Outdoor Explorer

A few years ago I got interested in a group that was cleaning up marine debris from beaches in Prince William Sound. I volunteered, and I was blown away by what a rewarding experience it was to pick up trash. On today’s show, we’re talking about beach cleanup, both on the wild, outer coast where stuff is washing up from Japan, and on our beaches here in Anchorage. And we’ll talk about creek cleanup too, which is coming up shortly, and where we get to tend to our own back yard. KSKA: Thursday, May 7, at 2:00 and 9:00 p.m. Listen now:

KSKA: Thursday, March 01, at 2 & 8 p.m. We're excited that we got to sit down with the guests on this week’s Outdoor Explorer to learn about the strange, circular ocean currents swirling around the North Pacific. These currents sometimes carry Asian debris to Alaska shores and, as we’ll hear, bring pieces of Alaska shipwrecks to Hawaii. We have a serious beachcomber and an oceanographer who used this information to change our view of how the ocean’s work. LISTEN HERE

Coastal communities are the best thresholds to the wilderness for most of us who live in urban Alaska. That’s because a short boat ride can get you from the small boat harbor to a wild beach many, many miles from the nearest road, a place that likely is inaccessible any other way. On today’s show, we’re going to talk about using water taxis and where they can take you for hiking, paddling, or just setting up camp and enjoying incredibly beautiful, biologically rich places. KSKA: Thursday, April 30, at 2:00 and 9:00 p.m. Listen Now:

On this Outdoor Explorer we have the second part of a continuing series of stories about Title IX, the historic legislation passed 50 years ago that changed the landscape of women’s sports. We're joined by Beth Bragg, the now retired sports editor of the Anchorage Daily News, who had a front row seat to the change brought by Title IX.

Athletic events in Alaska often have a purpose. The heart run, the ski for women. We look at cause-driven events, and why they’re important to the people involved and to the entire community. Host Charles Wohlforth is joined by a bicyclist who lives with diabetes and rides to help raise money to fight the disease, and a runner who got inspired by Leukemia survivors to help get others involved. KSKA: Thursday, May 15, at 2:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. Listen now:

Have you ever thought you needed to live in a yurt off the grid in order to be more connected to nature? This week on Outdoor Explorer our guest is author Chri/stine Byl. We discuss how you have to be a beginner in order to become an expert and misconceptions around what being more connected to nature actually means.

On this Outdoor Explorer, Harlow Robinson will catch us up on the 2022 Alaska Sports Hall of Fame Directors’ Awards and the Healthy Futures 100 Miles in May. The Directors’ Awards honor athletes and supporters who have made a significant impact on the culture of sport in Alaska. 100 Miles in May is the annual fundraiser for Healthy Futures.

Every spring, hundreds of Alaskan triathletes journey to the Big Island of Hawaii for the annual Lavaman Triathlon. At the end of a long winter the race is the draw, but it is really more about Alaskans gathering together in the spirit of Aloha.

The poet Homer called the ocean a "whale road." Some people in the town of Homer seem to have a similar inspiration. They are inaugurating a water trail on Kachemak Bay. Join host Charles Wohlforth and guests to learn more about the Kachemak Bay Water Trail, which is about to have its grand opening in early June. KSKA: Thursday, May 29, at 2:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. Listen now:

The spruce beetle has changed the forests of southcentral Alaska, and it’s not done. On the next Outdoor Explorer, we’ll examine the forest changes driven by a warming climate. The most important factor has been these beetles. We’ll learn about their life cycle, impact, how to fight them, and what their explosion means for the places we recreate. We’ll also go deeper, learning what the best science predicts is next. Thanks for listening!

Hear from Harlow Robinson, executive director of the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame. On April 30, the Hall will induct the class of 2024.

Paul Souders wanted see and photograph polar bears for himself, by himself, in a new way, and he did something to accomplish that no one else would have thought of. He put a 22-foot boat on a trailer and drove to the Arctic, voyaging north, through Hudson Bay, to the pack ice. The photographs he came back with are stunning, showing bears in a way I’ve never seen them. Thanks for listening!

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. LISTEN NOW

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. DOWNLOAD AUDIO

This week’s Outdoor Explorer is on avalanche forecasting and education. The joy of skiing and riding comes with the risks associated with avalanches. We’ll talk with professionals who study, forecast, and teach about avalanches.

Humans and dogs have shared physical and emotional lives for at least 9,000 years. On the next Outdoor Explorer we’ll explore the science of the bond we have with dogs, the sports we enjoy together, and how an empathetic husky in Girdwood has become a hero to Crow Pass hikers.

If Alaska were a country, she would be our national hero. Kikkan Randall, the Olympic gold medal skier, joins us on the next Outdoor Explorer. Randall is, of course, a household name in Alaska, where we’ve been watching her progress over the course of an amazing international career. As she retires from skiing and settles down with her family, we’ll have a chance to learn about her life, her racing career, her future--and, of course, that thrilling relay in Korea when she brought home the gold. Thanks for listening!

A pack raft is a raft you can fit in a pack, and it opens up Alaska in a way that few other inventions ever have done. For skilled paddlers, the raft eliminates the barriers presented by rivers, lakes and even bays when crossing country. But there’s a lot to learn to be safe. We hear from a famous trekker and pack raft pioneer, and a business owner who teaches pack rafting. KSKA: Thursday 5/9 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm Listen Now

Peg Tileston has been active in organizations including the Alaska Center for the Environment (now called the Alaska Center), the Alaska Women’s Environmental Network, the Alaska Conservation Foundation, the Alaska Water Resource Board, Trustees for Alaska, the Alaska and Alaska Common Ground. She has also been on the board of Chugach Electric Association, the Anchorage Parks and Recreation Council, and the Anchorage Recycling Task Force to name a few. She has received numerous awards including being inducted into the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame. Along the way she explored much of Alaska. She joins host Paul Twardock to discuss her many contributions and adventures.

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. LISTEN HERE