What happened to Kenai salmon?
As the summer winds down, Outdoor Explorer looks at one of the worst years of salmon fishing in memory in southcentral Alaska. We’ll review what happened, why it happened, and talk about the impacts on anglers and communities. Thanks for listening!
Beluga whale count
KSKA: Thursday, September 21, at 2:00p.m. For the next Outdoor Explorer, Charles joined the beluga count, when more than 12-hundred people gathered at viewing sites around Cook Inlet and made 260 sightings of whales. Citizen scientists recorded the location of pods, their movements, and even the identity of individual whales. The main thing about the day was being outdoors in the sun with a lot of other people who love this place and were eager to learn more about these magnificent animals.
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Revisiting Coastal Brown Bears
KSKA: Thursday, Sept. 24, at 2:00 p.m. Our region of Alaska happens to be the best place in the world for ordinary people to get out in the woods and see lots of gigantic bears. While the coastal brown bear are gorging on the salmon that make them so large, they don’t pay attention to anything else. Visitors to certain streams can get very close. We’ll talk about that experience, and the life of the bears.
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50 Years of Photography with Mark Kelley
People come to Alaska for a variety of reasons. Award-winning photographer Mark Kelley came with the hopes of meeting a whale, and almost 50 years later, he’s still here. On this episode of Outdoor Explorer host Martha Rosenstein and Kelley talk about the challenges of photographing wildlife in Alaska, turning his passion into a career and what it’s like to return to a special spot year after year to observe and photograph bears.
Summer Camp Planning for Kids
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The fondest dream of many parents is for our children to love the outdoors as much as we do. Summer is the time for that to happen, but how do you get them off the couch and outside when you’re away at work? On this edition of Outdoor Explorer, the topic is outdoors summer camps. We’ll talk about camp options, and also how to make sure it’s a positive and inspiring experience, even for shy indoor kids.What do you look for in a camp for your kids?
KSKA: Thusday 5/2 at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm 
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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Hidden animals in Alaska
Alaska is known for its diversity of wildlife. Yet there are many animals indigenous to Alaska, particularly in the urban areas, that we never...
Ski trail preparation
KSKA: Thursday, October 05, at 2:00 p.m. On this Outdoor Explorer, we are eagerly getting ready for winter. Charles took a portable recorder to Kincaid Park to join a volunteer trail crew preparing cross country ski trails for the first snow, which we were all looking forward to so we can ski again. The trail work is designed to smooth the ground so we won’t need much snow to ski, and to be ready for the US National Championships and Olympic Trials in January.
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Nature and indigenous Alaskan art with Joe and Martha Senungetuk
Alaska Natives have been creating art influenced by nature and culture for thousands of years. The clothing, tools, kayaks, weapons, baskets and other items of everyday life and ceremony were, and are, functional and artistic. Joe and Martha Senungehtuck join host Paul Twardock to talk about their long lives of adventure and art in Alaska.
Travel School #3: Parks of the southwest and southeast
On the next Outdoor Explorer, we will continue the series Travel School with Jodi Harskamp and Neal Stanbury and their children, Tui and Leif. As they are wrapping up their time in California in Death Valley National Park, LA county goes into
lockdown, forcing them to leave early and head for Arizona and beyond.
On Track in Anchorage with Alice Tower Knapp
On this Outdoor Explorer, we’ll talk to Alice Tower Knapp, who grew up in Anchorage, skiing on the local ski trails. She recently published a book about the history, the people, and the inner workings of the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage.
Waterfowl
KSKA: Thursday, Sept. 07, at 2:00 p.m. The time of the year is coming when that strange and wonderful sound arrives of geese forming up in great "V" formations and heading south from Alaska. Their migration, and that of other waterfowl, is one of the most impressive movements of life across the wilderness, something amazing and even moving to behold. On the next show, we’ll be learning about those ducks, geese and swans that nest here in Alaska in the summer, how they live, what they eat, their habitat and breeding, and about the incredible journeys they make each year. LISTEN HERE
Adventures with Chuck Sassara, by Air and by Sea
Chuck Sassara first arrived in Alaska in a VW bus in 1955 with his wife Ann. They built a life that encompassed aviation, government and business and witnessed the beginnings of statehood and the growth of the Alaskan community. We'll talk with him about some of his adventures and about his book, “Chuck Sassara’s Alaska – Propellers, Politics and People,” on this weeks' next Outdoor Explorer. KSKA: Thurs., Jan. 21, at 2:00 p.m. and Thurs., Jan. 28, at 8:00 p.m. LISTEN HERE
Motocross
KSKA: Thursday, July 6th, at 2:00 p.m. Imagine sending your 8-year-old over an 80-foot jump on a motorcycle, seeing him crash, and then doing it again? During this show we’ll talk to a dad from Sutton who has done that, and is heading to a national motocross championship with his brave son, who we’ll also have in the studio. We’ll also learn about motocross here in Anchorage, where youth and adult races go on through the summer.
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A conversation with Lael Wilcox
KSKA: Thursday, Jan. 26, at 2:00 p.m. On the next Outdoor Explorer an interview with Lael Wilcox, whose life is one of Alaska’s most remarkable stories of physical accomplishment. Wilcox left to see the world on her bike, and never stopped, becoming a top endurance racer without really planning to.
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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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Taking a trip to Sitka
KSKA: Thursday, Aug. 11, at 2:00 p.m.
Charles took a road trip-- or rather a ferry trip-- to Southeast Alaska last month, and while there recorded an edition of Outdoor Explorer on the town of Sitka. This historic community is the best place for an Alaskan to take a vacation without leaving Alaska because the boating and wildlife viewing are incredible. We’ll also get to hear about the area’s surfing scene and science education.
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Rickshaw Run across India
This week’s Outdoor Explorer features the Rickshaw Run Across India. Three Alaskans travelled 1800 miles across India in a motorized tricycle using their skills
developed in Alaska’s wilds.
Whittier, gateway to the Prince William Sound
The town of Whittier is surprisingly close to Anchorage. With luck on hitting the tunnel schedule, you can be there in an hour. That hour puts you on the edge of one the the world’s largest and modest spectacular marine recreation areas, Prince William Sound. On the next Outdoor Explorer, we’re going to talk about going to Whittier. It’s not just for tourists, it’s a threshold to the ocean and the wilderness.
Alaska Ski for Women
The Alaska Ski for Women is one of the biggest women’s ski events in the World, and it’s happening in Anchorage on February 5th! This week on Outdoor Explorer, we’ll talk with founder Sally Burkholder, about its beginnings more than two decades ago. And we’ll also talk with Director Molly Mylius about this year’s event.