The Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion and enjoyme
101 Wilderness Drive
Fairbanks, AK
99712
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Send a message to Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks:
The Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks has been in existence for more than 50 years. Initially much of the club’s activity, and most of the cross country skiing in Fairbanks, took place in the area surrounding the University, where Ivar Skarland developed a trail system that now wends its way through several subdivisions and neighborhoods north of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) campus.
Since the mid-1970s the focus of much of the club’s efforts has been Birch Hill. The Birch Hill trails were originally created by the late Jim Whisenhant and the Lathrop High School Ski Team (of which Jim was the coach). These trails were the site of the 1977 USSA Junior National Championships, the first major national event held in Fairbanks.
With funding from the Fairbanks North Star Borough, there was a major upgrade to the facility in preparation for the 1982 Arctic Winter Games, during which time the trail system underwent a major reconfiguration. Floyd Reishus, former Eielson HS Ski Coach and former UAF Assistant Ski Coach, is the person who designed and laid out the new trail system.
In 1984, the US Ski Association awarded NSCF the Paul Bacon Award, emblematic of excellence in race organization, to recognize our efforts in organizing a highly successful FIS World Cup event on only two weeks notice. The switch in venues from Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, was necessitated by a lack of snow there.
