Outdoor skating
KSKA: Thursday, October 26th, at 2:00 p.m. The weather is getting colder and that means the fun of pond and outdoor skating cannot be far off. Ice hockey may be a year-round sport for competitors, but pond hockey happens only when the weather cools. In Alaska that goes for speed skating and backcountry skating, too. On this show, we’ll explore the joy of outdoor skating, the ease of getting into the sport, and the amazing opportunities it creates to love winter.
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Handling Wild Game
KSKA: Thursday, Sept. 29, at 2:00 p.m. On the next Outdoor Explorer we’ll be talking about the skills and planning necessary to properly field dress wild game and then get it to a processor. We’ll also talk about the cooking skills to make wild game delicious and healthy for your family.
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Action and Scenic Photography
Using a camera to capture the spectacular places and outdoor sports we love can seem like an impossible task. On the next Outdoor Explorer, join us with two guests who have dedicated their lives to making amazing photographs that bring the outdoors to life.
KSKA: Thursday, May 28, at 2:00 and 9:00 p.m.
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Horseback riding and a trip across the Americas
Felipe Leite rode a horse from Calgary to Brazil, unsupported. He crossed deserts and mountains and he says he nearly starved and he saw men killed by drug lords. Leite is my guest on the next Outdoor Explorer to tell about his horseback adventures, and his next big ride, from Fairbanks to Calgary, which will complete a journey spanning the length of the America’s.
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Raising an Outdoorsy Family
On the next Outdoor Explorer we explore a different kind of lifestyle - one in which families orient their lives to their outdoor interests rather than to school and community. We’ll talk to folks who have made that leap, and weigh the pros and cons of a radical family investment in your outdoor passions.
KSKA: Thursday, June 25, at 2:00 and 9:00 p.m.
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Chugach National Forest Town Hall Meeting
Chugach National Forest, and especially Prince William Sound, takes in some of the most extraordinary scenery and protected wilderness in Alaska. Charles Wohlforth shares what he learned when he attended a public meeting on changing management of the Sound, and you'll hear from people who think that’s both a good and a bad idea.
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A Conversation with Holly Brooks
KSKA: Thursday, Aug. 18, at 2:00 p.m. Holly Brooks is one of Alaska’s favorite athletes because she was a regular person, an adult with a job, who became a member of the Olympic team - twice. We spend the entire next hour of Outdoor Explorer talking with Holly, learning about her recent retirement, and a new phase in her life as a counselor and coach.
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Sonja Wieck: Tales of Toughness
What happens when an 18-time Ironman athlete comes in second in her age group at the world championships and wakes up realizing she’s still the same person she was the day before?
River Safety Techniques
KSKA: Thursday, September 22, at 2:00p.m. and Thursday, September 29, at 8:00p.m. Alaska’s rivers are the best path to see the backcountry for non-motorized adventures, traveling in relative comfort and seeing the grandeur of Alaska. Still, cold moving water in remote areas can also be dangerous. Every summer, we hear stories of tragedies and of near misses on Alaska’s rivers and in this episode we'll tackle that topic head-on.
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Cultural journeys
Outdoor Alaska is a place to learn -- learning skills like skiing or paddling; learning to hunt and survive; or learning about the environment for science. On this edition of Outdoor Explorer, we’ll talk to people who are sharing these kinds of knowledge in new ways -- scientists learning from from Alaska Natives, and elders eager to tell about radical changes they see in the environment where they live.'
KSKA: Thursday, Oct. 22, at 2:00 p.m. and Oct. 29 at 8:00 p.m.
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Stargazing
The night sky is infinitely interesting, and, like any experience in nature, knowledge only makes the experience deeper. On the next Outdoor Explorer, we’re going to learn about the stars and watching them as an outdoor Alaskan activity.
KSKA: Thursday, Dec. 18, at 2:00 and 9:00 p.m.
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Enjoying the fall season
Some Alaskans think fall is an in-between season when we’re waiting for winter and the skiing, skating and snowmachine riding that is coming. But that’s a mistake. Fall lasts a long time around here these days-- we can easily get three full months of it. On the next Outdoor Explorer, we’re talking about the joys of autumn, when the tourists are gone and many good days remain, if you know how to dress for them.
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How a love of design helps this graphic artist promote outdoor accessibility | Outdoor Explorer
Along with placing winter single track trails, Aurora Hablett uses geographic data to create maps in shapes with GPS visualization.
LISTEN: Imagine hiking all the tallest summits of the Chugach Front Range in one trip. These people did it this year.
The Chugach Front Linkup is the connection of the 12 summits over 5000 feet in the Chugach Front Range in a single
outing. This past summer saw an unprecedented known number of people who have successfully linked the peaks;
between them they produced 6 new records.
Wilderness Medicine
The nightmare of anyone leading a backcountry trip is that someone becomes seriously hurt, falls in the water, or gets too cold. You can’t get the person to a doctor for many hours or even days. You don’t know what to do. On the next Outdoor Explore, we’re going to talk about that terrifying situation and how to solve it. We’re talking about wilderness medicine. KSKA: Thursday, Jan 28, at 2:00 and Thursday, Feb 4, at 8:00 p.m. LISTEN NOW
Talking Iditarod with Bill Sherwonit
The next Outdoor Explorer will air during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, and we’ll be discussing Alaska’s signature sporting event with nature writer Bill Sherwonit. Bill spent many years covering the Iditarod as a newspaper reporter and he has lots of stories from the trail. He’s recently put out a new book about the race. Tune in for a discussion with author Bill Sherwonit about the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
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Winter predictions and activities
Will winter bring snow, or will we wait through thaws, rain and darkness? On the next Outdoor Explorer, we have a climatologist to talk about the predicted El Nino that is expected to bring warm, gloomy conditions this winter. So that’s the prediction. For the response, we’ll have two other interviews. We’ll be talking about hibernation, not the best option, and about indoor ice... it's the sport of curling.
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Invasive plants
KSKA: Thursday,June 15, at 2:00 p.m. Invasive plants on land and water can spread rapidly. Weeds entering a new system are something like viruses, or cancers, that can be dealt with relatively easy in the early stage, but become unmanageable if they go too far. The hopeful news is that Alaskans are tackling this challenge, and it is not too late to make a difference.
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Outdoor Explorer: Hear what the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage has planned for the upcoming season
Our guest on this episode of Outdoor Explorer is Kikkan Randall, executive director of the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage. The conversation is wide-ranging, from the programs and events NSAA has planned for the upcoming ski season to impacts of climate change and NSAA's upcming 60th anniversary.
An Interview with Alaska musher Aliy Zirkle
Aliy Zirkle didn't grow up thinking she would become a famous musher. But she always loved the outdoors. And when she was studying biology at the University of Pennsylvania, she walked into a lab one day saw this sign on the door: "Why are you studying biology in downtown Philadelphia when you could be in Alaska?"
A few years later, she was mushing her first team of dogs in the Interior community of Bettles. On the next Outdoor Explorer, Join host Annie Feidt for an interview with this remarkable musher.
KSKA: Thursday, Feb. 26, at 2:00 and 9:00 p.m.
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