Smiles swarm Government Peak in 2nd annual Icicle Double

HATCHER PASS – With the sun at their backs and not a breath of wind on the trails, skiers of all sorts and speeds crested the hills smiling in Saturday’s Icicle Double.

Some put their game faces on after the first lap — especially those training for high school or college races — but nearly all the 40-odd participants had a smile for the camera or the volunteers on the sidelines.

After all, with a hot dog (reindeer sausage) stand in the parking lot and bananas, oranges, chocolate, Gatorade and water available to racers, who wouldn’t smile?

“Great snow, great trail, great people,” said Wasilla High School teacher Emily Forstner, after her race.

Forstner said the race was her first ever — her “initiation event” — though she has been cross-country and alpine skiing with her sister, Jane Darnell, since junior high.

“It was a no-brainer,” she said.

Darnell and her daughters Liz and Maggie were manning the aid station during Saturday’s races, up from Nebraska for the holidays, and Forstner’s daughter Katie, a Colony High graduate, also participated in the 5-kilometer race.

The Forstners and Darnells weren’t the only family in attendance — Lance, Lyon, Jocelyn and Alyson Kopsack each competed in Saturday’s races, as well as father-son combo Dave and Schyler Knopp, among others.

In addition to being a family event, the Double was a testament to the work all kinds of people have put in to make the Government Peak Recreation Area a reality.

“I’m just really impressed with the citizen action that brought this about,” Forstner said.

And with good reason. In just a year and a half, the $800,000 chalet has progressed from an idea to a high-quality facility servicing skiers and other individual-sport enthusiasts year-round, thanks in large part to the Mat-Su Borough, members of the Mat-Su Ski Club, and grant organizations such as the Mat-Su Health Foundation.

The Government Peak area would be lost without funding to groom the trails, too.

“It’s all volunteer-based but you’ve still gotta have the machines and get gas,” said Mat-Su Ski Club member, race volunteer and casual skier Steve Brown.

There also has to be good snow to get good grooming done, which Ski Club President Ed Strabel said they were lucky to get, though the lack of it until recently did affect race enrollment.

“I think that the fact that we did not have good skiable snow in Southcentral (Alaska) until so late kinda put a damper on the numbers,” he said.

On the other hand, that gave Government Peak an edge as one of the few facilities between the Valley and Anchorage with good enough conditions to draw both the recreational and competitive skiers.

Dylan Watts of Anchorage won the 30-kilometer race, and East High School graduate Tamra Kornfield came in second in the women’s division, for example. Numerous high school and collegiate skiers were also drawn to and reunited during the event.

Having the multiple distances, Strabel said, is part of what encourages skiers of all levels to participate in the Double.

“It’s not intimidating,” he said.

Now in its second year, the Double is the only two-day, four-distance ski racing event in the Mat-Su Valley for members of the general public. Saturday, classic skiers left the stadium at Government Peak Recreation Area in groups at 3-minute intervals, starting with the 30-kilometer racers and continuing with the 15-, 10-, and 5-kilometer groups. Skate or freestyle races of the same distances will be held today (Sunday), after which an awards ceremony will take place, honoring single-day podium finishes and weekend podium finishes.

Oh, and there’s sledding, also known as “free exercise for kids.”

“There’s a real long gradual downhill and a long gradual uphill, so there’s no way kids can get up to the top other than exercising,” Strabel said.

Snowshoes, fat-tire bikes and dogs used for skijoring are also welcome on specified Government Peak trails during the winter, as well as horses, mountain bikes and pedestrians in the summer and fall.

“It’s really been a magnet for folks,” Strabel said of the area.

For more information on the recreation area, visit bit.ly/1CNXPEF. To learn more about the Mat-Su Ski Club, visit www.matsuski.org.

Contact Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.

Results

2014 Icicle Double

12/27-28/14

Two-day Totals

Men’s 30-kilometer

1. Dylan Watts, 2:52:07; 2. Lyon Kopsack, 3:03:39; 3. Schyler Knopp, 3:11:48; 4. Douglas Watts, 3:18:53; 5. Jeff Kase, 3:23:19; 6. Tobin Sworts, 3:33:20; 7. Dan Libbey, 3:48:59; 8. Robert Platte, 3:58:36; 9. Lance Kopsack, 4:04:49; 10. Dave Musgrave, 5:02:40.

Women’s 30k

1. Tamra Kornfield, 3:49:29; 2. Anna Rix, 3:59:50; 3. Lorene Lynn, 5:08:21.

Men’s 15k

1. Davis Dunlap, 1:22:11; 2. Nick Harrison, 1:35:01; 3. Drew Cason, 1:52:50; 4. Ed Lasselle, 2:05:53; 5. Everett Cason, 2:11:00.

Women’s 15k

1. Jackie Cason, 2:36:12.

Men’s 10k

1. Ed Strabel, 1:25:02; 2. Michael Norton, 1:52:26; 3. Dan Harrison, 2:10:43.

Women’s 10k

1. Sue Skvorc, 1:28:28; 2. Jocelyn Kopsack, 1:29:07; 3. Anjanette Steer, 1:29:08.

Men’s 5k

1. Gavin Block, 37:04; 2. Dylan Saunders, 1:14:48.