XC Ski on Alaska's arctic coast: Kotzebue to Kivalina
Вставка
- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- More details at thingstolucat.com/2023/04/26/kotzebue-to-kivalina/
With Pat Gault.
Thanks to Kris Rose, Seth Kantner, and Jared and Eric at the Kotz hangar for help in Kotz. Thanks to James for letting Pat run the fishing line!
Good save on the fish! Love seeing the vast landscape you guys were travelling through. Amazing once again!
Just pleasure! 😊
Would this have been just as easy/easier to fat tire bike? Or was there deep snow, not shown in video?
I'm thinking back on all the snomo trail skis I've done and I think they all would have been easy/easier with a fat tire bike. Most of these village connectors get traveled very frequently.
The decision is easy for me because my knees can't manage long bike rides. But even without that factor, I like skis because:
* They are so much easier, logistically. Bikes have to go on cargo flights ... so you need a local contact that can hold them. And maybe they don't get there when you expect. Skis typically get loaded in the compartments under the plane, same flight as us. And I like that I can carry my ski assemblage in a single hand rather than wrestling a bike box.
* Bikes depend on a good trail. The folks that have done a lot of fatbiking in the arctic have also had to turn around due to bad conditions. I also like having the ability to poke around off-trail on skis. Never as fast ... but easier to go look at something of interest.
If bikes were a better option for me ... I'd probably just use the wx forecast to make the decision.
Why do people live in such places?