Preliminary Route Oosik 2013

The Oosik classic is the marquee event for the Denali Nordic Ski Club, and every year the race is a little bit different. The race course is build at the discretion of the trailmeister Mike Wood and a crew of jolly track setters. This year, the Oosik looks to a start from downtown and heads north over the river system into the wilderness. Mike and his men are cutting brush, building snow bridges, re-routing the course around obstacles and packing the snow as we speak.

The trail will not be accessible from the roadsystem and there will be no bail out points. Once you start you are in it, so be aware. Distances are about 25k and 50k, and almost always include sunny skies and panoramic views of the Alaska range and Denali. There will be 3 aid stations along the way and one at the finish line. The 50km will ski the river loop twice.

The Susitna Dam Coalition

This year we are looking to have the Oosik trail over the River System. This year, but what about the future? Will the Susitna River be free to freeze over in winters again?

Skiing, Recreation, Nature and the Town of Talkeetna are severely threatened by a proposed hydroelectricity plan from the State of Alaska. The Governor of Alaska, on July 25, 2011, signed a bill to build the Susitna dam on the glacier-fed Susitna River.

The Susitna Dam would become, if built to its full design height, the fifth tallest out of 850,000 dams on earth. The Susitna River, America’s 15th largest by volume, flows unimpeded for 300 miles from glacial mountains through one of the planet’s last wild landscapes to meet the Pacific near Anchorage. The Coalition for Susitna Dam Alternatives’ mission is to bring awareness of alternatives to the proposed Susitna Dam through collaboration, education and advocacy. The focus of that work is to help establish sustaining sources of electricity that cumulatively will produce more energy than the Susitna Dam at far less cost with none of the catastrophic risks. Please help us protect nature in our Last Frontier and make your voice count.