Monthly Archives: March 2022

Busy Airport Season?

Fairbanks International Airport

Like the cruise industry, the air travel industry is also predicting more tourists into Alaska, and especially, Fairbanks in 2022. It should be noted here that Fairbanks is not a major travel destination for Alaska. We tend to be a bit of an afterthought, which is fine by most of us.

The Fairbanks International Airport announced that several carriers will return to Fairbanks after a 1-2 year hiatus. United Airlines will return with a non-stop flight to/from Chicago. Delta Airlines will add additional flights with Seattle and Minneapolis. Alaska Airlines will bump flights to Seattle to 5; and service to Anchorage will increase to 8 flights.

Sun Country will return with Saturday flights between Fairbanks and Minneapolis, and Condor Air will return to Fairbanks after two years, with direct, weekly flights to Frankfurt, Germany. Air North will once again be flying between Fairbanks and Whitehorse, YT.

The list of small airlines and charters flying into remote Alaska is extensive.

Unfortunately, one can expect flight costs to soar.


Nenana Ice Classic 2022

We are quickly coming to the deadline to get Ice Classic tickets into the red barrel. The deadline to have your guesses in is April 5th.

The Nenana Ice Classic, Alaska’s gambling addiction of choice, was first started in 1917, when railroad engineers, working on the fledgling Alaska Railroad, started a pool to guess when the ice would go out on the Tanana River. Alaskans have been taking their shot at the prize ever since.

The ice was last measured at 32″ thick on March 24 near the tripod.

A ticket will set you back $2.50, which is good for one guess. The winning guess in 2021 was worth $233,591.

Nenana Ice Cam, March 28, 2022


Getting Antsy


Happy Seward’s Day

Mural painted on the vaulted ceiling of the U.S. Capitol, by Jeffrey Green

27 March 1964

Anchorage, Alaska after the 9.2 Good Friday Earthquake


“Nine Scenes from Eskimo Life”

Ink on caribou hide by George Ahgupuk; 1951

Northern Sunlight

A normal day in Utqiagvik, Alaska

Utqiagvik, the community formerly known as Barrow, now has more daylight and civil twilight than Miami, Florida on the Summer Solstice.

We are also closer, in the northern hemisphere, to the upcoming Summer Solstice, than we are to the previous Winter Solstice. That calls for a toast. Cheers.


Rough Weekend?

Hydrate, I just need to hydrate…


“Sunrise on Canyon Walls – Alaska”

Oil on cardboard by Jules B. Dahlager; circa 1926

Finding Endurance

Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance

A team of modern day adventurists and scientists used undersea drones to locate the famed Endurance. The ship was last seen 106 years ago.

Captained by Ernest Shackleton, the Endurance was caught in sea ice off the Antarctic Peninsula in 1915. The crew was forced to abandon the ship before it was crushed by the sea ice, and sank. Shackleton then led his crew on a miraculous 800 mile journey to safety.

The Endurance, caught in the sea ice off Antarctica; Photo by Frank Hurley, 1915

The Endurance was found approximately 4 miles from the position last taken by Shackleton, almost 10,000 feet below the surface of the Weddell Sea. The ship is “in a brilliant state of preservation”, which did not come as a surprise due to the cold water temps and lack of wood eating marine organisms. The name Endurance can clearly be seen on the stern, as well as a five pointed star, which dates back to when the vessel was known as Polaris.