Flying in Alaska

Alaska is breathtaking. 

It is one of my favorite places in the world.  If you haven't been to Alaska, be sure to make time to go sometime soon.  In hindsight, I waited too long to go and now I try to go back every year and take in more of what Alaska has to offer.   From grizzly bears to brown bears to polar bears and black bears...you can see it all in Alaska.  A nice trip is to fly into Anchorage and then go North to Denali and then up to Fairbanks.  From there, you can circle around to the East through Tok, Glennallen, Palmer and then back to Anchorage.  On that same trip you can also head down South to the Kenai Peninsula and see Homer, Seward and a lot of other great towns.  A nice hike outside of Anchorage, past Eagle River just off Highway 1 is Thunder Bird Falls Trail. 

The pictures below include sights from Denali (young grizzly bear and Ptarmigan birds) to near Homer (caribou), Misty Fiords, near Ketchikan and Lake Hood (in Anchorage). 

Here are some amazing landings in Alaska by a Bush Pilot. 

Brad's Tips for Flying:

Do you know the acronym CIGARS?

Controls, Instruments, Gas On, Attitude Trim / Autopilot, Run-Up / Radios, and Seat Belts / Switches / Safety.

Owl Creek Ranch in the Beautiful Sierra Nevada Foothills

This is my 20+ acre ranch located in the Sierra Nevada Foothills at about 1,800 feet in elevation.  It is close to where I live in Auburn.  This property is an epic playground and is a great place hang out, ride horses or just drive a tractor.  The property has an occasional mountain lion, lots of black bear, mule deer, bobcats, coyotes, red tail hawks, quail and lots of other kinds of birds.  A large pond near 600 feet long is filled with a variety of fish and many water fowl including ducks, geese, blue heron, and an occasional osprey.  I am currently growing over 700 Noble Fir and Douglas Fir trees.  I built the little house on the ridge by myself with the help of my tractor!  The property is a great place to train for skiing... pushing a wheel barrel up hills! 

Ski Racing

I am the 2011 United States Champion for the USSA National Speed Series (M5 Class).

My early years of ski racing.  This was a GS course at Alpine Meadows in California.  I was 14 years old with my coach in the background critiquing my run.

Look who I saw at the US Nationals in Winter Park, CO on April 1 and 2, 2011.  It's none other than...Julia Mancuso.  Here she is at the finish and up at the start of the GS race with other US Ski Team members.

And Steve, Sarah and Other US Ski Team Members.

Here is a list of Super G (SG) and Downhill (DH) races I skied for this year.

Jan. 14-16 Sun Valley, ID SG

Jan. 22-23 Mammoth, CA SG/SG

Feb. 4 Mammoth, CA SG

Feb. 11 Park City, UT SG

Feb. 19-21 Aspen, CO SG/DH

Feb. 26 Schweitzer, ID SG/SG

Feb.28-Mar.2 Soldier Mt., ID DH/DH

Mar. 12 Okemo, VT SG

Mar. 19-20 Ski Cooper, CO DH/DH

Mar. 24 Copper Mt., CO SG (Finals)

This is actually a pretty good video of what a downhill course looks like to a racer.  This was the 2002 Olympic Downhill Course called the Grizzly.