WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE !

In January TotalAdventure returned to Fairbanks,Alaska, North America’s Northernmost and Westernmost City ,less than 100 miles below the Arctic Circle and just under 700 miles from Russia.

Martin Zuver , Total Adventure Marketing for Alaska ,Canada and until recently the Russian Far East, lives in Fairbanks year round. Russian Far East destinations are on hold till further notice.

When TotalAdventure last visited in June there was 24 hours of daylight. In mid January the sun rises at 10:30 and sets at 3:20. This picture was taken at 9:45 AM. The day is already an hour longer than the solstice 3 weeks earlier.

Sunset 3:20 PM.

The temperature was -31 F, -35 C when departing for the Lower 48. A few days later it was – 50 F, -45 C. While cold, that was nowhere near the record of -66 F.

Icy – an 8 month old Alaskan Husky – is right at home in the powdery snow. Sled dogs prefer a snow bed and rarely use their dog houses.

Downtown Fairbanks. Population 32,700.

Barbequeing Excellent Alaskan Beef In -20 temperature. Fire has to be very hot.

Mid Day sun on the horizon.

Fairbanks is closer to Oslo than New York – it’s a 6 hour hop over the North Pole.

Spicy the Hemingway Cat. He spends the winter indoors.

Oddly – my eye did not catch the Aurora,but the camera did !

Other Natural phenomena _ A 5.3 Quake occurred just as I was finishing up a video conference in my 7th floor hotel room at 12:34 PM Alaska time. The huge cement building swayed from side to side. A cup fell off a sink, luckily plastic. When I walked to the window to look out ,the floor felt like bouncy foam. There was no damage in the city, but it was the biggest in the interior in about 20 years. Coastal and island Alaska is the northern rim of the Ring of Fire and has some of the world’s largest earthquakes and tsunamis. A 9.2 on Easter Sunday 1964 in Anchorage destroyed the city and killed hundreds. 100 foot tsunamis washed way entire villages and fishing docks.

-24 And Sunny.

The weather necessitates engine block heaters – cars are plugged in when parked for more than a couple hours.

20,000 ft. Mt.McKinley ( Denali) 12 miles to the south.

Swimming In -8 air. Water is 106 – the Cheena Hot Springs.SEE THE VIDEO ABOVE AT TOP OF PAGE !

A Cozy Night At Thirty Below.