A Shout Out to Tim Kelley-Alaska's Endurance Legend.

Tim and I were at Dartmouth together. Tim was on the US Nordic Ski Team.  I ran cross country and track. Together we ran the rough and rocky trails of the White Mountains of NH in the summer when few if any did anything other than hike in heavy boots. Tim convinced me to leave behind the dusty lungs of indoor track at Leverone Field House to try nordic ski racing.

While a Vermonter, Tim has been in Alaska since 1981 and he is never standing still. His passion: non technical first ascents of peaks in Alaska on the run and epic skis: 60, 100, or more miles on performance race gear.  His website Alaska Performance Backcountry Skiing  chronicles his  trips in fascinating historical and natural detail and with wonderful photographs.  Extreme efforts but also fresh fun and exploration.

A quote about Tim from "Passion for Skiing", a history of Dartmouth Skiing:

Tim Kelley '79 is an extreme skier of another sort. He explores Alaska on cross-country racing skis, often for long stretches in remote corners of the state. In 1990, Tim and a friend, Bob Baker of Fairbanks, skied all 1,149 miles of the famous Iditarod dog sled trail in 23 days in a race against two bikers – and won; this was the first recorded human-powered race of the full length of the Iditarod Trail. In 1993, he became first to cross-country ski the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest trail from Whitehorse to Fairbanks, a 20-day outing.

After having climbed Denali in 1984, he developed a passion for climbing more of Alaska's still-unclimbed peaks, and in 2008 he was awarded the Mountaineering Club of Alaska's Vin Hoeman award for achieving a record 91 documented first ascents, the most by any climber to date. Tim maintains his Alaskan ski blog to share his expertise and passion for Alaskan ski exploration on lightweight cross-country skis.

Keep Striding and Exploring Tim!