Travel

December / January, 2012

Celebrating Winter in Alaska

The Fur Rendezvous Festival in Anchorage celebrates the fur trade traditions of Alaska and provides a fun mid-winter break from cabin fever for locals.

By Claudia Carbone

Burrrr! Furrrr!

These two words sum up Fur Rondy, as this festival has become known, a celebration of life in Alaska. What began as a three-day sports tournament to kick the winter blues in the early days of Anchorage has morphed into Alaska's largest winter festival that includes the start of the Iditarod.

In the mid 30s, Anchorage was a small town of about 3000 people. Winter was brutal up there in Chugach country. The first Fur Rendezvous got the residents outside participating in sporting events, bonfires and torchlight parades, and they welcomed trappers coming home with their winter's bounty. Hence, the name that honors the country's fur trade heritage.

For centuries, Native Alaskans have braced against the cold by wearing animal fur to stay warm. Unlike us, they wear the skin side on the outside and the fur side closest to their bodies, insulating them from the coldest of temperatures.

Big game hunting and trapping is still a way of life for many natives and also hugely popular with adventure-seeking tourists. Stiff rules regulate hunting for sport, and residents take priority over "alien hunters" for licenses.

No one needs a license or even a ticket to attend most of the outdoor events of The Fur Rendezvous. For ten days, Anchorage is jumping with parades; carnival rides; and street festivities, such as Running with the Reindeer, Sled-dog Weight Pull, Eskimo Blanket Toss, and many more fun and traditional ways that help Alaskans enjoy the wintry outdoors. More activities take place indoors like ice shows, a melodrama and unique native culture and art shows. For visitors, it's a good way to learn about the customs of our neighbors up north.

The Rondy Fur Auction has been one of the main events since the beginning. Skins of animals like fox, lynx, beaver and ermine are sold at auction to buyers who themselves often are dressed in animal fur, some with the animal heads still attached.

The Rondy World Championship Sled Dog Race was added to the agenda in 1946. Not to be confused with the Iditarod, the Rondy race runs on a snow-packed course around downtown Anchorage on three consecutive days. Watching the dogs and their handlers up close gives one a better understanding of the physical and mental stamina these canine athletes must possess in order to compete in these races.

Iditarod The Last Great Race®

Coinciding with Rondy is the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, the most famous dog-sled race of all. With no special concessions for gender of the mushers, the playing field is equal in this grueling race over 1,150 miles of jagged mountain ranges, frozen rivers and fields-the most desolate, harshest terrain between Anchorage and Nome, the trail's end. Temperatures dip way below zero, winds can interfere with visibility, and there are long hours of darkness. The actual race (Restart) begins the next day in Willow, Alaska, about 50 miles north of Anchorage. The race lasts from 10 to 17 days, depending on the speed of the dog team and its musher.

"The dogs are the stars, the mushers are their coaches," said Carolyn Muegge-Vaughan who ran her first race 25 years ago, when few women entered. She later mushed with her husband, legendary explorer Norman Vaughan who had finished the race four times by age 88.

Strict rules protect the dogs. "They are treated like royalty," Muegge-Vaughan said, "and you are totally dependent on them. You must feed them 10,000 calories a day. On the trail, you bed them down on straw, check each paw for soreness or redness. If they get tired or sick, you drop them at checkpoint and they are flown back to Anchorage."

The Iditarod Trail started as a mail and supply route from the coast to the interior mining camps. In 1925, part of the trail was used for bringing life-saving serum to Nome where diphtheria had become epidemic. A commemorative expedition, The Serum 25 Run from Nenana to Nome, is held each year with participants stopping in remote villages to talk about the importance of getting inoculations. The expedition is named after Norman Vaughan who died in 2005, four days after turning 100.

SEWARD AND RESURRECTION BAY

To appreciate the full scope of the raw beauty of Alaska, take a three-hour drive from Anchorage along the spectacular coastline to Seward, the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park. The picturesque fishing village is worth poking around; then take a cruise around Resurrection Bay to view glaciers and the rugged shoreline of the peninsula. You'll see sea lions sunning themselves on rocks, porpoise playing alongside the boat, and may catch a glimpse of whales. Lunch is included in the two and- a-half-hour cruise. The cabins are heated, but you'll want to go on deck for photos to get the full experience, so dress warm. Tours are offered Feb. 29; March 4 and 7, 2012. kenaifjords.com/kenai-national-park.html#seward

WHEN YOU GO

Fur Rondy is always the last weekend of February and first weekend of March. The ceremonial start of the Iditarod is always the first Saturday in March.

This year, Fur Rondy is Feb. 24-March 4; furrondy.net.

The start of Iditarod in Anchorage is March 3; iditarod.com

For lodging and more information, visit anchorage.net

Claudia Carbone is editor of Out of Denver and an award-winning journalist, blogger and author. Reach her at Claudia@outofdenver.com.