The Tour of Anchorage is an all-ages point-to-point ski and fat-tire bike race and a harbinger of spring.
Cross-country skiing is an ideal sport as we age because it's low impact on our joints and has a lot of cardio benefits.
The Tour of Anchorage is a point-to-point ski and bike race that uses the city's urban trails.
My husband and daughter are avid cross-country skiers, but somehow my love of running never turned into a similar enthusiasm for snow sports.
But one spring I decided I would sign up for the 25-kilometer Tour of Anchorage ski race.
My sister-in-law, an adventurous young woman who pledged to do one thing outside her comfort zone every year-skydiving, stand-up comedy, trapeze artistry-had died a few months before. And maybe I was honoring her legacy by registering for an athletic event I had always looked upon with trepidation.
Sure enough, it took me several hours to do a race that would have taken talented skiers half the time. But I got it done and learned more about skiing and myself in the process.
I realized the race is a lot of fun. I was in the back of the pack with people who looked like they had never been on skis before. And, hey, I probably looked like that too. We went slowly, we fell a few times, we got back up, we bellyached about one particularly long hill near the end. And then we finished.
Matt Hebard, events manager for the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage, extolled the race, which starts at Service High School for the longer distances and goes west through the city. The 25-kilometer race starts at Alaska Pacific University and joins up with the other races.
"The Tour of Anchorage is one of the few point-to-point cross-country ski marathons in North America and may be the only one that crosses through an urban environment," Hebard said in an email. "The Tour is a celebration of the nordic skiing community of Alaska and beyond that provides a unique point-to-point experience across an urban environment. It celebrates the amazing trails we have in Anchorage, encourages healthy and active lives."
In fact, you don't often hear of cross-country skiers having to give it up. In the 2024 race, which was the most recent to use the point-to-point format, 11 men 70 or older completed the 25-kilometer classic ski race, including an 88-year-old. One of the men finished in an impressive two hours and nine minutes. Seven women 70 and older finished that race. The fastest completed it in three hours and five minutes.
It's a low-impact sport with high cardio benefits, perfect for any age.
The Tour of Anchorage is coming up March 8. You can ski or ride a fat-tire bike for 25-, 40- or 50-kilometer lengths. I recommend you feel confident on skis if you are taking on the longer races.
