** Old Blog - Chatanika Days from a couple months ago **

Back in March I had been hearing things around town about the interesting celebration in Chatanika, a "town" if you can call it that... haha... about an hour's drive north of Fairbanks. The celebration I'm talking about is "Outhouse Races"... now the name right there peaked my interest and I knew I had to check it out. So as the weekend quickly approached I talked with a few grad students in the department, and Ashley was game to join me on this crazy adventure in Chatanika. First of all when you pulled in there was a mini parking lot for snowmachines... yes snowmachines... not snowmobiles... you've got to use the proper terminology when you're up here or you'll be considered one of those "crazy lower 48'ers..... haha. And yes "lower 48" is another term you'll hear used quite freqently up heree.

Back to the races now... they're held at the Chatanika Lodge which is basically just a cafe with about 10 small guest bedrooms attached to a wing of the building that sits just off of the main freeway to the north slope of Alaska. The inside walls are covered with old antiques you'd find in your grandma's house, and the bar area has dollar bills with signatures and messages stappled to the ceiling. The walls are also filled with countless wall mounts of bear, moose, deer, caribou aka reindeer and more. It's the perfect "Alaskan Lodge"

The video and article below show a lot of the fun that was had during the day in Chatanika... human bowling, the bucksaw contest, snowmachine tug-o-war, and of course outhouse racing. I'm hoping to get the grad students together to build and enter our own outhouse in the race next spring. Enjoy!!



FAIRBANKS — In Alaska, nothing is off limits when looking for a new way to have a good time. The annual outhouse races held at Chatanika Lodge are a perfect example of what many say “could only happen in Alaska.”

“It started as a birthday party for about nine people, one of whom was my wife. After a few adult beverages someone said, ‘I saw some outhouse races on TV. We should do that,’ and we’ve been doing them ever since,” said founder of the 30-year tradition, Gene Hansen. “It was really just a joke at first, and it just boomeranged.”

Hansen could hardly contain his chuckling while discussing the races which have brought mushers, tourists, construction workers, even the occasional scientist, to Chatanika Lodge to compete in the now infamous event. The only rules, he explained, are that each five-person team puts one on the seat, which must have a hole, and four “pushing, pulling, steering or otherwise moving” the contraption; the outhouse must be at least 5 feet tall and no wider than 6 feet. And the rider has to wear hard hat. Everyone has their own strategies, Hansen said, and he’s seen some pretty interesting approaches in the last three decades.

“We had one team that won six years in a row. They built their outhouse on a bicycle frame with a single ski to steer and a canvas siding,” he said, again laughing at the memory. “One year we had a group of MIT engineers who were up at Poker Flats doing rocket shoots come down and designed one out of an aircraft fuel tank.”

One of the strangest outhouses he recalled used a 6-foot step ladder set up on skis with canvas surrounding it.

In the past, the annual gathering included an all-day picnic, skydiver demonstrations and helicopter rides. Because of insurance costs, activities have been scaled down a bit but the main gathering — the races — still draw a crowd.

“On a bad day, we get 500 people out there. We usually get close to 1,000,” Hansen said.

While races have been as long as one eighth of a mile, this year the course will be a 150-yard sprint ran in timed events. Awards will be presented for first, second and third place winners, as well as the prettiest outhouse, voted on by the public.

“Yup, we’re even having an Outhouse Beauty Contest,” Hansen said, again laughing. “Only in Alaska.”

Things have changed some since that first race in 1978, when five houses entered the race. Now the competition draws about 10-12 teams, and has had as many as 22. The event has even garnered international and mainstream attention.

“We’ve been on TV twice on the ‘North To Alaska’ program. This year, we will be filmed by the History Channel,” Hansen said proudly, adding Japanese film crews also have shown up periodically over the years.

Asked why the tradition has maintained such a following for long, Hansen said, “stupidity is a good part of it!” But he noted it is all just good old fashioned fun.

“We’ve tried to quit a few times, but people tell us we can’t. They look forward to it,” Hansen said.

Hansen and his wife, Mebble, have become the honorary “race marshals” because of their continual planning of the event. Chatanika Lodge also has become the home for the races, which will be held Saturday and Sunday beginning at 2 p.m. There will be live entertainment from Girls with Guitars and Larry “Raindog” Raines, as well as games, food and contests.