Curry ski train planned for Oosik weekend

The annual ski train to Curry is back this next spring.  Last year, the event took a hiatus when the Alaska Railroad cancelled all of its winter charters, which included the ski train.  The Anchorage Nordic Ski Association has held the event almost every year since 1972.  The original train went to Grandview.  The Alaska Railroad no longer allows the ski train to Grandview due to avalanche danger and other concerns. In 2003, the train started going to Curry, just north of Talkeetna.

The event this year is on March 20^th, the same weekend as the Oosik Ski Race in Talkeetna.  Diane Moxness, with the Anchorage Nordic Ski Association says it’s a shame that there will be a conflict, but there isn’t any weekend in the winter where there isn’t a conflict.  She says the group wanted to avoid spring break when many people are gone and also not have the event too late in the spring.

Last year’s Oosik coordinator, Bill Barstow, says planning for the Oosik isn’t underway yet and he was surprised that the ski association would plan an event to conflict with the Oosik, which is an event they promote on their own association website.

The train on March 20th starts in Anchorage and will stop in Wasilla.  The train will not stop in Talkeetna on its way to Curry.  Moxness said they tried the Talkeetna stop at one point in the past, but not enough individuals boarded the train here to make it feasible, both financially and time-wise.

Tickets for the ski train go on sale on October 1^st for members and  after the ski associations’ annual meeting in November for non-members. There are 670 seats available .