Outdoors/Adventure

Dan Seavey, mushing patriarch who raced the first Iditarod, dies at 87

Seavey finished third in the first Iditarod in 1973. His son Mitch and grandson Dallas have won the race multiple times.

Zachariah Hughes May 12, 2025

Bicycling mentorship program Anchorage GRIT aims to instill confidence in girls

GRIT was founded by Cait Rodriguez and Lael Wilcox in 2017.

Chris Bieri May 8, 2025

The gender gap has narrowed in climbing. These women have closed it.

As a recent historic climb attests, Olympians Brooke Raboutou and Janja Garnbret are pushing women’s outdoor climbing, and each other, to new heights.

Roman Stubbs, The Washington Post May 6, 2025
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First 30 miles of Denali Park Road opening Friday to private vehicles

The early access is thanks to warmer weather and low-snow levels in the park this winter, officials say.

Anchorage Daily News April 24, 2025

27 days on foot: Teaming up for a 1,000-mile trek to Nome in the Iditarod Trail Invitational

Kari Gibbons, in her first traverse of the full 1,000-mile route, and Petr Ineman — who’d previously done it on a bike and on skis — joined forces on the trail this year.

David James April 20, 2025

A musher was cut from the Iditarod for being too far behind. He went to Nome anyway.

Quince Mountain was withdrawn from the Iditarod under the race’s rule on competitiveness, but ended up driving a small team to the finish line.

Zachariah Hughes March 26, 2025

Teen snowmachiner dies in Turnagain Pass avalanche amid challenging conditions

Saturday’s incident, in which a teenage boy from Soldotna was buried about 10 feet deep and died, marks the second fatal avalanche in Southcentral Alaska this month.

Vicky Ho March 23, 2025

Summer is coming for national parks. Will there be enough workers?

Federal workers who were fired from national parks don’t know whether they’ll reclaim their jobs. In the meantime, travelers can shoulder more responsibility.

Natalie B. Compton, Special to The Washington Post March 20, 2025

Czech skiers celebrate 10th anniversary at Iditarod Trail Invitational

Jan and Petra Francke raced 350 miles to McGrath and say the journey made their marriage stronger than ever 10 years in.

David James March 18, 2025

2025 Iditarod wraps with 22 finishers, fewest since first race in 1973

Mushers said the altered race route out of Fairbanks was far tougher than they’d anticipated. The last time a winner took more than 10 days to finish was in the early 1990s.

Zachariah Hughes March 18, 2025

Traveling through time along the trail in the 2025 Iditarod

The Tolovana Roadhouse — built in 1924 and used to provide shelter during the Serum Run of 1925 — once again hosted mushers in 2025.

Ned Rozell | Alaska Science March 14, 2025

Jessie Holmes wins the Iditarod after five top-10 finishes

The 43-year-old Alaskan’s victory is a capstone in a relatively short but remarkably successful career in the race to Nome.

Zachariah Hughes March 14, 2025

Jessie Holmes is first Iditarod musher to leave Safety, setting up early Friday victory in Nome

A win would be the first career title in the race for Holmes, who finished third in 2022 and 2024.

Zachariah Hughes March 13, 2025

Snowmachiner rescued near Paxson after dropping 60 feet into glacier crevasse

Two groups helped extricate the injured man from deep in the ice, according to one rescuer.

Zaz Hollander March 13, 2025

Jessie Holmes maintains his lead heading into the Iditarod homestretch

The veteran musher has maintained a consistent lead over Matt Hall and Paige Drobny for much of the past week.

Zachariah Hughes March 13, 2025

Jessie Holmes leads Iditarod mushers as race reaches the coast

None of the three teams battling one another along the portage to Unalakleet and the trail beyond has ever won the race before.

Zachariah Hughes March 12, 2025

Pregnant dog on Iditarod rookie’s team collapses and dies outside Galena, race says

More mushers dropped out of the race Friday, bringing the total number of scratches to five so far, out of a field of 33 competitors.

Anchorage Daily News March 8, 2025

Tired Iditarod teams battle the sandman — and an actual sandstorm — on the trail

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race teams at the head of the pack were wrapping up their mandatory 24-hour breaks at checkpoints along the trail Friday.

Shelby Herbert, KUAC March 8, 2025

Iditarod musher Brenda Mackey says she scratched after a dog emergency on the trail

Mackey described trying to care for a collapsed animal and doubling back to the Tanana checkpoint after requesting help, and her later confusion over how the situation was initially characterized.

Zachariah Hughes, Chris Bieri March 8, 2025

Efforts to recover 3 heli-skiers buried in avalanche near Girdwood on hold due to dangerous conditions

The Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center also issued a special bulletin warning of dangerous avalanche conditions in the mountains across a wide swath of Southcentral Alaska.

Anchorage Daily News March 7, 2025

Iditarod teams in Galena rest after a trail slog — and a feast, in Paige Drobny’s case

“It’s been tough and slow, but we’re making it,” 2023 Iditarod champion Ryan Redington said as temperatures hovered in the 30s.

Shelby Herbert, KUAC March 7, 2025

Iditarod mushers reach the Yukon after a tough trail, with two teams trained on the Denali Highway at the front

Paige Drobny of Cantwell was the first musher to the Ruby checkpoint.

Zachariah Hughes March 6, 2025

Anchorage couple train together but chase different goals at Iditarod Trail Invitational

Fat-bikers John Lackey and Kara Oney are veterans of the Iditarod Trail Invitational’s 350-mile race, which this year covered a long stretch of barren ground between Rainy Pass and Rohn.

David James March 6, 2025

Heli-skiers killed by massive avalanche came to Alaska from different states but grew up together in Minnesota

The slide Tuesday afternoon buried the three men on a trip near Girdwood.

Zaz Hollander March 6, 2025

3 heli-skiers die in massive avalanche near Girdwood

Tuesday’s slide measured more than a half-mile long with a debris pile estimated to be 40 to 100 feet deep, authorities said.

Zaz Hollander March 5, 2025

Multiple heli-skiers caught in avalanche near Girdwood with immediate recovery not possible, troopers say

The depth of the snow kept the heli-ski company from being able to recover the skiers Tuesday, an Alaska State Troopers spokesman said.

Anchorage Daily News March 5, 2025

Soup, sleep and sunset: Nenana hosts Iditarod’s first race checkpoint

Most mushers took their first rest on the Tanana River ice at Nenana.

Marc Lester March 4, 2025

Rare Iditarod restart in Fairbanks draws crowds for ‘NASCAR with dogs’

Both locals and visitors were enthusiastic for the Interior-based Iditarod restart, which hadn’t been held in Fairbanks since 2017.

Chris Bieri March 4, 2025

‘Prepared to be adaptable’: Mushers leave Fairbanks to officially launch a historic 53rd Iditarod

This year’s 1,128-mile sled-dog race follows a novel route through Interior Alaska with a loop on the Yukon River. “We are all rookies,” Big Lake musher Nicolas Petit joked.

Chris Bieri March 3, 2025

‘It would just feel like a big accomplishment’: Meet 7 Iditarod rookies trying to reach Nome

This year’s crop of 16 rookies makes up nearly half of the race field, an abnormally high percentage.

Marc Lester, Jenna Kunze March 3, 2025
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