First published in the Anchorage Press. [divider] On Sunday, January 18th, Alaska Pacific University student, Dasan Marshall fell to his death on the North Face of Mount Yukla. Marshall was scouting a section of a route in a couloir when he slipped and fell 1,000 feet down the face. An avid climber and explorer from Portland, Oregon, Dasan Marshall had been living in Alaska since 2012. Marshall had been attending his last semester at Alaska Pacific University (APU) to complete his Bachelor’s degree in Outdoor Studies and working on his senior project that involved starting an alpine club for the student community at APU. The following tribute to Dasan was…

by Thomas O’Harra So, on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week (the 3rd and 4th, respectively), I had my first two races of the championships. Tuesday’s race was a classic sprint, and Wednesday’s race was a 10K skate individual start. For those who don’t know, a sprint race is rather confusing to someone who hasn’t seen it in action before. The day starts out with an individual start time trial around the course, with racers going every 15 seconds. Then, the people who post the top 30 times advance on to heats. This starts out with the quarterfinals, which are five heats of six people. The two fastest skiers from…

by Thomas O’Harra So, it seems that I’ve found myself in Almaty, Kazakhstan. I’m writing this from more than halfway across the globe, sitting in a hotel room that is literally held together with packing tape. I first heard about this place when I attended the Junior World Ski Championships last winter in Italy. After some disappointing results there, I turned my attention to Almaty. Knowing that it was there—and that I definitely had a good chance at making the team—motivated me during training over the summer and fall. In retrospect, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Almaty is a city of 1.6 million people (I…

by Evan Nasse Most people, in general, do not often measure themselves in terms of success. I have found that often times those that I know and those around me measure themselves in terms relative to the success of others, particularly their closest peers and those whom are already successful in fields they strive for or admire. When I finally began realizing my talent with words and writing, I constantly found myself researching the backgrounds of published authors and produced screenwriters, a habit I still occasionally find myself doing as I get lost in a wikipedean spiral of fascination and selfdoubt. This is entirely the wrong approach, and I will…

by Gus Barber To live is a verb. It is an action, a movement, something that happens. Yet it seems that there are not many people actively living. This is a strange concept, as we all breathe and continue to exist, but I mean living in a sense that many people do not seem to embrace. Our collective society has moved into a mindset that is constantly preoccupied with what has happened or is going to happen. We must go to school to get a job to support our families–this is the central dogma of suburbia. And in our free time between when we work to get somewhere, we are…

by Brock Fitzgerald Bill Nye the Science Guy once said, “The flying disc is a wonderful thing.” Although mostly known for his bowties and children’s science series, Nye was also heavily involved as an Ultimate Frisbee player in the 1970s. Not only did he play on Cornell’s competitive team during his years there, he would then go on to be a founder and captain of the Seattle Olympic Windjammers, the very first men’s team in Seattle. What is it about this game that interests so many? Perhaps it is the honor of the game in its unassuming nature, or possibly the way the game is organized. No matter what is…

by Ashley R. Escarate Gut flora is the ecosystem made up of friendly bacteria inside your tummy. These bacteria are essential to overall wellbeing (and weight loss) and everyone has them although some people may have more or less than others.  Gut Flora will help with a stronger immune system, fighting food allergies, fighting disease, helping digestion, extracting nutrients…. the list goes on. Basically you really really need to keep your gut flora healthy because a happy gut is a happy body. Gut flora can and should be nurtured because by ingesting certain things, you can kill it (ie. Antibiotics, foods with strange chemicals in them, laxatives, heavy metals which can be found in food,…

by Nick Jenkins Abstract: As another winter approaches with growing uncertainty, outdoor professionals across the globe are scrambling to prepare for what is sure to be another surprising season. As climate change intensifies our winters will become more extreme and unpredictable which will lead to many negative social and environmental impacts. As our snow disappears and our winters become shorter there is irreversible damage that is being done to local economies and environments. This paper attempts to examine those impacts and explore what specifically is happening to our winter environment.   Experts studying our changing winters have observed that it is caused by climate change (Green & Monger, 2012; Calanca…

by Garrett Okonek Think of Schrödinger’s cat, a thought experiment in which a cat is left inside a box with a vial of poison. The vial may break and kill the cat. Or it might not. While the lid is closed, there is no way of knowing whether the vial broke. The cat can be thought both alive and dead. Either option is possible. Unless you open the box, you can’t really tell. This is Mexico today. Everything could be happening. Or nothing. The country is in the midst of a crisis that, up until a few months ago, seemed unlikely. The government was passing structural and constitutional reforms in…

by Bridget Galvin There are few things in this world that I truly hate, as hate is a very strong word. I remember, growing up, whenever I would get frustrated with one of my three very loud, very annoying brothers it would inevitably end in a screaming match. Each screaming match would follow the same basic script and conclude with the three words that were commonly tossed around in the early days of the Galvin household: “I hate you!” This term, to my mother, was the most awful expression in the English language. Of course, she would never get angry with her little angels; so, instead of yelling, she would…