Alaska Outdoors

Eaglecrest Ski Area is seeking to purchase a gondola system from an Austrian ski area to expand their summer operations. (Screenshot)

Eaglecrest seeks $2M to acquire new gondola for ski area

It would allow Eaglecrest to drastically expand summer operations and tourism opportunities, the GM said.

Eaglecrest Ski Area is seeking to purchase a gondola system from an Austrian ski area to expand their summer operations. (Screenshot)
(Courtesy Photo / K.M.Hocker)

On the Trails: Twisted pines and many questions

The twists and turns of a curious mind.

(Courtesy Photo / K.M.Hocker)
This photo shows a long-tailed duck. Lucky birders around Auke Bay might spot these birds during the upcoming Great Backyard Bird Count. Nine were counted on Juneau’s Christmas Bird Count. (Courtesy Photo / Gwen Baluss)

Audubon Society invites you to participate in Great Backyard Bird Count

The Great Backyard Bird Count is fast approaching, Juneau Audubon Society announced.

This photo shows a long-tailed duck. Lucky birders around Auke Bay might spot these birds during the upcoming Great Backyard Bird Count. Nine were counted on Juneau’s Christmas Bird Count. (Courtesy Photo / Gwen Baluss)
John Gaedeke’s lodge overlooks Iniakuk Lake in the Brooks Range, where his permafrost-stabilized beers and sodas do not freeze. (Courtesy Photo / John Gaedeke)

Alaska Science Forum: Ninety below zero and the unfrozen beer

“How the heck is that possible?”

John Gaedeke’s lodge overlooks Iniakuk Lake in the Brooks Range, where his permafrost-stabilized beers and sodas do not freeze. (Courtesy Photo / John Gaedeke)
Charmaine Robinson is an assistant professor of science at the University of Alaska Southeast and lives in Ketchikan. (Courtesy Photo)

Sustainable Alaska: Cultivating a sustainable mind

We need to cultivate a sense of calm by reducing stress and fear in our lives.

Charmaine Robinson is an assistant professor of science at the University of Alaska Southeast and lives in Ketchikan. (Courtesy Photo)
An American coot spent time in Auke Bay this winter, farther north than usual. (Courtesy Photo / Kerry Howard)

On the Trails: Three winter surprises

Regular bird-watchers spotted an unusual bird in Auke Bay this winter…

An American coot spent time in Auke Bay this winter, farther north than usual. (Courtesy Photo / Kerry Howard)
Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire 
Ketchikan resident Larry Jackson trolls near town in his charter boat Alaskan.

I Went to the Woods: Why teachers should read more books about entrepreneurship

It’s no surprise that I have students who want a career outside.

Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire 
Ketchikan resident Larry Jackson trolls near town in his charter boat Alaskan.
A bull caribou from the Fortymile herd as seen from a camera around the neck of a female caribou. Still image from a nine-second video the collar captured during a study of the herd using cameras that dropped to the ground in autumn. I(Courtesy Image /Libby Ehlers)
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Alaska Science Forum: Secret lives of caribou caught on camera

Cams gave biologists who teamed up from several agencies a new look at the Fortymile herd.

A bull caribou from the Fortymile herd as seen from a camera around the neck of a female caribou. Still image from a nine-second video the collar captured during a study of the herd using cameras that dropped to the ground in autumn. I(Courtesy Image /Libby Ehlers)
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This photo available under a Creative Commons license shows a hooded pitohui (Pitohui dichrous) YUS Conservation area on the Huon Peninsula, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. (Courtesy Photo / Wikimedia)

On the Trails: Toxic birds and bugs

These chemical compounds are often derived from plants

This photo available under a Creative Commons license shows a hooded pitohui (Pitohui dichrous) YUS Conservation area on the Huon Peninsula, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. (Courtesy Photo / Wikimedia)
At a permafrost monitoring site northwest of Barrow years ago were researchers Max Brewer, Jerry Brown and Vladimir Romanovsky. (Courtesy Photo / Kenji Yoshikawa)

Alaska Science Forum: 30 years on semi-solid ground

People no longer squint at him with a puzzled look when he mentions what he studies.

At a permafrost monitoring site northwest of Barrow years ago were researchers Max Brewer, Jerry Brown and Vladimir Romanovsky. (Courtesy Photo / Kenji Yoshikawa)
Killdeer chicks have just one black breast band at first, but soon get the characteristic two bands.(Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)
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On the Tails: Shorebirds in winter

Sightings are no “shore” thing.

Killdeer chicks have just one black breast band at first, but soon get the characteristic two bands.(Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)
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Alaska Science Forum: Fun with ice physics in the cryosphere

Here’s why some found recent winter weather fascinating.

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Wayne Carnes prepares to begin his volunteer grooming run at Pioneer Road on Jan. 18. Carnes is a volunteer with the Juneau Nordic Ski Club. (Dana Zigmund/Juneau Empire)

Volunteers make winter cool for local skiers

Juneau Nordic Ski Club offers fun and learning

Wayne Carnes prepares to begin his volunteer grooming run at Pioneer Road on Jan. 18. Carnes is a volunteer with the Juneau Nordic Ski Club. (Dana Zigmund/Juneau Empire)
The author bought his bike in Wyoming this summer. It didn't come with fenders because Wyoming doesn't have water. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

I Went to the Woods: Fending off the cold

While biking, cool air turns cold, and cold air turns bitter.

The author bought his bike in Wyoming this summer. It didn't come with fenders because Wyoming doesn't have water. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)
A gull looks for dislodged food in the surf. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)
A gull looks for dislodged food in the surf. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)
This photo shows a glacier bear walking along rocky terrain. There are four known populations of black bears in Southeast Alaska that include the lighter-colored bears, said Tania Lewis, a wildlife biologist for the National Park Service at Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. (Courtesy Photo / Tom Hausler)
This photo shows a glacier bear walking along rocky terrain. There are four known populations of black bears in Southeast Alaska that include the lighter-colored bears, said Tania Lewis, a wildlife biologist for the National Park Service at Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. (Courtesy Photo / Tom Hausler)
Ned Rozell holds a shard of ice crust, one-inch thick, that lurks in the middle of the Fairbanks snowpack. (Courtesy Photo / Kristen Rozell)

Midwinter rain-on-snow a game changer

A few hours of a December day may affect living things for years to come in the middle of Alaska.

Ned Rozell holds a shard of ice crust, one-inch thick, that lurks in the middle of the Fairbanks snowpack. (Courtesy Photo / Kristen Rozell)
A king salmon on a line in Southeast Alaska gets pulled toward the net. The 2020 SeaBank report calls industrial logging and climate change “double jeopardy for salmon.” 
(Courtesy Photo / Bjorn Dihle)

SalmonState: ‘Alaska’s untold secret’ — The dividends paid by Southeast Alaska’s ‘Seabank’

By Mary Catharine Martin Wild salmon. Clean water. Clean air. Carbon storage. Climate change mitigation. Tourism, commercial fisheries — and billions of dollars in economic… Continue reading

A king salmon on a line in Southeast Alaska gets pulled toward the net. The 2020 SeaBank report calls industrial logging and climate change “double jeopardy for salmon.” 
(Courtesy Photo / Bjorn Dihle)
The Valley of 10,000 Smokes buried in ash a century after the Novarupta eruption. (Courtesy Photo / Chris Miller)
The Valley of 10,000 Smokes buried in ash a century after the Novarupta eruption. (Courtesy Photo / Chris Miller)
This photo shows a ptarmigan in snow. (Courtesy Photo / Denise Carroll)

On the Trails: Strolling on the snow

Snow, and more snow!

This photo shows a ptarmigan in snow. (Courtesy Photo / Denise Carroll)