• Daniel Lieberman at home with his dog, Echo, photo courtesy Daniel Lieberman.
• Exercised book jacket, photo courtesy Daniel Lieberman.

If you have read the book “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougal, you are familiar with the name Daniel Lieberman. Along with his colleague, Dennis Bramble, his research has been used to support the thesis that human beings owe some of our evolutionary success to our ability to run efficiently. Dr. Lieberman is a paleoanthropologist and professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University who has authored books about the human body and the human head. His most recent book, “Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do is Healthy and Rewarding,” explores purposeful exercise as it relates to our evolution and why it is a rarity outside of the developed world.

HOST: Lisa Keller

SEGMENTS:

Segment 1: Daniel Lieberman, professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University and

author of “Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do is Healthy and Rewarding.”

LINKS:

• Exercised book from Harvard.edu
• ‘Exercised’ Explains Why It Can Be Hard To Commit To Working Out — And Why We Should from NPR

BROADCAST: Thursday, January 13th, 2022. 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. AKT

REPEAT BROADCAST: Thursday, January 13th, 2022. 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. AKT

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• A tree seen at the Solstice Tree Tour at Kincais park. Photo by Paull Twardock.
• An illuminited van at the Alaska Botanical Garden. Photo by Paul Twardock.
• A tree lit up at the Alaska Botanical Garden. Photo by Paul Twardock.
• Illuminated ice candles at the Alaska Botanical Garden. Photo by Paul Twardock.
• The Solstice Tree Tour map from the NSAA.

As the year 2021 comes to a close we feature two traditions in Anchorage: The Nordic Ski Association of Anchorage’s Solstice Tree Tour at Kincaid Park and the Alaska Botanical Garden’s Holiday Lights. Sara Miller with NSAA and Patrick Ryan with the Botanical Garden will explain their winter programs and how to get involved. Host Paul Twardock will take you on an audio postcard of NSAA’s 2020 Solstice Tree Tour. We’ll also have co-host Lisa Keller and a few college students elaborate on their holiday wishes, from wishes for a better world to ideas for stocking stuffers.

HOST: Paul Twardock

GUESTS:

• Sara Miller with the Nordic Ski Association of Anchorage
• Patrick Ryan with the Alaska Botanical Garden
• Well wishers: Chloe Khokhar, Abby Jones, Toshio Matsuoka, and Lisa Keller

LINKS:

Alaska Botanical Garden

Holiday Lights at Alaska Botanical Garden

Nordic Ski Association of Anchorage

Solstice Tree Tour

BROADCAST: Thursday, December 16th, 2021. 10:00 am – 11:00 a.m. AKT

REPEAT BROADCAST: Thursday, December 16th, 2021. 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. AKT

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• Mask by Joe Senungetuk
• Mask by Joe Senungetuk
• James Tempte
• Joe and Martha Senungetuk
• Artwork by Joe Senungetuk

Alaska Natives have been creating art influenced by nature and culture for thousands of years. The clothing, tools, kayaks, weapons, baskets, and other items of everyday life and ceremony were, and are, functional and artistic. During the 1960s young Native artists like Joe Senungetuk started creating Indigenous art that blended the traditional to more contemporary. They started including environmental and social issues into their art along with the influences of their upbringing in rural Alaska. Joe attended UAF, taught art at Mt. Edgecumbe in Sitka, attended the San Francisco Arts Institute (in 1968!), author of Give or Take A Century: An Eskimo Chronology, and was a columnist for the Anchorage Daily News, all while being a prolific artist. Martha was born in Cordova and is an established Native artist in her own right. This Outdoor Explorer welcomes Joe and Martha to discuss the influences that their long lives in Alaska have had on their art. Currently, Joe and his wife Martha are the Elder Artists in Residence at Alaska Pacific University. Also joining host Paul Twardock is James Tempte, a young indigenous artist, and Karli Tyance Hassell.

HOST: Paul Twardock

GUESTS:

• Joe and Martha Senungetuk, and James Tempte and Karli Tyance Hassell

LINKS:

Joe Senungetuk at APU

Senungetuk Arts website

Joe and Martha Senungetuk and APU Elder Artists in Residence Program

James Tempte’s website

BROADCAST: Thursday, December 9th, 2021. 10:00 am – 11:00 a.m. AKT

REPEAT BROADCAST: Thursday, December 9th, 2021. 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. AKT

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• Aaron Ramirez and Lisa Keller at the Lavaman Triathlon, photo courtesy Lisa Keller.
• Alisa Carroll, photo courtesy Alisa Carroll.
• Dr. Kim Harmon, photo courtesy Kim Harmon.

At the beginning of this summer, our host Lisa had several trips planned to support her friend Aaron Ramirez at Ironman races. It looked to be a fun summer and fall, back to our usual activities of traveling and racing. Of course, you know what happened next. Alaska was hit hard by the Delta variant, and everything changed once again. Even though Aaron was vaccinated, he developed a breakthrough Covid infection. Training was impossible and races were quickly canceled. The long journey he is on, to be able to train as before and feel comfortable racing, inspired Lisa to put together this show. You’ll hear from Dr. Kim Harmon, the team physician for the University of Washington football team who has been researching the impacts of Covid on athletes, and Alisa Carroll, a physical therapist who helps people recover lung function after a Covid infection. But first, you’ll hear about Aaron’s Covid experience and what he has learned while returning to his active life.

HOST: Lisa Keller

SEGMENTS:

Segment 1: Aaron Ramirez, Ironman athlete

Segment 2: Dr. Kim Harmon, team physician for the University of Washington football team

Segment 3: Alisa Carroll, DPT, of Progressive Physical Therapy

LINKS:

• American Medical Society for Sports Medicine/NCCA Guidelines for return to sport
• Study that followed > 3,000 college athletes with COVID-19
• Study looking at long term issues in athletes with COVID-19
• Progressive Physical Therapy

BROADCAST: Thursday, November 18th, 2021. 10:00 am – 3:00 p.m. AKT

REPEAT BROADCAST: Thursday, November 18th, 2021. 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. AKT

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• Luc Mehl. Photo with permission from the owner.
• Luc Mehl. Photo with permission from the owner.
• Luc Mehl packrafting the Matanuska River.
• Luc Mehl backcountry skating in Katmai. Photo courtesy Luc Mehl.

Trip planning and risk analysis are keys to safe and successful outings, whether it is a day hike or an extended trip far from medical help. Alaska’s vast expanse, large and cold rivers, challenging weather, wild animals, and scarcity of emergency response resources add to the need for responsible and thoughtful trip preparation and execution. On this Outdoor Explorer we look at near misses and accidents from this past summer of 2021, then look forward to trip planning for this coming winter and next summer. Our guest is Luc Mehl. Luc spent a significant part of his youth in McGrath, Alaska, and has traveled throughout Alaska in all seasons as an adventurer, wilderness athlete, scientist, and educator. Besides hosting a popular trip planning website he is the co-author of the new book The Packrafting Handbook and is an avid wilderness Nordic skater and skier. He shares his insights and thoughts on trip planning and risk analysis, aiming to help us become safer in the outdoors.

HOST: Paul Twardock

GUESTS:

• Segment 1: Luc Mehl, co-author of the new book The Packrafting Handbook

LINKS:

• Luc Mehl’s Website, where you can purchase his book
• The Packraft Handbook
• Reviews of The Packraft Handbook on GoodReads
• American Packrafting Association
• American Whitewater Accident database
• Avalanche.org
• Alaska Avalanche School
• Alaska Avalanche Information Center
• Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center
• Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center
• Nordic Skate-Southcentral Alaska Facebook Group

BROADCAST: Thursday, November 11th, 2021. 10:00 am – 11:00 a.m. AKT

REPEAT BROADCAST: Thursday, November 11th, 2021. 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. AKT

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• Kikkan and Breck riding to school, photo courtesy Kikkan Randall.
• Former NSAA Junior Nordic skier Kikkan Randall, photo courtesy Kikkan Randall.
• NSAA Executive Director Kikkan Randall, photo courtesy Kikkan Randall.

Our guest for this episode of Outdoor Explorer is Kikkan Randall, one of Alaska’s most popular and well-known athletes. In the 2018 Winter Olympics, Kikkan and Jessie Diggins became the first Americans to win a gold medal in Nordic skiing, in the team sprint freestyle race. Shortly after the Olympics, Randall was diagnosed with breast cancer and became an advocate for an active lifestyle while in treatment. She had been living in Canada, but now she’s back in Anchorage as the new executive director of the Nordic Ski Association of Anchorage.

HOST: Lisa Keller

SEGMENTS:

Kikkan Randall, executive director of the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage

LINKS:

• Nordic Ski Association of Anchorage
• Activ Against Cancer
• Kikkan Randall’s website

BROADCAST: Thursday, November 4th, 2021. 10:00 am – 3:00 p.m. AKT

REPEAT BROADCAST: Thursday, November 4th, 2021. 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. AKT

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• Kayaks at the NOLS headquarters.
• John Gans, former NOLS Alaska director and NOLS President
• Ashley Wise, NOLS Alaska Program Manager
• The NOLS Red Barn in Palmer.

NOLS, formerly known as the National Outdoor Leadership School, has been educating and inspiring students in Alaska since 1971. Though not the first wilderness education program in Alaska, it is one of the most successful based on its longevity, number of alumni, and impact it has had on Alaska. Many of its alumni and instructors have lived and contributed to Alaska whether as educators, business people, authors, land managers, public servants, or just being active in the outdoor community. NOLS has also greatly influenced the outdoor industry’s risk management and Leave No Trace ethics, with its Alaska operations offering significant contributions. We welcome John Gans, former NOLS Alaska director, and NOLS President, and Ashley Wise, current NOLS Alaska Program Manager, to discuss NOLS’s history in Alaska, its influences, and its current status and future.

HOST: Paul Twardock

GUESTS:

• Segment 1: John Gans, former NOLS Alaska Director and NOLS President
• Segment 2: Ashley Wise, current NOLS Alaska Program Manager

LINKS:

• NOLS’s website
• NOLS history
• Leave No Trace
• NOLS Risk Management Conference

BROADCAST: Thursday, October 28th, 2021. 10:00 am – 11:00 a.m. AKT

REPEAT BROADCAST: Thursday, October 28th, 2021. 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. AKT

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• Crow Pass Trail, photo courtesy Max Romey
• Debris found on the beach, photo courtesy Max Romey
• Max Romey sketching Raven Glacier at Crow Pass, photo courtesy Max Romey.

Our guest this week is Max Romey. Max is a watercolor artist and filmmaker from Anchorage. He has joined us before to tell us about his creative style of using watercolors in his films focusing on the outdoors. Storytelling using pictures instead of words was born from his life with dyslexia. The last time he visited us in the fall of 2020, he was developing a six-chapter project called “Trailbound Alaska.” Although the project has changed and evolved, he has finished one part of the film series, the journey from Seward to Eagle River. Another one of his films, “If You Give a Beach a Bottle,” is a story that took him many years to tell and is a finalist at this year’s Banff Mountain Film Festival at the end of this month. Max will also give us a preview of his next project, which is very close to home.

HOST: Lisa Keller

SEGMENTS:

Max Romey, watercolor artist and filmmaker

LINKS:

• Max Romey Productions
• Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity

BROADCAST: Thursday, October 21st, 2021. 10:00 am – 3:00 p.m. AKT

REPEAT BROADCAST: Thursday, October 21st, 2021. 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. AKT

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Much of Alaska’s landmass is covered in water. During the winter when those lakes and rivers freeze solid, and if the snow isn’t deeper than an inch or so, all that frozen water makes for great ice skating! Around the world, people have been ice skating for a very long time. But recent advances in skate and binding technology, including the popularity of “nordic skates”, have made recreational skating more comfortable and convenient than ever before. Skating on natural ice in Alaska allows access to places that can be difficult or inconvenient to reach when ice-free, like Portage Glacier, the far side of Eklutna Lake, or other remote lakes, rivers, and swampy areas all around the state. This week on Outdoor Explorer, we’ll be talking with Carl Oswald, President of the Anchorage Speedskating Club, and Paxson Woelber, a nordic skating enthusiast who has begun manufacturing his own line of nordic skates. We’ll discuss everything skating: equipment, safety, places to skate, “wild ice”, skating adventures, and skating programs.

HOST: Adam Verrier

GUESTS:

• Carl Oswald, President of the Anchorage Speedskating Club
• Paxson Woelber, a nordic skating enthusiast

LINKS:

• Anchorage Speedskating club
• Anchorage skates
• Ermine skate
• Paxson’s skating film

BROADCAST: Thursday, October 14 th, 2021. 10:00 am – 11:00 a.m. AKT

REPEAT BROADCAST: Thursday, October 14th 2021. 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. AKT

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Economic impact of outdoor activities, image courtesy Alaska Outdoor Alliance.

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

The guest for this show is Lee Hart, Executive Director of Alaska Outdoor Alliance. The Alliance’s mission is to build the best outdoor economy in the world. The outdoor economy is an under-recognized yet important economic driver to

communities across the Western United States. According to the Outdoor Industry Association, 81% of Alaskans

participate in outdoor recreation each year and we have the 7th largest recreation economy in the United States. There

is $3.2 billion spent by Alaskan consumers that can be tied to outdoor recreation, according to the State of Alaska Center for Economic Development. The Alliance is a critical player in advancing policy and promoting outdoor recreation and infrastructure in our state.

HOST: Lisa Keller

SEGMENTS:

Lee Hart, Executive Director of Alaska Outdoor Alliance

LINKS:

• Alaska Outdoor Alliance website
• Alaska Outdoor Alliance Facebook

BROADCAST: Thursday, October 7th, 2021. 10:00 am – 3:00 p.m. AKT

REPEAT BROADCAST: Thursday, October 7th, 2021. 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. AKT

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