with our friends. We also love to travel; why not combine adventure, travel and friends into a vacation? On this week’s Outdoor Explorer we’ll be talking with avid swimmers, bikers and runners who combine their vacation with activity. And although we all love to spend some time on the beach doing nothing, there is no better way to see the world than through movement in the outdoors.
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Alaska Sports Hall of Fame
The Alaska Sports Hall of Fame’s mission is to Teach, Honor, and Inspire. On the next Outdoor Explorer we'll be joined by the Executive Director of the Hall who will tell us about the class of 2019 and representatives from the Alaska Run for Women, which is entering the Hall in the event category.
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Berry Picking
Getting your own piece of Alaska
The dream of getting your own piece of Alaska is as old as the North, the idea of staking land, proving up, and ending up with a big homestead that is your own estate. The state of Alaska still has programs for residents to get inexpensive land, including the opportunity to pick your own site and stake the corners. We’ll talk about how you can buy a remote piece of Alaska, too, and hear the story of a real Alaskan pioneer who lived alone in the wilderness years ago.
KSKA: Thursday, Sept 10, at 2:00 p.m. and Thursday, Sept. 17, at 8:00 p.m.
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McKinley Disasters
In 1967 the Wilcox Expedition attacked Mount McKinley with 12 young men. Only five came back alive. The disaster was the worst in the history of the mountain, and changed many lives and the way people thought about climbing it. Two authors have recently released books on the event, and both join us on the show to rehash what they remember from the deadly event.
KSKA: Thursday, July 17, at 2:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.
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Organizing a big sporting event during a pandemic
On this week’s Outdoor Explorer, we’ll speak with the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation’s executive director, Ben Popp, about the changes that were put in place to allow thousands of competitors to gather in Wisconsin for America’s largest ski race, even during the pandemic.
Geocaching
Geocaching is sort of like outdoor treasure hunting, and it's getting really big in Anchorage. Host Charles Wohlforth gave it a try with his daughter. They had an iPhone app and a mission to look for hidden caches logged on a website powered by GPS equipment. The result? A fun, and somewhat addicting, new hobby. Join us on air to learn more about geocaching.
KSKA: Thursday, April 2, 2015, at 2:00 and 9:00 p.m.
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Surfing & The Turnagain Bore Tide
The bore tide in Turnagain Arm is an amazing phenomenon that is seen few places in the world, a wall of water that rushes in on a clockwork schedule, vast and intimidating. So… why not surf it? On the next Outdoor Explorer, we’ll meet some of the hearty folks who ride that big wave, and talk about surfing the remote shores and big waves found all over Alaska’s coast.
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Sophia Tidler’s Winter Solstice Adventure
On summer solstice 2019, Sophia Tidler became the first woman to solo the Chugach Linkup. On winter solstice 2019, Sophia began another attempt and almost 55 hours later became the first person to successfully complete a winter
linkup.
Wildflowers
One of the great joys of hiking in Alaska is seeing the plants and flowers, watching how they change as you pass through different ecosystems and elevations, and learning the names and characteristics of the species you see. The mountains and woods where we hike are always beautiful, but when you understand what you are seeing the pleasure is greatly increased. Join host Charles Wohlforth and guests to learn more about Alaska wildflowers.
KSKA: Thursday, July 31, at 2:00 and 9:00 p.m.
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Aviation Safety
KSKA: Thursday, April 07, at 2pm and Thursday, April 14 at 8pm
In Alaska, we rely on air taxis and private pilots to go hunting, hiking, floating and to climb mountains. If you’ve been doing that long enough, you’ve been on some scary flights, as I certainly have. But for some reason we don’t talk about that much, or about the people who have died, as if we thought we couldn’t do anything about it. On the next show we are having that talk.
Denali National Park’s centennial
KSKA: Thursday, April 04, at 2:00. Denali National Park is turning 100 years old. We’ll learn how the park came into being a century ago, when development of Alaska had hardly begun. We’ll also look at the park today and opportunities to experience it as Alaskans. It is one of our biggest tourist attractions, but it is also a great place to visit with your family, especially with the activities starting this month for the centennial year.
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Volunteering in the outdoors
Volunteering in the outdoors is a great way to contribute to the quality of our outdoor experiences, and is rewarding in itself. More and more land managers rely on volunteers to maintain the quality of trails, pull invasive weeds, and monitor campsites. On this week’s show we’ll be talking about opportunities to volunteer in the outdoors.
Peter Steele: A doctor on Everest
On this Outdoor Explorer, we’ll go to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, to visit with doctor, mountaineer, and author Peter Steele. He was the team doctor for the 1971 International Everest Expedition. We’ll discuss Peter’s adventures as a mountaineer, a husband, and a father, his friendship with Eric Shipton, and his observations about large Himalayan mountaineering expeditions.
Alone in the Wilderness
Whereas having somebody else along is often safer and more fun, solo trips into the wilderness can sometimes be the most memorable. Whether by choice or necessity, these experiences offer a chance to get to know oneself better. We'll speak with three guests about what it's like being truly alone in the great outdoors.
KSKA: Thursday, Jan. 15, at 2:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.
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The mountain climbing community
KSKA: Thursday, March 02, at 2:00 p.m. The conversation is about why and how climbers challenge themselves with Alaska’s mountains, but also how the experience affected them, helped them grow, and connected them with others like themselves. It’s a deep topic worth thinking about.
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Alaska Mountain Rescue
When Alaskans get lost or hurt in the high country, they rely on a team of volunteers and professionals who are tough enough to come get them in the worst conditions. This week on Outdoor Explorer we'll find how how they do their work and how we can help as outdoor users when we are lost.
KSKA: Thursday, 2/13 at 2:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.
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Outdoor Explorer: Catching up with Kikkan Randall and the year ahead for Anchorage’s nordic ski club
On this week's Outdoor Explorer, our guest is Olympic gold medalist Kikkan Randall. When Randall was young, she participated in Junior Nordic, a popular Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage program. Now Kikkan has returned to her roots as the new executive director of the organization.