Alaska Man Monday - Winter Carnivals, Outhouse Races, Bear Pelts and Decorating Moose

This week we’re supposed to return to a more normal Alaska winter. The only thing about that is that we’re all up here waiting for the next shoe to drop, wondering if we will yet get snow measured in feet before the spring thaw comes. But in the meantime, unseasonably warm, wet weather or not, it’s Winter Carnival time. This is one of the most Alaska things ever: The Winter Carnival Outhouse Race, which will be held this year on Sunday, February 2^nd.

Get your outhouse ready for the 63rd State Winter Carnival Outhouse race in Willow Sunday, February 2 at 1 pm!

For the full Carnival schedule, click here:

The Winter Carnival is kind of a big deal here. We’re used to winter weather, and now, in the next few days, it looks like our normal winter weather will be back just in time. And racing outhouses, yes, is a big thing. I mean, it’s not quite like launching cars off a cliff, but it’s still fun, and a local tradition – and you don’t mess with tradition.

Alaska Man score: 5 moose nuggets, because who doesn’t love racing outhouses? As long as they aren’t in use for their intended purpose at the time, that is.

Now then, our new Congressman (we only have one), Nick Begich III, has decorated his Congressional office with a very Alaskan display.

Alaska Congressman Nick Begich III took a break last year from campaigning for Congress to hunt for Kodiak brown bear on Kodiak Island. He had just finished attending the Alaska Republican convention, where he had a tremendous reception from delegates. And then he had a successful hunt. It was a good month.
Now, as the congressman for Alaska, his office in Washington, D.C. needed some decor to remind him of home. The brown bear hide has taken its place on the wall of his office in the Cannon Office Building.

This is another Alaska thing, although my plans for a big brown or grizzly hide would be wearing it rather than displaying it. Seems like it would be warm in the winter, and talk about looking bad*ss.

Alaska man score: 5 moose nuggets, plus a bonus nugget for ticking off the animal rights nuts.

Finally, only in Alaska do we decorate moose for the holidays.

A moose with Christmas lights wrapped around its neck was spotted in a neighborhood near Kincaid Park on Tuesday, raising concern for one Anchorage resident.
“He had Christmas lights just wrapped entirely around tightly around his neck,” Leigh Boone, an Anchorage resident who reported the moose, said.
Boone told Alaska’s News Source she reached out to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) right away seeking help after noticing the moose was in distress.

Things worked out OK:

Luckily for the Moose entangled in string lights, Boone was home. She tells Alaska’s News Source that she was able to call ADF&G, who gave her guidance over the phone.

“The first thing they did was tell me, you know, stay safe and I always do,” Boone said. “I stayed in my car and stayed on the phone with them and they wanted me to describe, you know, what had happened and what I saw.”
Boone noted that before the department was able to arrive, the moose freed himself from the Christmas lights. Stantorf said calling them was the right thing to do.

It’s good that the moose got untangled and got away; and, yeah, folks, redneck traditions aside, this is a good reason to take down your holiday decorations in a timely manner.

Alaska man score: 3.5 of 5 moose nuggets. Good that the moose got away, but c’mon, man, take down your Christmas lights already. Clearly, the local moose are confused by them.

Finally, have a look at all this ice!