Sports

The State is looking into the legality of using money earmarked for building repairs to construct a new tennis complex in Anchorage. The multi-million-dollar grant was suspended after Mayor Dan Sullivan’s opponent in the lieutenant governor’s race called the decision into question.

From here on out, Alaskans might consider substituting the phrase “political football” with “political tennis.”

Debate has raged for months over whether lawmakers knew they were funding the construction of a new sports facility in Anchorage when they voted to give the city $37 million for “deferred and critical maintenance” to aging public buildings. Now, the state Division of Community and Regional Affairs is referring the grant to the Department of Law for review, and freezing the money until they get confirmation that it’s being used correctly.

The decision comes after Sen. Lesil McGuire, an Anchorage Republican, raised the issue with the governor on Monday after getting an opinion from the Legislature’s legal division that the grant was suspect.

“If we set a precedent that says ‘critical and deferred maintenance,’ and allow local communities to then use it for whatever they want, including building new facilities, which we know are going to require more money both in the building and the maintenance and other things, then we are not doing our jobs,” says McGuire.

According to the grant agreement, the state authorized funding for the Anchorage Museum, the Egan Center, the Sullivan Arena, and the Anchorage Center for the Performing Arts. The grant also funds upgrades to the Dempsey Anderson Complex, including the addition of a tennis facility. Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan has argued that language should allow the city to put $4.4 million of that grant toward the construction of a new standalone sports complex.

McGuire thinks it does not. She says the suspension should encourage more transparency in funding requests.

“It sends a signal statewide that when you ask for money that it’s going to be a rigorous process – that it’s got to be for what is clearly allocated,” says McGuire.

Members of the Democratic Minority believe suspending the grant is long overdue. Earlier this week, they tried repealing the tennis money by offering an amendment to the operating budget, but McGuire was the only member of the Majority to support the idea.

Sen. Bill Wielechowski, of Anchorage, also points out that Democrats asked for legal review of the appropriation back in December.

“When we put the legal opinion out, why wasn’t there any sort of action then? Why did it take four months for a Republican to put the legal opinion out and get some action?”

For his part, Sullivan stands by the use of the money for the new sports complex, and is disappointed that the suspension could stall work on all of the buildings included in the grant. He also believes that the group who originally lobbied for the grant did so in an appropriate way.

“The Alaska Tennis Association did everything they were supposed to do. They got community council support. They got support from organizations that would be users of the facility. They got a legislator to champion the grant,” says Sullivan. “So, they’re the ones that are being hurt by this, and that’s unfortunate.”

The tennis issue has also been a key divide between Sullivan and McGuire in their separate efforts to secure the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. Sullivan won’t say if he personally thinks this has anything to do with the campaign.

“Some people have said it’s pretty transparent, but I can’t read the hearts and minds of other folks,” says Sullivan. “So we’ll let others speculate about that.”

McGuire says she’s sensitive to how her status as a candidate and her status as a senator relate to the tennis question, but making sure state money is used appropriately is part of her responsibility.

“When you’re running against somebody, and they have a different position than you, that’s going to be something that people bring up,” says McGuire. “I’ve tried really hard this session to keep my Senate hat on and to keep the work of the Senate at the forefront, and this is the work of the Senate.”

The state is hoping to complete the legal review and resolve any questions surrounding the grant before the end of the legislative session this month.

Longtime Juneau resident Robert C. Janes, well-known for his love of skiing and the mountains, has died at the age of 92.

Always known as Bob, he passed away on March 21 at the Juneau Pioneers’ Home.

Janes came to Alaska in 1965 with the U.S. Forest Service, in what he thought would be another three-year stint with the agency. Instead, he chose to stay in Juneau and raise his family, all of whom still call the capital city their home.

His family writes in his obituary that Janes grew up on the beaches of California, but embraced the forests and snow of the mountains. When he came to Juneau, he worked to maintain  the 3rd Cabin rope tow and the snowcat  “Oola,” access to the Douglas Ski Bowl.  Janes was then deeply involved in the siting and planning of Eaglecrest, Juneau’s city-owned ski area.

He was a member and historian for the Juneau Ski Club, which supports and promotes ski racing. For decades he was a member of the Juneau Ski Patrol.

It’s only fitting, says son Bill Janes, that his father and another longtime ski patrol member Ron Dippold, who died in January, will be remembered by the Eaglecrest Ski Patrol on April 13, the last day of the season.

“They’re going to pull two empty sleds down, the symbolic last run.  It definitely has to recognize both of them, because they were such institutions with the Juneau Ski Patrol,” Bill Janes says.

He says the ceremonial run will be open to all skiers who want to remember Bob Janes and Ron Dippold.  It will begin at 3 p.m. at the top of Easy Bowl.

Bob Janes will be remembered in a celebration of life on April 20 at 5:30 p.m. at the Juneau Arts and Culture Center.

Updated March 18, 2014 | 11:45 a.m.

Aaron Karitis died late Monday, according to a statement posted online by his family.

Karitis was guiding a group of skiers with Haines heliskiing company Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures, or SEABA, on Saturday.

According to the statement, which was corroborated by SEABA, he had dug a snow pit to test snow conditions and sample stability,  and had determined conditions were safe. Then Karitis skied down a slope to set a track, while his clients waited on top.  An avalanche was triggered, carrying him about approximately 700 feet and burying him in several feet of snow.

Fellow guides found Karitis within 15 minutes thanks to the  locator beacon he was wearing. He was unresponsive and CPR was started. He was transported to the Haines clinic then flown to Providence Medical Center in Anchorage.

The statement from his family and medical team says Karitis’ core body temperature was critically low when he arrived at Providence. He had inhaled snow, compromising oxygen flow to his brain.

Karitis is originally from Bend, Oregon and has been active in heliskiing for more than a decade. His experience includes extensive avalanche education, according to SEABA and his family.

Updated March 17, 2014 | 6:00 a.m.

A heliskiing guide was critically injured in an avalanche near Haines over the weekend, the third avalanche in as many years to injure or kill extreme mountain skiers in the area.

Alaska State Troopers say thirty-one year old Aaron Karitis was evaluating snow conditions on a popular ski run west of Haines when the avalanche occurred about 11 a.m. Saturday. Karitis was carried about 800 feet and buried at least seven feet deep, according to trooper spokesperson Beth Ipsen.

Karitis was acting as a guide on a heliski tour with Haines company Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures, known as SEABA. Four clients were waiting on the top of slope and not caught in the avalanche. Other SEABA staff immediately began searching for Karitis and called in another helicopter and more guides to assist. Ipsen says Karitis was located within 20 minutes.

“If you’re going to survive an avalanche, it’s because the people you are with are going to find you in time,” Ipsen said.

Karitis was wearing a locator beacon that helped rescuers locate him quickly, Ipsen said.

“What you have is you have locator beacons on you and you have to turn it on. You have to turn it on so it receives a signal and that’s why it kind of like a metal detector where you’re trying to receive that signal the other beacon is sending out.”

Ipsen said Karitis was unresponsive when located and CPR was started. He was flown by a SEABA helicopter to the Haines Airport and transported by ambulance to the local clinic where CPR continued. He was stabilized and medevaced to Providence Medical Center in Anchorage where he was listed in critical condition on Sunday. There was no other information about his injuries.

SEABA owners did not want to speak about the incident but issued a statement Sunday saying normal response procedures were followed. The statement also says while avalanches are inherent risks of heliskiing, the company has offered its assistance and encouragement to the guide’s family.

Ipsen said a trooper visited the scene of the avalanche Saturday and interview SEABA staff and responders about the incident. Troopers also revised a previous press release that said Karitis had determined the area unsafe to ski. Ipsen said Sunday the guide wasn’t planning on moving his clients from the area. Instead, based on the conditions, he was showing them how to ski that slope. The clients hadn’t yet descended the slope when the avalanche broke loose and took Karitis down the mountain known to skiers as Tele 2.5 near the Kicking Horse Valley west of Haines.

Ipsen said the trooper investigation is complete because they found no sign of criminal intent or negligence.

According to the SEABA website, Karitis grew up in Bend, Oregon. He graduated from the University of Utah and has been working in the heliski industry for about a decade. He joined SEABA in 2013. Karitis has international guide and avalanche certifications, according to the website, and an excellent safety record.

Just over a year ago, another SEABA guide was killed in a cornice collapsed on a mountain near Haines. That incident also injured two skiers. And in 2012 a guide and client with another heliski company were killed in an avalanche, also outside Haines.

Original Post March 15, 2014 | 4:34 p.m.

Alaska State Troopers say an avalanche near Haines on Saturday morning  injured a helicopter ski guide.

Troopers say Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures guide Aaron Karitis was testing snow conditions about 11 a.m. He had just deemed it unsafe for clients when the avalanche struck.

Karitis was buried for about 30 minutes before he was located by his emergency beacon. Troopers say CPR was started and he was flown to Haines by a SEABA helicopter then transported to the clinic. He was flown to Providence Hospital in Anchorage. On Sunday afternoon, he was listed in critical condition.

According to the SEABA website, Karitis is 31 years old and grew up in Bend, Oregon. He graduated from the University of Utah and has been working in the heli-ski industry for about a decade.  He joined SEABA in 2013. Karitis has international guide and avalanche certifications, according to the website, and an excellent safety record.

The 2014 U.S. National Championships and SuperTour Finals for cross-country skiing are set to start in just over a week in Anchorage.

Originally, the races were slated to take place on the trails in Kincaid Park. But since snow has been hard to come by in Anchorage this winter, Race Director James Southam says Thursday officials decided to move the races to alternate locations.

“All the distance races are gonna be at the hillside ski trails; racing around the Spencer Loop and the Besh Loop,” Southam said. “And then the sprint race is gonna be held at the APU ski trails over by the Alaska Pacific University campus.”

Southam expects up to 150 skiers from around North America to participate. He says it’s a unique opportunity for Alaskans to see some of the best skiers in the nation competing in person.

“It’s gonna be the first time, and really the only time all season, that our World Cup athletes like Kikkan Randall, Holly Brooks, and Sadie Bjornsen will be competing in the U.S., much less Alaska,” Southam said.

Races start on Saturday, March 22 and run through Friday, March 28.

The Juneau School Board will not reconsider the ban on middle school sports travel, at least for the rest of the school year.

Floyd Dryden Middle School teacher Jeannette Sleppy is a member of the community task force created to come up with alternatives to the travel ban. Sleppy was one of several who spoke out in unanimous opposition of the ban during Tuesday night’s Board of Education meeting at Juneau-Douglas High School.

“Our superintendent was quoted recently stating, ‘Building trust comes down to doing what the community is asking you to do through the elected board and following through with that.’ I urge you, the board, to build trust with us, this community, and continue to allow our middle school athletes the opportunities that competitive travel offers and has offered the middle school students of this community for many years.”

The school board adopted the middle school sports travel ban last September. It takes effect in July.

Sleppy said the task force conducted an online survey and received 263 responses. Only 9 percent of those responses support the ban on middle school sports travel she said.

In its final report, the task force recommends permitting out-of-town travel under certain conditions. These include making travel available to all team members and limiting each team to only one trip per school year.

Tom Rutecki is a member of the school district’s Activities Advisory Committee. He says the group did not put forward a recommendation to the task force, “but we do agree that travel should be allowed for middle school activities and athletics.”

Rutecki says before any policy on travel is developed, the board needs to establish a philosophy on middle school sports. He says the Activities Advisory Committee has started working on one.

“We basically are trying to get away from a competitive philosophy of teams that win to a developmental approach. We want to recommend establishing grade level teams. Go away from the skill-based teams and divide them into teams where fundamental, social and physical skills are developed.”

Following public testimony in favor of permitting middle school travel and the presentation by the task force, school board President Sally Saddler asked the body if they wanted to reconsider the ban:

“Can I get a show of hands of board members who want to see this on the agenda next month?”

When no hands went up, the packed audience broke out in a murmur.

School board member Barbara Thurston said the task force’s recommendations didn’t bring the board any closer to resolving the issues and the board wasn’t ready to reconsider the ban.

“The conclusion I get from this is that the ideal situation at the middle schools is that it involve both an intramural and a competitive component. And we have one school that has a competitive program but not an intramural program, and one that has intramurals and not competitive. And if the proposal and the resources allowed for both at both schools, I think that’s where we could go, but it really sounds like we have to choose, that neither school can afford to do both,” Thurston said.

Juneau resident Jon Kurland led the task force. He said the school board’s reaction is disappointing.

“I feel bad for Juneau kids who are in elementary school or middle school who aren’t going to have those opportunities in the future,” Kurland said. 

While Kurland didn’t get the outcome he was hoping for, he says the group will likely not pursue the issue.

“I don’t think so. I think this committee has done its work,” he said. 

Saddler said the school board will not look into the middle school travel ban again this school year unless the Activities Advisory Committee comes forward with a philosophy.

This year’s Iditarod is not only record-breaking, it may have broken some mushers as well.

The 42nd annual race will not soon be forgotten.

There isn’t a veteran Iditarod musher who doesn’t agree this year’s was one of the toughest in the race’s 42 year history.  Aliy Zirkle is a 14-time finisher.  This year, she says the challenges between Anchorage and Nome were endless.

“Everyday has been harder than the next day, every day has been harder,” she said.

Early on, the Happy River Steps cracked sleds, snapped gang lines and left mushers bruised. The run through the Dalzell Gorge and over the Farewell Burn forced a dozen teams to scratch in a single day.  Teams faced long stretches of snow free trail in the Alaska Range, between Kaltag and Unalakleet and along the Bering Sea Coast.  But it was a fierce, Arctic wind that really shook Aily Zirkle on her final run to Nome.

“That was the most challenging couple of hours of my life dog mushing and that was very touch-and-go as far as whether I was going to make it to Safety or not with my dog team.”

Safety is the last checkpoint on the trail. The irony of its name isn’t lost on Zirkle. She says hurricane-force winds could have easily blown her petite sled dogs straight into the inky, roiling waters of the Bering Sea.

“For some reason they keep saying there’s no snow out here, but then there was a ground blizzard and you couldn’t see, so there’s snow somewhere,” Zirkle said. “If a person were to stop out there, that was a life or death thing there.”

At least two mushers did stop as the wind howled. Jeff King’s dog team got stuck for more than two hours just outside the last checkpoint on the trail. Hugh Neff’s team hunkered down overnight on thick glare ice outside White Mountain.  Eventually, both scratched from the race.

Mitch Seavey, who finished third and won last year, half-joked that he’d have to write a book about how he got his dog team down the trail.

“There’s a thousand things that happen, you know,” Seavey said. “One particular instance, we were trying to cross a sloping section of glare ice and the wind was blowing so hard from our right that one couldn’t stand up on a normal day, much less on glare ice and caught the sled dragged the entire team 100 yards backwards.”

Seavey’s son Dallas won this year, claiming a second championship.  It’s likely the two will return to defend what’s becoming something of a family tradition. But things are different for Martin Buser.  He’s run the race 31 times, more than any other musher.  His arrival in Nome was extremely emotional. After a tearful greeting with his lead dogs at the finish line, Buser hugged his wife Kathy for a long time.

“You never have to do this again if you don’t want to.”

Buser is disappointed in his performance as a musher. He says he doesn’t believe he did well by his dogs.

“I’ve been out of control for so long. I can’t balance, I can’t do anything. I can’t steer a sled, I keep wrecking and falling. I can’t do the dogs justice, that’s what’s so bad.”

Despite his long-lived mushing career, it’s unclear if Buser will come back to the race.

“I never say ‘never.’ You don’t get me to fall in that little trap,” he said. “I’m the only one that has never said ‘never,’ that way I don’t need to come back.”

The same question came up for another long-time veteran.  More than once, Sonny Lindner has commented about retiring from the sport, but this year, he says it’s official.

“Well I started in ’78,” Lindner said.

He’s finished the race 21 times.  He says this year’s run was reminiscent of them all.

“Well, it had little part of all of them,” Lindner said. “The bad parts, I think.”

With that, Lindner climbed on the back of his sled, called to his dogs and took off out of the finish chute for what very well be the last time in a career that spans nearly as many decades as the race itself.