Should pilots have to compete for your business?

by Kent Wien on

You’ve always dreamt of flying out to a remote lodge in the middle of nowhere in Alaska, but you’re a bit concerned about the pilots. Are they really good enough to get you into that 1000-foot strip? Wouldn’t it be nice to know just how these aviators rank?

Well, the May Day Fly-In and Airshow in Valdez, Alaska has a bush pilot competition that ranks pilots and their planes in their ability to takeoff and land in the shortest possible distances. These airplanes are highly modified to handle the tightest gravel bars Alaska has to offer. And their pilots know how to get the most out of them.

If you’re looking for some experienced pilots to take you to a great lodge, you can’t go too wrong with the Claus family. Dad, Paul, accomplished the shortest takeoff at 19 feet, and his 18-year old son Jay scored a 39-foot takeoff, which was good for 4th place in his class. The Claus family own and operate the Ultima Thule Lodge.

Here’s 18 year old Jay’s 39 foot takeoff:


I think I’m ready to go visit the Claus family and see just WHERE they’re taking this airplane!

Join Kent at Cockpit Chronicles which takes you along on each of his trips as a co-pilot on the Boeing 757 and 767 out of Boston.

Protect yourself from frostbite

by Erik McLaughlin on

On your trip to the slopes for some much needed excitement and adventure, you awake to find fresh powder. Lots of it, too. You begin to head for the runs and realize that in your excitement, you’ve forgotten your gloves. No matter, you think, I have to get out there! A few hours later, your hands begin to blister and get numb. What do you do?

This is a common situation and one that I have seen happen all too much. The condition is frostbite and it can not only slow down your trip, but can cost you your extremities!

This is a condition where the tissues of the body, generally the fingers and toes, begin to actually freeze. This can cause massive damage to the tissue and sever cases, beside being very painful, can require amputation of necrotic (dead) tissue.

There are two conditions to know, frost nip and frostbite. Frostbite is the worst and most severe form, characterized by destroyed tissue and numbness. Blister formation and muscles damage are also common. Frost nip is less severe and does not destroy the tissues.

Treatment for all forms, both frostbite and nip, center around re-warming the effected areas. Remember to treat the person for hypothermia, as well as frost bite. Protect them from the cold environment, remove wet or constricting clothing and keep them warm. Try not to re-warm the extremity with a campfire or tailpipe exhaust, as this may cause burns to the already damaged area. Warm water, 40 C/104 F is the ticket. Immerse the area into the water and have the person try to gently move their fingers or toes. Keep them well hydrated and avoid tobacco and alcohol, which inhibits good circulation. Resist the temptation to break the blisters and do not massage the area, both can damage the already injured skin. Ibuprofen may work well, initially, for pain control, but stronger stuff may be needed. Padding the areas between fingers and toes, with cotton, also helps.

Nobody sets out with a goal to get frostbite. To prevent this, keep your body core and your extremities warm. Stay well hydrated and avoid tight or constricting clothing. Mittens work better than gloves, for cold weather hand protection. Also, on longer trips, avoid over-washing the hands and feet, as this removes the skin’ naturally protective oils.

Keeping your body warm and healthy is the secret to having a good cold weather trip. Remember, bring spares of gloves and warm socks, and try not to get so excited about your trip that your forget them in the hotel.

Yay! It’s snowing on Mt. Kilimanjaro

by Jerry Guo on

The simple fact there was snow during the high season (which is this month and next) for climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro was enough to warrant a front-page feature in this week’s travel section of the New York Times. Seeing the white-capped summit–the highest in Africa–is just part of a growing trend of “see it while it’s still there” tourism, which Aaron wrote about a few weeks ago.

Anyways, it turns out there was “several weeks of heavy rain and snow” right before the writer showed up. By the way, this was during last January, so perhaps our readers can update us on whether there’s any snow left this January. One of the Tanzanian guides on the trip had this to say about global warming at Mt. Kilimanjaro, “When I first started climbing, we had big snow, big glaciers. The glaciers were bigger and taller than now. And also, the weather changed. We had heavier rain than we have now.”

But here’s the trouble about climbing the summit to appreciate the mythic glaciers and snow-caps. On the writer’s trip, there were 11 American climbers, 3 Tanzanian guides, and 38 porters and cooks. That’s a rather big carbon footprint, dont’cha think?

If you’re still up for the trip, and I don’t blame you if you are, we’ve written about the logistics of getting there and picking a climbing outfit here.

Amazing Race 12, episode 11 recap (finale!)

by Jamie Rhein on

After 10 cities, 4 continents, nearly 30,000 miles, and the eliminated racers cheering on an airport tarmac this episode of Amazing Race 12 truly felt like a race to the finish. Besides getting my heart rate up a bit with wanting either Nick & Don to win, or TK & Rachel, it gave me a push to put Alaska on my go-to-soon list.

As tense as the teams felt, this was an episode when thrill was the theme and whoever thinks up these tasks should get a bonus. I loved it.

First, there were the sweeping shots of Taipei and Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Plaza where the teams left off in episode 10. Then, next stop, Anchorage, Alaska. Christina & Ron, with their first place edge. pulled a smooth move at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport –a good tip to keep in mind. After booking their seats on China Airlines, Ron asked if they could get an upgrade to the lounge. Sweet. They used it for the Internet to find the address of their first stop in Anchorage–6th Avenue Outfitters.

Don’t these folks ever drink coffee? While Christina was doing a Web search, I would have been looking for coffee. I mean, they already knew when their flight was leaving. They already had their assigned seats at the front of the plane because Christina asked for them so they could get off the plane first. What’s the hurry? It’s not like they enjoyed the lounge at all.

In the meantime, it was amusing to watch Don & Nate and TK & Rachel wonder and worry about the whereabouts of Christina & Ron since the dynamic duo was no where in sight. Ah, the sigh of relief when the two showed up, trotting down the steps from their lame lounge experience. As what happened with many of the legs of the race, the teams ended up on the same flight–and as with most situations in life, the worry was for naught.

Up to this point, we also got a recap about what was going on in each team’s mind. “My dad and I are stronger and smarter,” said Christina. “Staying calm…to slow down and do one task at a time,” said Rachel. “To have respect for my grandfather,” said Nick. Christina’s little comment dropped her off my “who I want to win” list. One needs to keep in mind, pride comes before a fall, particularly on national television.

Ron & Christina did keep their first place lead for a long, long while. As TK remarked, “I’ve seen Ron run like a Ninja.” Ron never did let that hernia get to him. Matter of fact, I don’t think he said the H word once this episode, even when he was scaling up the sheer ice cliff with the aid of ice climbing gear.

Speaking of gear. Here’s where Nick & Don had a big heartbreak. All teams got to 6th Avenue Outfitters without a problem, but Nick didn’t read the clue carefully enough and left the gear they needed behind at the store. At the first Detour, discovered at Ship Creek Boat Launch, they either had to fillet cod–huge, huge fish, or grab crab. One of the cod held a clue inside. One of the crabs had a marking on its shell that would lead them to a clue.

Ron’s reaction to filleting fish was a hoot. “This isn’t an easy task for a city slicker…This is a lot of nasty guts,” he said. But he chopped away with determination that paid off since he and Christiana found the clue before TK and Rachel had jumped into the crab tanks to start grabbing.

Poor Don & Nick. Once they got to the dock and discovered they needed gloves and a knife, they had to hustle back to the outfitters to pick up their gear. Oh, the horror of traveling when it’s discovered something important has been left behind. What could have ruined everything wasn’t that bad. Don had only one stern remark for his careless grandson, dropping the lecture pretty quickly. I like that guy. Besides, the outfitters couldn’t possibly have been all that far away or TK and Rachel spent way too much time in the crab tank before switching to spilling fish guts. In no time at all Don, with tools now in hand, slit open that fish like a pro and found the clue placing Nick and him close on the heels of TK & Rachel.

About this point, I noticed that the Amazing Race music had really picked up the pace. The music was racing as the teams raced in speed boats up 2-Mile River to the glacier that each team member had to climb up using climbing paraphernalia in order to get to their next clue. “This is awesome!” shouted TK during the speed boat ride. For the audience there was some wonderful shots of the landscape as the teams zipped between the river banks and by what looked like small islands of ice.

Christina had the hardest time with the glacier climbing task and called out a tremulous “Daddy,” as if Ron could give her a hand up or come down to get her or something. He was pleased as punch with himself over his own climb since he’s afraid of heights and quipped that maybe he ought to take lessons. Finally Christina hauled herself up and over, maintaining their first place spot as they climbed into a helicopter.

The teams’ helicopter rides to their next stop, Merrill Field afforded them a gorgeous view of miles of Alaskan wilderness. “Sigh.” I did think, “My, this leg of the race isn’t particularly environmentally friendly,” but that thought left as quickly as it came. Once in Merrill Field the teams had to take a taxi to Goose Lake Park, which is back in Anchorage. Here, one person from each team had to do a task with incredibly confusing directions. I tried, but I couldn’t keep up.

Here’s the idea of it. There were items from each leg of the race. The team member had to gather 10 items together, but they had to be in a certain combination. If they got that combination right, their next clue popped up out of a black box. It reminded me a bit of the party game where there are assorted items on a tray. People look at the items for one minute, then the items are taken away. Whoever can remember the most items wins.

Christina’s smarts didn’t help her much as she wandered among the chicken, donkey, bowl of camel’s milk, vaulting pole, bicycle, gas tanks, U-Turn sign, Blackberry, stilts, and a cleaning guy from Japan. Yes, three cleaning guys from Japan were there (one for each team). Eventually she resorted to swearing, i.e.,. “Africa frickin’ and “Netherlands frickin” etc. etc. She even said the F word once–there was a bleep in place of what she said–and I started liking her more again. Then she said a “Lord help me” and I thought, “Yep, I’ve been there too.”

In the meantime, Rachel kept at this daunting memory game and Nick worked on his. Don turned to Ron while they watched and said, “No sense me doing this. I’d be there forever” while Christina wondered how she’d ever get the donkey up on the platform.

Finally, Rachel figured out the combination of items and the clue popped up. The cleaning man was in the mix of items because he is an animal in case anyone wonders what humans have in common with donkeys. I didn’t quite figure out the combination myself, but this was a brilliant way for the Amazing Race to give a recap of the other episodes. At one point Rachel looked at the pole and said, “I don’t remember that,” and I’m thinking, as the show played black and white footage of her vaulting over the ditch (I think it was her) using a pole, how could anyone forget Don stripped down to his underwear?

So, there is Rachel & TK vaulting ahead while Christina is still praying and Nick looks up in disbelief that his brain is not functioning as well as he’d hoped. At this point I figured Nick & Don were not coming in first. There was still one more stop to go. Taking a taxi, the teams had to head to “the Cook’s eye view of the Sleeping Lady” which is a statue of Captain James Cook in downtown Anchorage.

There, they got another clue that told them to head on foot to the salmon hooker, a statue of a fish. That clue told them to head to the finish at Girdwood Airport. There was a bit of excitement since Christina figured out the item combination not long after Rachel did but TK and Rachel kept their lead and finished first with their eliminated fellow racers clapping and yelling for them. TK’s first comment, as he’s clutching his head at the finish line, “I can’t believe it. This is freaking me out.”

I’m not sure what I’d do if I realized I had just won a half a million dollars with my significant other laying claims to the same amount. Even after winning the race, those two stayed calm. “She’s petite, but she’s tough,” said TK. “TK’s my best friend,” said Rachel.

It does seem that everyone who finished in the top three got what they most needed from this traveling sprint around the world. Christina & Ron got a better relationship like they wanted. “I learned a lot. How to become a better person,” said Ron. Christina agreed that their new improved relationship–their friendship is worth more than a million dollars. Nick and Don wanted quality time, which they certainly got. “I got everything I wanted from it and more,” said Nick. I thought about the tattoos that he and Don now have to always remind them of Italy. That’s certainly more than they wanted.

Despite not getting a million dollars, I’d be thrilled if I were the other two teams. Each of them got to go around the world on someone else’s dime and see things they never would have seen otherwise–plus a helicopter ride in Alaska. How cool is that? Plus, a million may be more aggravation than it’s worth–maybe. Who knows what’s in store for TK & Rachel except for some talk show appearances, new cars and a house possibly? Best thing of all about this race, Don proved that if you’re pushing 70, don’t let that stop you. Get your bag and go.

**All pictures from the Amazing Race Web site.

Walking the length of the Alps with the Via Alpina Trail

by Neil Woodburn on

One of the world’s greatest hiking trails has finally opened. And if you’re a backpacking glutton, you can take it all the way across the European Alps.

And how far is that you ask?

Well, if you start in Monaco, work your way up to Chaminox, and then cross over into Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria, and then finally, down to Slovenia, you would have covered 3,100 miles.

Via Alpina officially opened in 2005 after many years of effort to link together the numerous trails crisscrossing Europe’s most fantastic mountain range. This would never have been possible prior to the formation of the EU since the trans-Alp trail crosses borders so often. The section known as the Red Trail, for example, crosses back and forth 44 times–backpackers would have filled up an entire passport with stamps just hiking the trail 20 years ago.

But now, all one needs is a warm sleeping bag, some gorp and donkey-like endurance to travel the same distance. The best thing about stitching all these trails together, however, is that the Alps are extraordinarily user-friendly thanks to a series of huts where backpackers can spend the night during their journey. In addition, large swaths of trail pass through villages and resort areas where trail blazers can stop for a beer and schnitzel instead of eating dehydrated food for 44 days straight.

If you’re considering such an adventure yourself, check out the trail’s official site, Via-Alpina.org, where you can download maps, read trail descriptions, and even hook up with hiking partners.