The mistakes you make shape who you are.

Rinker Buck

I’m currently on a plane, either heading east or south of where I am right now. I’m on my way to Denver for another train ride. This time, we are taking the Amtrak “California Zephyr” to San Francisco. Apparently, it’s one of the most scenic Amtrak trains. I’m not sure how it can compete with the California coast, but is it really a competition?

So far, the plane ride has been incredible. I left in the dark, but the horizon soon showed itself, and the Wrangell mountains appeared – Sanford, Wrangell, Drum, Blackburn, St. Elias, Logan,and Fairweather. Now, I’m flying along the clouded-over southeast Alaska coast.

Wow, what a winter we’ve had! I decided to stay home and enjoy the Alaskan winter instead of going out and about. Jeanne went to visit a friend in Hawaii in January. Both Jeanne and I got a bit of the Decembers. Jeanne finally got some much-needed sunshine. I stayed behind to experience the worst winter on record. In January, we had some warm-up temperatures above freezing for weeks, two major wind storms, with winds reaching up to 90 kph (55 mph) at our house, and the ski jumps recorded speeds of 145 kph (90 mph). And guess what? We got 7 cm (2 3/4”) of rain in just 23 hours! Trees were crashing down, and the power went out! Going outside was a lesson in humility – don’t do it! We lost a few shingles, and our neighbor’s power line was broken by one of our trees, taking 6 days to repair.

For the third time in a row, Zak and I lost the little bit of snow we had made for the ski jumps. Thankfully, the temperatures dropped below freezing for a couple of days, and we were able to make enough snow and move it around with the snow cat, which saved February and even March. There were lines of snow amidst the brown sides.

Now, in mid-March, Anchorage finally got its first snowfall since the beginning of December. New Orleans, Louisiana, received twice as much snow as Anchorage this year since the beginning of December. Crazy, right? As my friend Geoff says, this is the 51st unusual year in a row.

But skiers will find a way. I volunteered for the senior national cross-country ski races in January. Again, there were ribbons of snow, but they did it! It was a lot of fun sitting outside all day watching the best USA skiers go by, making sure they were following the rules and doing everything correctly. In the end of February, I finally went “outside” to Park City, Utah, to judge the junior national ski jumping championships. It was my first time as an official on the national stage, and it was a bit stressful, but I think I did okay. It was also fun to meet people from all over the country.