Dr. Alex Lee and a friend embrace Alaska’s lingering twilight on Peak 3, the Anchorage backyard run.
Alaska skimo, Roger’s Pass touring, gear
It’s not every day we get a philosopher on Totally Deep (or at least an official one, though we may sometimes fancy our selves as such). Dr. Alex Lee is the real deal, professorial and all. He teaches philosophy and environmental studies at Alaska Pacific University. He’s also a long time voice on WildSnow and known skinny ski devotee.
Doug lured Alex onto the podcast with a can of Hamm’s beer and promise that at least 100 people would listen to it. Turns out, Alex could’ve hosted Doug on the podcast he was so prepared with pithy ski touring talk. An Alaska transplant, Alex dug into the touring scene around Anchorage and the budding skimo community. He was hours away from flying to Roger’s Pass and offered insights into how it’s a ski tourer’s dream locale. The guys also lamented the indefinite hiatus of the Father Dyer Postal Route ski race, a brain-child of Alex when he lived in Colorado. And of course, they talk gear, including Alex’s recently appointed board advisor position at Black Diamond.
Dr. Alex Lee visits “the Library” at Turnagain Pass on a -10 degree day, the warmest in an entire week.
For more of Alex’s thoughts on touring and gear including How to Avoid Walking Downhill in the Summertime, Dispatches from Alaska and spring and summer skiing in Colorado, check out his archive on WildSnow.
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Manasseh Franklin is a writer, editor and big fan of walking uphill. She has an MFA in creative nonfiction and environment and natural resources from the University of Wyoming and especially enjoys writing about glaciers. Find her other work in Alpinist, Adventure Journal, Rock and Ice, Aspen Sojourner, AFAR, Trail Runner and Western Confluence.
