Gates of the Arctic National Park (In-Person & Live-Streamed LAM Talk)

Join PEEC and the Los Alamos Mountaineers for the January Mountaineers meeting and presentation. There will be a mountaineers meeting at the beginning of the event (about 15 minutes), then we'll hear from Tanja Pietrass about her experiences backpacking in Gates of the Arctic National Park. You can view the presentation in-person at Los Alamos Nature Center or from home via Zoom (slides and audio only). Please register in advance. 

There are neither roads nor trails in Gates of the Arctic National Park, which is four times the size of Yellowstone and the least visited of all the national parks. Last year, five friends flew to Anaktuvuk Pass north of the Arctic Circle, an enclave within the park inhabited by Inland Eskimos, and hiked east towards the Dalton Highway. On the way, they braved soggy tundra, steep ravines, a hidden pass, grizzly bears lurking in the willows, a lone moose, an arctic fox, and fireweed salad. They developed the new, international rating scale for soggy tundra, ranging from 1 (almost firm - “I’m likin’ the lichen”) to 5 (full immersion). Just like the Yosemite Decimal System (YDS) proved insufficient, they had to expand the Soggy Tundra Scale (STS) to 7. After 10 days of wet feet, the group happily greeted their shuttle, taking them back south to Fairbanks. This backpack is the hardest, most remote and most amazing Tanja has ever done and will be very hard to top (she does have a plan though!). 

About the Presenter:

Tanja grew up in Bavaria and spent spring and fall vacations hiking in the alps with her parents, skiing in the winters. Her love for the outdoors has inspired her many adventures all over the world, including bike touring, climbing, high altitude mountaineering, whitewater canoeing, caving, cave diving, skiing, snowboarding, and her current favorite, backpacking.  

Admission: Free (please select an in-person or virtual ticket).