Awe and despair ahead

"No help will be available. No rescue can be anticipated . . . The appropriate knowledge regarding glaciers, avalanches, crossing and paddling major rivers, bear and other animal hazards, illness, injury, gear failure or loss, self-rescue, bad weather, hypothermia, frostbite, extremely difficult terrain, and the like must be required before entering the event."

Just signed up for the Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic. "The Classic" is a ski race across Alaska without trails, and this year's route is Nabesna to McCarthy. I finished it with my friend Andy in 1999. In the days before that race, we made 100 peanut butter sandwiches. We ate our last one on Nizina Glacier, 40 miles from the finish. We found three almonds for breakfast the next morning.

The '99 Classic was the hardest outdoor thing I've done in Alaska. I remember blisters the size of quarters, boulders rolling past Andy in snowless Skolai Pass, two different wolverine encounters, and a silver plane landing on a river to give us more peanut butter about 30 miles from the finish. Andy and I took nine days when we had food and fuel for seven. Everything went wrong, from running out of stove fuel to our exploded sleds to our food shortage.

The route is astounding: Russell Glacier looms above as you sneak around the corner into Skolai Pass. Mile-high peaks usher you down the Nizina River near the end. Wolves. Moose. Sometimes those wolverines in their favorite mountainous turf. And McCarthy is the prettiest town in Alaska. Last time we did this, racer Tim Stallard called Nabesna to McCarthy the "awe and despair" route. There's plenty of both out there.

For the $125 entry fee, the greatest bargain in adventure racing, organizer and racer Dave Cramer lets you crash at his comfy compound on the Tok Cutoff Road, he feeds you chili and gives you space to agonize over your gear. At the finish in McCarthy, all sorts of treats are available for racers who are much leaner than they were the week before. Last time we were there, Andy made a peanut butter sandwich right after he walked in the door. Off in the mail with you, application. Here's to more awe, less despair this time.