For the fourth year in a row, a group of honors students trekked to Denali on February 20 for a weekend of playing in the snow at the community’s annual Winterfest celebration. Over the weekend, students volunteered with the Denali Education Center and enjoyed lectures, outdoor activities, a tour of the Usibelli Coal Mine, and lots of free food.

A small group caught the kick-off lecture at the McKinley Community Center on Friday night, given by polar explorer Troy Henkels. Henkels presented photos (taken by fellow travel traveler Laurent Dick) and video from the Antarctic expedition he undertook with six other guys in December 2007 to February 2008. After nervously questioning Henkels about how they too could become explorers, that group met up with the others at the Denali Education Center’s Sheldon Center for a late spaghetti dinner, and posh sleeping conditions. (Every student had a boxspring and mattress to sleep on.)

Saturday morning, students helped with shoveling snow around the Education Center’s campus, and then drove to the park for a day of fun. Students (and two parents) had a wide-variety of activities to choose from, and sampled a little of everything between them.

In 2008, three students wandered into the snow sculpting competition after their peers had drifted to other activities, and wound up winning Most Creative for their effort. This year, seven were eager to participate. Before any other adults had entered the competition, the group staked out a medium-sized block of snow and began plotting their masterpiece. The sculptors worked all morning and produced a low realism snow serpent that incorporated a variety of species and a tunnel through the coils. When they returned from their afternoon activities, they had won Most Creative for the second year in a row, and another bag of swag – and decided they’d be back to defend their title in 2010.

Those who opted not to help with the sculpture headed up Mt. Healy in the morning or stayed at the Murie Science and Learning Center to listen to some of the lectures offered, including an avalanche training and a session on using GPS units.

In the afternoon, one group headed to the Usibelli Coal Mine where they were taken on a driving tour of the facilities, and heard a little about the process by which coal travels from the hills of Healy to the cogeneration plant on campus. Meanwhile, others chose more active pursuits – skijouring along the park road or racing up Mt. Healy to join the snowshoers.

At the end of the day, snow sculptors and hikers alike visited with a world-champion ice carver, and a few students gave the art a go. Everyone feasted on chili and cornbread at Healy’s Tri-Valley Community Center, and then climbed into the van to quiz one another on world geography as they drove home.