phil barnes photography

This was the weekend for the venerable Anchorage area 24-hour mountain bike race.  Keppler-Bradley State Park near Palmer was the venue for this years race and it did not disappoint.  The miles of of tight singletrack under the backdrop of Pioneer Peak made for an epic event.  Although I didn’t have much time at the event I was able to get some great shots of folks racing.  Enjoy the shots:

[View with PicLens]

 

What do you do to keep everyone busy and excited during the week long Fur Rondy festival?  Have a big air contest, of course!  Actually, this was pretty cool compared with the parade and sled dog sprint races, etc. that are the usual attractions for Anchorage’s annual winter festival.  Not that these attractions are not interesting, they are (they are part of Alaskana, and so should be featured), but I’m suprised this is the first year the big air event was sponsored.  Fittingly, the big air event was held on the hillside directly behind the carnival so there was a certain visual poetry seeing snowboarders and skiers hurling through the air with the backdrop of whirling carnival rides.  The event also cooincided with the fireworks which added an additional dynamic to the spectacle.   An appoximately 30 foot gap was set up riders needed to clear with a start beginning atop a 15 foot tower at the top of the hill next to the carnival to get enough speed.   Watching the riders there was just enough hill to make the gap.  Some of the skiers almost did not.  All in all a cool event I hope the Fur Rondy organizers will hold again next year.  Maybe they will build a bigger tower and make the jump  bigger and gap wider.  This is Alaska.  Enjoy the photos.

[View with PicLens]