Outdoor Explorer - Alaska Public Media – Details, episodes & analysis

Sarah Poynter competed on the most recent season of the History Channel’s show, "Alone." The competitors on the show are truly alone. They rely on their knowledge and skills, building their own shelter, hunting and fishing and gathering plants and berries. While they eke out living off the land, they are also carting around camera gear and setting up their own shots, narrating the journey to survive. It is often a starvation game of body and soul as food is difficult to procure and there is no human contact. Sarah lives in Skwentna, and along with her husband Chris, owns the Talvista Lodge, a popular destination for locals and out-of-state adventurers alike.

HOST: Lisa Keller

GUEST: Sarah Poynter, recently competed on History Channel's "Alone"

LINKS:

History Channel Sarah Poynter videos

Sarah Poynter Instagram

This week on Outdoor Explorer, we dive into the science and magic of the aurora borealis with Vince Ledvina, aka "The Aurora Guy." Vince, an aurora chaser and Space Physics PhD student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, shares his passion for the northern lights and offers insights into what creates this stunning phenomenon, why it’s so tricky to predict and how to increase your chances of seeing it. Whether you're an aurora veteran or dreaming of your first sighting, you'll have an illuminating journey into the night skies!

HOST: Martha Rosenstein

GUEST: Vince Ledvina, "The Aurora Guy," Space Physics PhD student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks

LINKS:

Vince's website

Aurora webcams

Space Weather Live

The Annual Lost Lake Run is an iconic Alaska mountain race traversing the Lost Lake trail in the Kenai Mountains north of Seward. Started in 1992 to raise awareness of Cystic Fibrosis by Marsha Vincent, the original race had 55 participants and has grown to over 700 participants and many volunteers. The registration for the event fills in minutes. The event has raised over $2 million dollars for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, contributing to research that resulted in life saving medications. Host Paul Twardock interviews race director Pat Simpson and board member Sabrina Walker. They discuss their connections to the race, Cystic Fibrosis and the challenges and rewards of organizing a mountain running race on public lands. 

HOST: Paul Twardock

GUESTS:

Pat Simpson, Director, Lost Lake Run

Sabrina Walker, Board Member, Lost Lake Run

LINKS:

Lost Lake Run

Lost Lake Trail Forest Service Information

Karina Movement Class Photo: Paul Twardock

Yukon Classroom by Paul Twardock

Snow Science by Paul Twardock

Sea Kayaking by Paul Twardock

Map Reading PWS by Paul Twardock.

Alaska has a number of high-quality university outdoor degree programs that benefit from the great experiential learning Alaska’s mountains, oceans, rivers, and history and cultures have to offer. Starting in the ’60s and ’70s with Alaska Community College, now University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA), and Alaska Methodist University, now Alaska Pacific University (APU), the programs have evolved as the outdoor profession has grown. This Outdoor Explorer welcomes representatives from APU, UAA, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Prince William Sound College, and the University of Alaska Southeast. They’ll describe their programs and discuss the value of an outdoor education degree. 

HOST: Paul Twardock

GUESTS:

Eeva Latosuo: Alaska Pacific University

Benjamin Rush: Prince William Sound College

TJ Miller: University of Alaska Anchorage

Peggy Keiper: University of Alaska Fairbanks

Mark Oldmixon: University of Alaska Fairbanks

Forest Wagner: University of Alaska Southeast

LINKS:

Alaska Pacific University Outdoor Studies: Undergraduate

APU MS in Outdoor and Environmental Education

Prince William Sound College Outdoor Leadership

University of Alaska Anchorage Health, Science, PE and Recreation

University of Alaska Fairbanks Sports and Recreation Business

University of Alaska Southeast Outdoor Studies

BROADCAST: Thursday, March 17th, 2022. 10:00 am – 11:00 a.m. AKT

REPEAT BROADCAST:  Thursday, March 17th, 2022. 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. AKT

SUBSCRIBE: Receive Outdoor Explorer automatically every week via:

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Mary Goddard, Regional Catalyst for Regenerative Tourism with the Sustainable Southeast Partnership, photo courtesy Mary Goddard.

Lee Hart, Executive Director of Alaska Outdoor Alliance, photo courtesy Alaska Outdoor Alliance, photo courtesy Lee Hart.

Sarah Leonard, President & CEO, Alaska Travel Industry Association.

Last fall when Lisa was interviewing Lee Hart, Founder and Executive Director of the Alaska Outdoor Alliance, they briefly touched on the concept of regenerative tourism. She had only heard the term in passing before that, during one of the Alliance’s Lunch and Learn series, and wanted to know more. Regenerative tourism is deeply rooted in indigenous values and knowledge systems. Around the world, indigenous communities have been negatively impacted by tourism; their lands have been compromised and their culture has been expected to conform to colonial influence. But there is a big change happening now, with the influencers in Alaska tourism promoting a vision of a more authentic and reflective tourism experience in our state.

Our guests for this show are Mary Goddard, Regional Catalyst for Regenerative Tourism with the Sustainable Southeast Partnership, Lee Hart, Executive Director of the Alaska Outdoor Alliance, and Sarah Leonard, President & CEO of the Alaska Travel Industry Association. Together, they’ll lay out the present and future of regenerative tourism in Alaska, led by Alaska Native communities, joined in common interest with travel and outdoor recreation groups.

HOST: Lisa Keller

SEGMENTS:

Segment 1: 

Mary Goddard, Regional Catalyst for Regenerative Tourism with the Sustainable Southeast Partnership

Lee Hart, Founder and Executive Director of Alaska Outdoor Alliance

Sarah Leonard, President & CEO, Alaska Travel Industry Association

LINKS:

• Sustainable Southeast Partnership
• Alaska Travel Industry Association
• Sarah Leonard, on LinkedIn
• Alaska Outdoor Alliance website
• Alaska Outdoor Alliance Facebook

BROADCAST: Thursday, March 10th, 2022. 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. AKT

REPEAT BROADCAST:  Thursday, March 10th, 2022. 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. AKT

SUBSCRIBE: Receive Outdoor Explorer automatically every week via:

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• Email
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• Podcast

March is prime time for winter sports in Alaska. The light is back, the snow is good, and

Alaskans are ready to enjoy it all. Dog mushing has been part of Alaska as long as people have

been in Alaska. In March the sport has its best-known event the Iditarod, along with Anchorage’s

Fur Rondy Open World Championship Sled Dog Race. On this show, we visit Ineka Kennels and

the Forto family to learn a little about mushing life. Besides mushing, nordic skiing is one of

the oldest winter sports and a popular one in Alaska. Ms. Uff Da was an advice columnist in the

Nordic Ski Association of Anchorage’s newsletter in the ’90s and ’00s. Alice and Gunnar Knapp

recently compiled her columns in a new book titled “The Wit and Wisdom of Ms. Uff Da.”

Alice joins us to share some of Ms. Uff Da’s advice, especially useful in these times crowded

trails.

HOST: Paul Twardock

GUESTS:

• Robert and Nicole Forto, mushers with Ineka Kennels
• Alice Knapp who put together a new book titled “The Wit and Wisdom of Ms. Uff Da.”
• Darcy Dugan with Ski for Women and Ski For Kids

LINKS:

Team Ineka

Robert Forto

Fur Rondy World Championship Sled Dog Race

Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage

Ski for Kids

BROADCAST: Thursday, February 24th, 2022. 10:00 am – 11:00 a.m. AKT

REPEAT BROADCAST:  Thursday, February 24th, 2022. 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. AKT

SUBSCRIBE: Receive Outdoor Explorer automatically every week via:

• iTunes 
• Email
• RSS Feed
• Podcast

Alli Harvey finishing the 2021 Equinox Marathon in Fairbanks, photo courtesy of Alli Harvey.

Alli Harvey, photo courtesy of Alli Harvey.

“Hiking Anchorage” currently on display at Stephan Fine Arts Gallery, photo courtesy of Alli Harvey.

Our guest for this show is Alli Harvey, outdoor columnist for the Anchorage Daily News. Alli grew up on the East Coast but fell in love with Alaska at a young age when she first learned about the Aurora. As a teenager, she made her first visit to the state. She kept figuring out ways to return, and she was eventually able to move to Anchorage with an internship that became her first professional job with the Alaska Center for the Environment. Although her degree is in Urban Studies, she had also been writing and painting since a young age. Her blog about her adventures eventually led to an offer from the Anchorage Daily News, where she now writes a weekly column that explores the connection between happiness and outdoor adventure. She is also a professional landscape artist and is about to start her next adventure in her new mobile art studio and gallery, an Airstream trailer that she will take on the road to the places she wants to paint.

HOST: Lisa Keller

SEGMENTS:

Segment 1: Alli Harvey, outdoor columnist for the Anchorage Daily News and landscape artist

LINKS:

• Alli Harvey Art website
• Alli Harvey Art Facebook page
• Alli Harvey Art Instagram
• Anchorage Daily News columns

BROADCAST: Thursday, February 17th, 2022. 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. AKT

REPEAT BROADCAST:  Thursday, February 17th, 2022. 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. AKT

SUBSCRIBE: Receive Outdoor Explorer automatically every week via:

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• Email
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• Podcast

• Team doctor for the 1971 International Everest Expedition.
• Peter Steel in his home in Whitehorse, from early 2022. Photo: Adam Verrier.
• Peter Steele in Bhutan, with his family, in the 1960’s. With his wife Sarah, and children Adam and Judith.

On this Outdoor Explorer, we’ll go to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, to visit with doctor, mountaineer, and author Peter Steele. Introduced to rock climbing and outdoorsmanship in the 1950s at the Outward Bound school in England, Peter Steele eventually found his way to the Pyrenees, the Alps, and the Himalayas before finding his way, with his family, to the Yukon Territory. As a medical doctor, he walked the length of Bhutan with his family over the course of five and a half months in the 1960s, conducting a goiter study at the invitation of the King – likely the first European to do so. He became friends with Eric Shipton, the most active and well-known European explorer of the Himalayas in the 1930’s and 40’s. And he was the team doctor for the 1971 International Everest Expedition. We’ll discuss Peter’s adventures as a mountaineer, a husband, and a father, his friendship with Eric Shipton, and his observations about large Himalayan mountaineering expeditions. 

HOST: Adam Verrier

GUESTS:

• Peter Steele – doctor, mountaineer, and author

LINKS:

• 1971 International Everest Expedition Documentary
• Peter Steele’s author page on Amazon

BROADCAST: Thursday, February 10th, 2022. 10:00 am – 11:00 a.m. AKT

REPEAT BROADCAST:  Thursday, February 10th 2022. 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. AKT

SUBSCRIBE: Receive Outdoor Explorer automatically every week via:

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• Email
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John Morton

The Winter Olympics begin this week in Beijing, China. To mark the occasion, this week’s guest on Outdoor Explorer will be biathlete, author, and former Alaskan John Morton, who’s participated in ten Olympics: two as an athlete, five more as a coach and team leader, one as Chief of Course for the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002 and, finally, two more as a spectator. He’s got plenty of stories to tell from 50 years’ worth of Olympic experiences and his time stationed at Fort Richardson in the 1960s and ‘70’s in the Army Biathlon program. We’ll discuss changes to the Olympic Games over the years, friendships made across political borders, the art of building ski trails, the power of international competition to bring people together, and Morton’s newest book, “Celebrate Winter”.

HOST: Adam Verrier

GUESTS:

• John Morton, Olympian and author of “Celebrate Winter”.

LINKS:

• Morton Trails website
• John Morton’s latest book “Celebrate Winter: An Olympian’s Stories of a Life in Nordic Skiing”

BROADCAST: Thursday, February 3rd, 2022. 10:00 am – 11:00 a.m. AKT

REPEAT BROADCAST:  Thursday, February 3rd 2022. 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. AKT

SUBSCRIBE: Receive Outdoor Explorer automatically every week via:

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Seth Kantner’s new book A Thousand Trails Home: Living With Caribou details his life where caribou, hunting, and subsistence are the center of everything. Seth joins host Paul Twardock to discuss his life growing up on the Kobuk River with his parents and brother in a sod house. Living miles from the nearest village and learning to live with what the land provided Seth experiences rich in nature and culture. The changes to the arctic wrought by climate and cultural change have been rapid and incredibly challenging. Seth shares his experiences and insights as someone who has spent his entire life observing and living with those changes.

HOST: Paul Twardock

GUESTS:

• Seth Kantner, author of A Thousand Trails Home: Living with caribou

LINKS:

A Thousand Trails Home: Living with Caribou

Proposed Ambler Road PDF

Alaska development authority signs land access agreement with Native corporation for Ambler Road project

Environmental Justice Atlas

BROADCAST: Thursday, January 27th, 2022. 10:00 am – 11:00 a.m. AKT

REPEAT BROADCAST:  Thursday, January 27th, 2022. 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. AKT

SUBSCRIBE: Receive Outdoor Explorer automatically every week via:

• iTunes 
• Email
• RSS Feed
• Podcast