When is arctic man in alaska

We go for the incredible powder riding, and wandering around the nightly raucous of bonfires. We don't make a huge attempt to view the racing, if we're in the right spot at the right time, we see some of the racers go by.

Was on a snowmachine in the race with Alaskan Candice Drouin, who finished 1st in the women's ski division. The skier or boarder starts at "The Tit," a 5, ft. The race is grueling. The partying is grueling. With over 10, spectators and thousands of snowmachines, yes, thousands I'm betting it is the largest snowmachine party on earth. Heil has spent much of the last year recovering from his first major Arctic Man crash in Soon after the start, one of his bindings came loose and he tore knee ligaments and most of the muscles in his hips in the ensuing impact.

Heil first won Arctic Man in , fresh out of college at the University of Alaska-Anchorage, still chasing a shot at the U. Ski Team. He raced independently for a few years, but says, "I never had my best day on the days I needed them. He was the first to break five minutes on the course, last won in and took second in behind Sullivan, but the crash led to a summer of surgeries. Among the 55 men and women who have come to race, at least 18 have made an Olympic or Paralympic team.

Age and injury, though, may be the least of Heil's concerns. This year's field is, by far, the best in the race's history.

Among the 55 men and women who have come to race, at least 18 have made an Olympic or Paralympic team, while another dozen have raced on national teams in the U. There's also Petr Kakes, a former Olympian who runs the ski school at Mt. Arctic Man has also welcomed adaptive skiers for over two decades, and five are signed up this year. Sit-skiers, as they call themselves, do not have use of their legs and instead ride on a seat mounted over a single, wide ski and maintain balance with poles that have small skis mounted on their ends.

The adaptive skiers hook up to the snowmachines with rigid poles rather than with ropes, but otherwise run the same race. Paralympian Kevin Bramble. The most-watched team might just be Ravi Drugen skiing behind a sled driven by Paul Thacker, the only driver who is also paraplegic. Before a training crash in , Thacker was one of the X Games' top riders and held the world record for distance jumping.

He returned to the X Games in in its Adaptive division. Thacker, a lifelong Alaskan rolled into Arctic Man in what might be the entire camp's most badass rig, a massive green-and-black Monster Energy-sponsored tour bus pulling an equally oversized snowmachine trailer.

He's finished third a couple times and in the top five a few others. Last year he was one of three skiers to break four minutes on the 5-mile course, finishing third behind Sullivan and former World Junior Downhill Champ Chris Beckmann. McKay is almost half Heil's age and grew up in Montana, but otherwise their biographies run as parallel as ski tracks.

Both came to Alaska for its wide open sense of adventure, and both skied at UA-A. And when a few years of chasing the professional circuit couldn't quite pay the bills, both found their way into the hard, physical work of Alaska's outdoor economy and the distinctively Alaskan lifestyle where miserable conditions and occasional real danger are rewarded with high pay and seasons off, perfect for feeding expensive outdoor adventure habits.

McKay, only 30, recently got a job blasting rock and frozen ground with explosives for oil and construction companies. It's hard work and he's eager to find something else, maybe in the oil fields, maybe not. A friend is doing a film project that might involve sailing to Tahiti, which he thinks sounds like a lot more fun than blasting permafrost. While Heil and McKay talk about the course and what kind of wax will probably be best for the warmer-than-average snow, Quam and Branholm stare at a pair of laptops.

Graphs and charts scroll across the screen that might be stock prices or an EKG of a person climbing stairs. The data is the telemetry recorded by their snowmachines' computer during training runs — throttle, speed, temperatures, etc. They are both looking for small mistakes and openings from the day's practice runs, opportunities to shave a quarter-second off their time.

While snowmachines have made it to the X Games in recent years in events that mirror motocross, endurance events are more common in Alaska, with the Iron Dog at its apex. In that race, snowmachines follow the same mile course as the Iditarod dog race, then tack on another miles to Fairbanks.

If you're thinking you've heard about this, but can't quite place it, it's that crazy race that Todd Palin, ex-Governor Sarah Palin's "first dude," has won three times. Quam won the race in in 42 hours and Sullivan's driver Tyler Aklestad has finished second. Of the plus Arctic Man races, this will be Heil's first skiing behind a sled piloted by someone other than his longtime driver, Len Story. A family emergency this year took Story away, and Heil had to scramble to find a replacement driver.

Quam, who has raced with McKay for five years, put Heil in touch with Branholm, a pipefitter who has run the Iron Dog three times, but prefers the short-track excitement of ice racing, perfect for Arctic Man's brief, all-out pull section. The pressure is not messing it up. He expects to win. As the night goes on, Heil gets into some verbal sparring with one of the teenagers on the couch.

Like all teenagers, the kid thinks he's being funny, mouthing off to an adult willing to let him do so, but Heil has a trump card: He is the kid's health teacher, and watched him cringe and wince his way through Sex Ed class.

Sometime after sunset, Daron Rahlves shows up at Heil's cabin, along with skier Kyle Coxon and driver Alec Jones, teammates in the race. If Heil is the face of Arctic Man's past and Sullivan its current champ, Rahlves and teams like Coxon and Jones may represent its future.

Rahlves is a four-time Olympian with 28 podiums and a dozen wins on the World Cup circuit and in the last 10 years has become one of the biggest stars in the freestyle skiing world under the umbrella of ubiquitous sports-sponsor Red Bull, wearing the company's famous blue, red and yellow helmet.

Just 5'9, Rahlves has neither the oversized torso nor lanky limbs of many World Cup skiers. He's fit and solid, with a hard chin, narrow, intense eyes and carries a serious air that suggests why he's been able to make that rare transition in sports, from elite competitor to professional promoter.

After making three Olympic teams in traditional events, injuries ended Rahlves' World Cup career in But he qualified for Vancouver in in Ski cross, the roller derby-style event where multiple skiers jockey for position down a course of tight turns and jumps. Sensing that the underlying demographics of his sport were shifting, he returned to California and started a localized Ski cross series, the Rahlves Banzai Tour, which just wrapped its fourth season around Lake Tahoe. Coxon, 23, is a perfect example.

A Utah skier, he won the championship of Rahlves' Banzai event this past season, commuting for the races from Salt Lake City. When Thies invited Rahlves to bring a team to Alaska, Coxon jumped at the chance, inviting Jones to be his driver. Heil and the two young racers quickly discover they have commercial fishing in common. Jones just bought his own boat and Coxon plans on crewing with him this summer. Instead, the two crews have a bet. If the men catch more fish, Jones' mom has to skydive; if the women do, Jones has to sing Whitney Houston karaoke at their fisherman's bar.

Rahlves and his team's presence at Arctic Man is both a shot in the arm for the level of competition and exposure, and a glimpse of the event's possible future.

Just before the New Year, Arctic Man's longtime title sponsor, Tesoro, a Houston-based oil company that owns gas stations all over Alaska, pulled out after 10 years. However, energy drink and sports-sponsor Rockstar is already an Arctic Man sponsor. When racers finish, they ski under a Rockstar finish line. It's left Thies in a difficult position, competing for dollars in an ever-more crowded marketplace of non-traditional sports events.

As the racers all dig into the enchiladas, Heil, Coxon and Jones are soon so deep in fishing talk that Rahlves seems concerned they might never get back to skiing. Eventually, though, Heil and Rahlves find their own conversation that locks out the younger men: hip injuries. Finally, talk turns to Sullivan, who Rahlves knows well in California, and his current streak of dominance.

Today's practice had been an eye-opener for the Californian, "I thought you'd come up and just bull your way down, but it seems like there's a lot more to it," he says. McKay says that if the snow is right, they can expect to hit mph — high 90s, for sure — off the slingshot at the release spot.

At first, Rahlves plays it off. Then he turns back to McKay, his face a little unsure. Rahlves shakes his head and, for a moment, his veneer breaks in wide smile. The day of the race, the skiers walk the top of First Aid. The week began with three days of storms, but the last two have been perfect and from both the Tit and First-Aid, you can see peaks in three of the state's biggest ranges, the Alaska, Chugach and Wrangell around the horizon.

Unlike the Alaskan riders raised on Iron Dog-style backcountry races, LaVallee, an affable Minnesotan who can drop a corny Midwestern colloquialism, "Geez, Louise," into the same sentence as gnarly, is, by far, the most dominant rider in the X Games-style events of Snocross and Freestyle. The Alaska riders, even the Iron Dog guys, are all a little in awe of LaVallee in the days before the race. From swanky lounges to chilled-out pubs, local watering holes offer plenty of booze to keep you warm.

Most folks bring their share of protein, from sausages, steaks and jerky but be sure to check out the different food vendors on site. Turn left north on the Richardson for approximately From Fairbanks follow the Richardson south. Follow the Richardson for another Many festival goers bring their own or rent mobile homes or RVs for Arctic Man.

After the festival, it would be handy to have your own car, but you can also use the local bus system known as the MACS Transit. Do you enjoy being outside? Read more about Bozeman Ice Festival , a festival to celebrate and educate ice climbers on the niche sport in Montana and the Okoboji Winter Games , a scintillating event held by the fictional University of Okoboji in Iowa. Plan ahead: Book your perfect trip with our United States travel guide and destination information.

Does United States require a visa? Check the visa requirements before you get caught up during your travel. Stay safe: Even the best-laid plans can head south.

How to stay safe during Arctic Man ? Spend money wisely: Take public transport and dine in from time to time are common saving tips during traveling. How to spend money wisely in United States?

Make use of technology. Skip to Content. Levi LaVallee and Daron Rahlves take on a race where snowmobiles drag skiers at up to kph. Written by Anthony Sansotta. Part of this story. Never heard of Arctic Man Classic?