1976

One of the many pleasures of life in Alaska is that you can't just leave whenever you might want to. If the weather doesn't cooperate, you're stuck and might as well make the best of it. I spent several days last month trying to get to and from Wyoming, only to be re-routed due to "weather-related delays." The result was that my stay in Wyoming was bracketed by overnight stays in Portland and Seattle.

These unexpected stopovers gave me a chance to get acquainted with the newest of the Northwest micro-brews and also to visit the two best bookstores in the country, Powell's in Portland and Elliott Bay in Seattle. Peter Stark's newest book, Driving to Greenland, was prominently displayed in both. Driving is a wonderful collection of Peter's travel and winter-sport essays, including his hairraising adventures learning to ski jump, luge, and "extreme ski" at our advanced age.

I finally made it to Wyoming and had the pleasure of telemarking for a day at Jackson Hole with Jim Draudt and his wife, AnnWitsil. Jim is an exceptionally agile telemarker, and Ann is an elegant skier. Jim and Ann live on Portland's northwest side and enjoy an active life that includes running, skiing, long bike trips and two lively daughters. Jim's law practice centers on real estate and development issues, always hot topics in Oregon.

As it happened, Jim had also read Peter Stark's essay on extreme skiing at Jackson Hole. On the way up to the top, we identified Courbet's Couloir, which Starkie went down in the company of one of Jackson's notorious ski junkies and described as one of the scariest places he had ever skied. Jim and I agreed that it didn't look that tough. We wanted to take a run, but, as luck would have it, the Couloir was closed that day. That giant red and orange sign about "death, disfigurement, and prosecution" at the top is probably just to impress the tourists.

Jim reports that Peter Cowan has had a baby, although he wasn't sure about the age, name, or size. In other baby news, Ed Waters and spouse Tracy have two daughters, Sarah 5 and Emma 9 months. Ed was just appointed as the chief financial officer for the Mt. Ascutney Hospital in Windsor, Vt., while Tracy teaches special education in Lyme, N.H.

The most memorable press clipping of the month was from the Grand Rapids Press, which reported that Dr. John Hagelin is now running the doctoral program on elementary particle physics at Maharishi International University in Fairfield, lowa. John conducted an experiment in Washington, D.C., last month "in which 4,000 people involved in transcendental meditation sent out good vibes in hopes of slowing down crime in the city." According to John, violent crime dropped 18 percent during the test period.

That's it for this month. Thanks to those who wrote and faxed! If you've got news for this column, send it to me in Alaska.

957 Gold Belt Ave., Juneau, AK 99801; tel. (907) 586-4000, fax (907) 586-3777

John Hagelin conducted an experiment "in which 4,000 people...sent out good vibes in hopes of slowing down crime in the city." DICK MONKMAN '76