An adventurous Fireside Lecture at Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center on Friday, March 4 takes the audience to remote regions of Southeast Alaska for ultra-running explorations. The free Forest Service lectures occur at 6:30 pm with a repeat at 8 pm.
Mountain runners Dan Lesh and Geoff Roes will share a virtual tour of some of Southeast Alaska’s most unique, challenging and inspiring mountains. Drawing on thousands of miles logged over the past decade, Roes and Lesh will touch on why they believe this region is an ideal place for mountain running.
“We will explore exactly what mountain running means to us,” said Roes.
“We’ll explain how we came from very different backgrounds in running to arrive at a shared interest in running this type of terrain,” added Lesh.
The pair hope to encourage and energize lecture attendees with stories and photos of particular runs in the Juneau area that have inspired them.
They’ll highlight a recent crossing of the Chilkat Mountain range, including a black marmot sighting, immense bushwhacks, overheated mountain goats and undiscovered ridge connections.
Fireside Lectures, hosted by the US Forest Service, are presented at no charge in the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center every Friday during January, February and March. Lecture refreshments are provided by Alaska Geographic, the center’s nonprofit partner, which operates the bookstore in the building.
Federal lands passes can be purchased at the bookstore during the lecture and the center’s winter hours of 10 am to 4 pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The center will be closed for the month of April to prepare for summer visitors. Federal lands passes are also sold Monday-Friday from 8 am to 4:30 pm at the Juneau Ranger District office at 8510 Mendenhall Loop Road.
