Stand Up Paddleboarding in Alaska
KSKA: Thursday, June 16, at 2:00 We love how people keep inventing new sports and Alaskans keep finding unique ways to do them. The next show is a great example, we're talking about stand up paddleboarding and paddleboard yoga. A paddleboard is essentially a surf board for calm water, but as you’ll learn, paddleboards now are being used in Alaskan rivers and in the ocean. Finally, at the end of the show, we’ll hear a hair raising story from our live outdoor explorer show a few weeks ago.
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Athletes with Diabetes
KSKA: Thursday, June 09, at 2:00 and Thursday, June 16, at 8:00 p.m. Diabetes does not mean the end of an athletic career. On the next Outdoor Explorer we’ll meet elite athletes and adventurers who deal with this disease. I'ts fascinating how these athletes meet this challenge, dealing with blood chemistry while climbing mountains or swimming in a triathlon. We'll also discuss how kids and parents work through it and stay active in Alaska as well.
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Outdoor Explorer LIVE!
KSKA: Thursday, June 02, at 2:00 and Thursday, June 09, at 8:00 p.m. On Saturday, May 21st we took to the stage for the first ever live edition of Outdoor Explorer. We recorded our show on-stage at the TapRoot the way we do it in the studio, talking to Luc Mehl and Nancy Pfieffer. We are so happy to share the recorded version of our live show with you.
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Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies
KSKA: Thursday, May 26, at 2:00 and Thursday, June 02, at 8:00 p.m. If you’re headed for Homer, learn about the tide pools, the forests or the critters living under the docks from an enthusiastic group of young educators. We recorded the next show at the Center for Alaska Coastal Studies, went to a remote field station, and got some ideas to enrich time outdoors with knowledge and insight.
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Anchorage Bike Trails
KSKA: Thursday, May 19, at 2:00 and Thursday, May 26, at 8:00 p.m.
Anchorage people love their bike trails. Still, while we want more, the trails we already have are worn out in places, and one trail had a bridge collapse. On the next Outdoor Explorer we’ll be talking with folks responsible for the paved bike trails, as well as a mastermind of the fun, world class single track mountain bike trails at Kincaid Park and on the Hillside.
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100th Anniversary of Migratory Bird Treaty
KSKA: Thursday, May 12 @ 2:00 pm. On the next Outdoor Explorer we mark the 100th anniversary of the migratory bird treaty, a conservation landmark and learn how migrations come through our state and where and when you can enjoy them.
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Father-Daughter Treks
KSKA: Thursday, May 5 @ 2:00 pm.
On the next Outdoor Explorer we’ll have two different father-daughter teams who reconnected through big adventures. One pair rode motorcycles from Alaska to college in New York, the other came from Wisconsin to build a cabin in northern Alaska.
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Reprise: Canoeing 5,000 Miles in 5 Months
KSKA: Thursday, April 28 @ 2:00 pm. We're reprising one of our favorite interviews with Bob Vollhaber. Starting in Washington, going over the Chilkoot Pass, down the Yukon, through the Bering Sea, up river to Lake Iliamna, finally ending up in Anchorage’s Westchester Lagoon, Bob Vollhaber paddled a canoe five thousand miles in five months.
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New Trails and Trail Maintenance
KSKA: Thursday, April 21 @ 2:00 pm.
We are a trail community in Anchorage and across our region of Alaska. The variety of purposes for our trails is amazing. On our next show we’re talking about trails, how they get built and maintained, and how we can keep our trails usable as state money for them goes away.
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History of Chugach State Park
KSKA: Thursday, April 14, at 2pm.
When you fly into Anchorage, what do you really notice? It's not the buildings or the roads, it's the mountains that take your breath away. It’s a gift, but it didn’t have to be that way. 50 years ago, the land we now call Chugach State Park was open for development. The reason we have a park now is because citizens got together and were bold enough to demand one. We’ll be talking about the history of the park and how it came into existence.
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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.
Athletic Injury Prevention and Avoidance
This week we have an important show for anyone who exercises to keep fit. We're talking about injury prevention and recovery. You can avoid a lot of the injuries that come from overuse and excessive effort, and we’ll tell you how to speed your recovery if you do get hurt. As with so many things, a lot of it is mental.
KSKA: Thursday, March 31, at 2pm and Thursday, April 07 at 8pm
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Alyeska Memories
Alyeska Resort is an amazing place to have as our backyard ski hill. On this edition of Outdoor Explorer, we’re talking about how it got that way. Recording in Girdwood, we have Chris Von Imhof, the father of Alyeska, at the Roundhouse museum up on the mountain, with many good stories. And we’ll have Rosey Fletcher, who became an Olympian on the runs that Von Imhof built.
KSKA: Thursday, March 24, at 2pm and Thursday, March 31 at 8pm
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Avalanche Prediction in Chugach National Forest
It’s been a bad year for avalanches in south central Alaska, with several deaths occurring in the mountains. Still, we have more information to avoid avalanches than ever before. On the next Outdoor Explorer we'll visit with the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center to learn how the staff there studies the snow and predicts whether or not backcountry activities will be safe, and what you need to know for your own adventures. KSKA: Thursday, March 17, at 2:00 and Thursday, March 24, at 8:00 p.m.
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Moose: Biology, Lessons and Urban Stories
Moose are part of life in Alaska in so many ways, as dinner, as a road hazard, and as an exciting visitor in your back yard. They're really amazing animals that deserve our respect. On the next Outdoor Explorer, we’ll hear from a moose biologist who followed the animals in Denali for more than 35 years, and one who wrangled them in middle of the city, with Christmas lights on their antlers. KSKA: Thursday, March 10, at 2:00 and Thursday, March 17, at 8:00 p.m.
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Revisiting Alaska Native Games
The annual statewide competitions are coming up soon, as well as the international Arctic Winter Games in Fairbanks. These games are spectacular, like the high kick, and sometimes require toughness and courage. Their cultural roots are for preparing for outdoor survival and hunting success. We’ll have athletes and cultural experts in the studio. KSKA: Thursday, March 3, at 2:00 and Thursday, March 10, at 8:00 p.m. DOWNLOAD AUDIO
New Alaska Books
On the next Outdoor Explorer, our topic is writing about Alaska’s outdoors. Our state presents some unique challenges to a writer, and in fact books about Alaska can be overwhelmed by Alaska. The authors joining me on our next show found their way around that. We’ll be talking about Iditarod, history, adventures, and how Alaska changed our guests, and how they helped change the state.
KSKA: Thursday, Feb. 25 @ 2:00 pm. Download Audio
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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Winter Bike, Ski, and Foot Races
Alaskan’s like to do crazy things, and few are as crazy as the ultra-marathon races across the wilderness by bike, ski or foot that are happening over the next few weeks. We’ll be talking to organizers of the 1000-mile Iditarod Trail Invitational and the 100-mile Susitna 100, to races that pioneered this kind of adventure, and inspired the new technology of fat bikes. Join us for the next Outdoor Explorer and get inspired! KSKA: Thursday, Feb 11, at 2:00 and Thursday, Feb 18, at 8:00 p.m.
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Arctic Skiing
In rural Alaska, you don’t usually see a lot of skiers, but that doesn’t really make sense, because snow is something the Arctic has plenty of. On the next Outdoor explorer, we’ll be talking to Lars Flora, a former olympian who has dedicated himself to spreading skiing across Alaska like a Nordic Johnny Appleseed, Elizabeth Rexford, who is one of his volunteers, and Jim Vordestrasse, who started skiing in Barrow in 1973.
KSKA: Thursday, Feb 4, at 2:00 and Thursday, Feb 11, at 8:00 p.m. LISTEN NOW