Skolai Images

Hey Folks,

The last 10 days have been pretty busy, as I’ve been doing the Wilderness First Responder course (note to self: don’t let your certifications lapse in the future). One of the primary goals of the course is to teach participants basic life support in backcountry and wilderness settings. Here my friend Lisa is holding her patient’s head stable to protect the patient (Jason) from spine injury. Both hands on the head, holding it still and steady, are critical. You can see in this simulation Lisa, with help from her other rescuer, has the patient warm and dry in a sleeping bag, on a foam pad to help insulate him. Jason was found lying in the pool you can see near his feet. Lisa and Taylor did a safety drag, where the spine is immobilized and Jason was dragged out of the water, on to the pad, they cut his wet clothes off, rolled him onto his side, placed a sleeping bag under him, rolled him back down and zipped up the bag. In no time at all, he was dry and warm. That’s a HUGE deal, as any treatment in this situation is going to (in all probability) be a minimum of several hours, and hypothermia will most likely set in. Hypothermia can affect people even when the ambient temperature is 65˚F (18.3˚ C) - so for someone with a possible major injury, lying flat on the ground for a short period of time even in mild weather can easily induce hypothermia. Get the patient dry, off the ground, and in a bag.

Cheers

Carl

hey Folks,

Here’s another from the start of the Iditarod in Anchorage, March 1, 2008. It doesn’t seem like that long ago, and here the month has flown by. I wanted to get a shot or 2 of some interaction between the dogs and heir handlers, but they were typically not in decent light. Finally got a few that I was happy with. This one, the handler knelt down to check the dog’s booties, and he got a face full of tongue for his trouble. Seconds later the starter said “Go”, and the dogs were gone!

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

A recent thread on global warming and other environmental issues posed the question: “Are we having fun yet?” What a fantastic question to ask of ourselves in the year 2008. This question hit me square between the eyes; that’s really the issue here, isn’t it, I thought. That’s exactly what’s going on. Recent years have given more people more access to more goods and services, more art, more sport, more information, even to more other people, than ever before. With the internet we have access to the entire world at our fingertips. I can learn about almost anything in a matter of minutes. I can order plated Patagonian Alpaca Wool rugs in a few seconds, with the click of a mouse. I can order Goat’s Milk chocolate from Israel in the time it takes me to write this sentence. Figuratively, we have everything, literally we have more than anyone has ever had before. We live, in every sense of the word, in a time of abundance. And yet we seem bent on ‘more’. Why aren’t we happy yet, I wondered. (note: before you read on, this gets kinda long) (more…)

Hey Folks,

Well, just as I was winding down and about to go to bed, the news comes in. Lance Mackey wins the 2008 Iditarod. What an amazing achievement! He won the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod last year, and repeated both wins this year. 1100 miles down the frozen Yukon River, and virtually the same set of dogs wins the 1000 mile Iditarod. They said nobody could ever win both. He won both in 2007 and just won’ em again. Congrats Lance.

Jeff King, 4-time winner, is about an hour behind, and looks set to take 2nd place.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

Another, possibly the last for now, from the Iditarod last weekend. The dogs can’t wait to get started, I swear its as if they count down with the starter, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and they leap into the traces. It’s amazing to me to think that the leaders are over halfway to Nome already. A few years back I was fortunate enough to spend some more time with the race, a few days out on the trail, which was a blast. Maybe one year I’ll get out to Nome for the finish. Until then, I’ll suffice with the excitement of the start of the Iditarod in Anchorage.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

I know, I know, another photo from 4th street, downtown Anchorage. This was one of the later dog teams of the morning, towards the end of the teams, and they seemed mighty keen to make up for the late start. Right now they’re making their way across the frozen tundra of the Alaskan wilderness, and I bet they’re not quite pushing it as hard as they are here.

Anyway, rather than go on about the race, I want to get back to a subject I briefly mentioned the other day. Customer Service. Whilst a good rant about some lame-a** company who fails at every turn to offer reasonable support is good for the soul, it’s probably more important to throw a word out for those companies we do enjoy doing business with. For me, there are a few, and I’ll try to give a shout out to each as time goes by, but the first one I would like to mention is My Photo Pipe. The good people at this Atlanta, Georgia, store, formerly called Color Genesis, offer the best service around for prints and printing. (more…)

Hey Folks,

Here’s another photo from the Iditarod start in Anchorage on the weekend. You can see this leg is all in good fun by the costume. There’s no way that frog could make it all the way to Nome this time of year. About the same chance as my van making it to McCarthy and back.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks

Another image from yesterday’s start of the 2008 Iditarod sled dog race. With over 1000 miles ahead of them, these pups seem to be starting out pretty hard, to me.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

Run little doggie, run!!!

This morning I went downtown here in Anchorage and watched a little of the start of the Iditarod. The sled dog race, known as mushing, runs from Anchorage to nome - well, pretty much. they actually do the “proper” start tomorrow, Sunday, in Wasilla, just north of Anchorage. They race all the way to Nome, over 1000 miles away. Crazy, I say.

It’s a treat to watch the dogs take-off — they’re so super-woundup, eager to run, the energy level is amazing. The din is pretty amazing down on 4th street too, with hundreds of dogs barking, howling, whining and generally causing mayhem. but once they hear “mush”, they’re all business, and off they go. Shooting photos of them as they race down main street is tons of fun.

Cheers

Carl