GOODY GOODY GOODTIMES!!: ARCTIC WOMAN!

Last week Marco and I went to Alaska to compete at "arctic man"....

It's a race that combines downhill racing and getting towed (like water skiing) by a snowmachine (what I learned is what you should call ski-doo's (which is what I thought everyone called them! haha))

It's CRAZY.

The race is 4:15 (my time) of PURE BURNING LACTIC ACID. Not only that, but you get pulled up a rough and bumpy hill at 80mph (130kph) and have to hold on NO MATTER WHAT. Then, when you think your legs are more dead than they have ever been, you need to "whip" yourself away from the skidoo (snowmachine whatever) and then launch off a downhill jump and keep tucking for another 40 seconds!!

These animals have nothing to do with it.

ROAR.

... so anyway, I arrived in Alaska on a beautiful blue sky sunny day!

The drive to "arctic man" was beautiful!

We passed Matanuska Glacier....

we passed amazing pure white mountains.

Although we gained little elevation, we drove north of the tree line into the arctic!

I have so many pictures of the drive, but it was one of the more beautiful drives of my life!! Comparable to highway 12 in Utah from Escalante towards Moab.

The further we got from civilization, the closer we got to the Arctic Man base.

almost there!

ARRIVAL!! this is exactly what it was: trailers, porto-potties, amazing mountains, and great friends!

As we all rolled in at dusk (which is at about 10pm) we set up camp and settled in.

MARCO AND I.... in our battle gear! We had to wear full face masks because when you are getting towed behind a SNOWMACHINE huge ice chunks fly at you hard and fast.

Looking back down at camp, literally the middle of nowhere.

Maddy (she came too!!) practicing the "hookup". After about 1:30 of downhilling you then have to "hookup" with your sled before the GNARLY part of the race: getting towed up a canyon behind the snowmachine.

Marco, ripping!! Right after this point you launch off a jump!

"apres training.... checking out the mountains, embracing the sled-headedness!"

Jason ripping some sweet powwwwww

Nate was there too!! He ripped some sweet lines AND won Arctic Man for snowboarders!

BEAUTIFUL

Marco, in his element!

Another amazing shot of what we were surrounded by for the week.

Camp, at night.

having too much fun around the campfire

friends!!! Tyler (marco and Nates driver) Marco, Nate and MAddy!!

the arctic man gift shop....

do you think i'd look good in wolf?

So anyway, my driver Julie and I won the women's Arctic Man Race!!! Maddy and her driver Danie were second!
We hung out with about 1000 sleds at the bottom of the race!! Mario, Luigi, and the KING OF THE NORTH were there too! (and julie! hiding!)