Event Updates, KMTA Communities, Skiing 23 Feb 2023 KMTA Corduroy Crush Coming March 26th! Join us March 26th for the KMTA Corduroy Crusher! Hey Nordic skiers! The KMTA Classic has undergone a transformation and is now the KMTA Corduroy Crush! The name change reflects… Karen Lewis
Event Updates, Race, Spencer Dash, Spencer Glacier Tina Pierce and Tamyko White celebrate their Spencer Glacier 5M Dash race! 16 Jun 2022 A Dashing Success It’s been almost two weeks since KMTA hosted our 2nd Annual Spencer Dash, and we are still riding high from the event’s success. Hosted in partnership with Chugach Adventures, the… Karen Lewis No Comments
Grant Projects, Grants, Hiking 15 Apr 2022 Trailbound Alaska Debuted This Spring Trailbound Alaska Debuts at the Bear Tooth Trailbound Alaska– a KMTA grant-funded film– debuted at the end of March to two sold out shows at the Bear Tooth Theater. The theme of… Karen Lewis No Comments
Event Updates, Grant Projects, Grants, Hiking 09 Mar 2022 Trailbound Alaska Premiering at the Bear Tooth Theater on March 28th We are so excited to be co-hosting a Max Romey film night with Alaska Trails on March 28th and 29th at the Bear Tooth. Join us and director Max Romey… Karen Lewis No Comments
KMTA Stories, Skiing 05 Mar 2022 Devil’s Creek Nordic Ski Loop is a Worthy Stop By Amanda Sassi When driving through the variable roads between Turnagain Pass and Kenai Lake, you could likely zoom past the Devil’s Creek Trailhead. There are brown Forest Service signs… Karen Lewis No Comments
Event Updates, Girdwood, KMTA Communities, Race, Skiing Kids at the start of the KMTA Classic 2k race. 02 Mar 2022 KMTA Classic Brought A Day of Fun to the 5K Nordic Loop in Girdwood Skiing Community Comes to Girdwood for the Inaugural KMTA Classic On Sunday, February 27th the Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area (KMTA) partnered with Girdwood Nordic Ski Club (GNSC) to… Karen Lewis No Comments
Event Updates, Girdwood, Race, Skiing 01 Feb 2022 KMTA Classic Race Results Are Posted! Join Us on February 27th in Girdwood! Calling all Nordic skiers! We are thrilled to announce the inaugural KMTA Classic, a family friendly classic ski race on the 5k Nordic… Karen Lewis No Comments
Annual Report, Girdwood, Grant Projects, Grants, Hiking 05 Jan 2022 Girdwood Trail Signs Increase Accessibility to the Outdoors “Signs are probably the quickest and easiest way to leave the trail user with a positive impression. If signs are high quality, well maintained, and properly located, other trail problems… Karen Lewis No Comments
Biking, Event Updates, Hiking, Race Photo by Matthew Crockett 31 Dec 2021 KMTA Added Two New Events in 2021 The summer of 2021 saw two new events for KMTA. One celebrated the Spencer Glacier area and the history of the Alaska Railroad and the other encouraged spending time… Karen Lewis No Comments
Hiking, Hiking in Winter, KMTA Communities, KMTA Stories 26 Nov 2021 #OptOutside This Winter in the KMTA National Heritage Area! #OptOutside This Year... Spending time together and spending time outdoors has always been an integral part of life in the Heritage Area. Splitting and stacking firewood, preserving the summer and… Karen Lewis No Comments
Hiking, History, KMTA Communities, KMTA Stories, Steve Cleary Photo by Paxson Woelber 16 Nov 2021 National Take A Hike Day is November 17th! National Take a Hike Day Today, we celebrate hiking not generally as our primary transportation, but for recreation and exercise. Since the 1800’s hiking has become more popular as a… Karen Lewis No Comments
Event Updates, Hiking, KMTA Trail Challenge 15 Jun 2021 KMTA Trail Challenge Weekly Updates Welcome to the KMTA Trail Challenge Update Page Thanks to all who have signed up for the KMTA Trail Challenge! Make sure to bookmark this page so you can… Karen Lewis No Comments
Event Updates, Race, Spencer Dash, Spencer Glacier Photo by Matthew Crockett 07 Jun 2021 2021 Spencer Glacier 5K Dash Results Thanks to all who participated in the inaugural Spencer Glacier Dash 5K! Below is a link to the final results. Congratulations to our winners Nicholas Feronti and Olivia Pfeifer. Click… Karen Lewis No Comments
Hiking, KMTA Stories Photo by Paxson Woelber 01 Apr 2021 Hitting the KMTA Trails this Spring? By Sarah Schuh Spring is at our doorstep, bringing with it longer days and warmer temperatures. There are so many ways to get out and play in the Kenai Mountains-Turnagain… Karen Lewis No Comments
Hiking, KMTA Stories, Shawn Lyons, Spencer Glacier, Turnagain Pass Shawn Lyons (Facebook) 02 Mar 2021 Memories of Shawn Lyons By Art Copoulos Shawn Lyons was well known for his monster endurance hikes like the Chugach 12 peak challenge of 40 miles and 18,000 vertical feet in a day, his… Karen Lewis No Comments
Hiking, KMTA Communities, KMTA Stories, Steve Cleary The Gull Rock trail near Hope provides amazing views of Cook Inlet and the mountains of the Chugach. 07 Jan 2021 We Can All Use a Little Hope – Recalling What Gave Us Comfort in These Unprecedented Times By Steve Cleary Trails have increased in value through the pandemic, for both physical and mental health. And Hope has a lot to offer. Several times in recent months we… Karen Lewis No Comments
Hiking, History, History Articles, KMTA Stories, Manitoba, Shawn Lyons Looking at the Manitoba ski area lodge and further south across the Mills Creek drainage (Virginia Schuster) 31 Dec 2020 History of the Manitoba Mountain Ski Area by Shawn R. Lyons All winter long and well into the spring, backcountry skiers from Palmer and Anchorage to Seward and Homer make the pilgrimage to Manitoba Mountain. Regardless of… Karen Lewis No Comments
Hiking, History, History Articles, KMTA Communities, KMTA Stories, Moose Pass, Shawn Lyons Looking up to the headwaters of Falls Creek 09 Nov 2020 Solars Mountain on the Kenai Peninsula By Shawn R. Lyons We only had to cross the 15-foot wide stream and climb up through 100 yards of brush to reach the open rock field leading up into… Karen Lewis No Comments
Birding, KMTA Communities, KMTA Stories, Portage, Programs & Education A flock of geese fly over the gazebo at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center 24 Sep 2020 Do You Like Birding? Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center is the Place to Go! By Duane Magoon and Lily Grbavach The southbound fall migration of our winged, feathered friends has begun. Thousands of birds pass through Turnagain Arm and Portage Valley on their… Karen Lewis No Comments
Grant Projects, Grants, Turnagain Arm 01 Sep 2020 Beluga Whale Alliance Sends Thanks to KMTA! Thanks to KMTA funding for project materials, staff salaries, gas, and other essential costs in 2019, our organization’s very first grant, Beluga Whale Alliance (BWA) has been operating our flagship… Karen Lewis No Comments
Dan Walker, History, History Articles, KMTA Communities, KMTA Stories, Seward, Turnagain Arm Late Night Trail Running on Mt. Tiehacker near Seward, Alaska by Nelson Brown (Entry into the KMTA Photo Contest 2020) 25 Aug 2020 The Persistence of Nature’s Wild Side By Dan Walker Anyone who drives the Seward Highway and enters the mountains west of Portage gets the sense that they are driving into the wilderness. The forests reach down… Karen Lewis No Comments
Hiking, KMTA Stories, Shawn Lyons, Spencer Glacier, Turnagain Arm, Turnagain Pass Overlooking Spencer Glacier 28 Jul 2020 Wishful Thinking: A Journey from Turnagain Pass to Spencer Glacier By Shawn R. Lyons As we started down the far side of the ridge toward Spencer Glacier, glistening in the afternoon sun some 7 miles distant and 3,000 feet below… Karen Lewis No Comments
Biking, Bird, Girdwood, Grant Projects, Grants, Hiking, Programs & Education, Turnagain Arm 09 Jul 2020 Check Out Alaska State Parks Video about the Bird to Gird Bike Trail! The Alaska State Parks was awarded a KMTA grant of $14,207 in the spring of 2019 to create a trail guide video and the result is fantastic! Want to receive… Karen Lewis No Comments
David Reamer, History, History Articles, KMTA Stories, Turnagain Arm The Bore Tide of Turnagain Arm Circa 1930s-1950s. Photo courtesy of the Marie Silverman papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage. (HMC-0778:) 03 Jun 2020 The Power of Turnagain Arm By David Reamer The Turnagain Arm’s appearance is deceptive. The water appears safe, or as safe as any other waterway. The bordering land appears solid. At low tide, the Arm… Karen Lewis No Comments
Asian-American, History, History Articles, KMTA Communities, KMTA Stories, Mushing, Seward Jujiro Wada with other marathon racers. (Courtesy of Jujiro Wada Memorial Association, Japan) 19 May 2020 The Samurai Musher Jujiro Wada By Lia Slemons “This is my country, Frank. I hope to live and die here.” Jujiro Wada’s friend, Frank Cotter, recorded this sentiment during the historic scouting trip he, Wada,… Karen Lewis No Comments
Clark Fair, Hiking, History, History Articles, KMTA Stories, Moose Pass, Seward The author and his brother rest at the top of LV Ray Peak in 1997. 07 Feb 2020 The Naming of A Peak LV Ray Peak Near Moose Pass By Clark Fair Hikers climbing the Carter Lake Trail near the Trail Lake Fish Hatchery will notice the dark grey, pyramidal summit of… Karen Lewis No Comments
