He also sent this recollection of the snow formation’s demise:
Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2025 7:21 am
Those snowless portions totaled about 60 miles. When Delamere and others finally reached snow between Nikolai and Ophir, it was more than 3 feet deep. Because snow is softer than ice, it takes more energy to move over snow, even when it is packed. Delamere found he missed the rock-hard surface.
“Ice is really fast,” he said. “In fact, I was always actively seeking ice all the way to Nome. With really good studded tires and a bit of practice, ice isn’t bad at all.”
This was Delamere’s first trip all the way to Nome by fat bike, but he had so much fun amid the suffering that it may not be his last.
“There’s a chance I will do it again,” he said.
* * *
John Lyle, formerly of Fairbanks and now living in Hawaii, sent photos from the 1990s of snow oozing off his late friend Bill Fuller’s shed. The formation reminded Lyle of a breaking wave, so he posed inside the curl as if surfing.
The late Bill Fuller of Fairbanks poses by a deforming country wise email marketing list snow formation near his shed in Fairbanks in the 1990s. (Photo by John Lyle)
The late Bill Fuller of Fairbanks poses by a deforming snow formation near his shed in Fairbanks in the 1990s. (Photo by John Lyle)
“I asked Bill when he thought it would fall,” Lyle remembered.
‘Soon,’ he said.
“How soon?
‘Very soon. Do you have pressing plans for the next hour?
“So, we stood, watching and having a nice talk about life and such. At about 15 minutes the sculpture crashed to the ground. I looked at Bill, who smiled and said, ‘Sometimes you see amazing things when you are patient.’”
• Since the late 1970s, the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute has provided this column free in cooperation with the UAF research community. Ned Rozell [email protected] is a science writer for the Geophysical Institute.
“Ice is really fast,” he said. “In fact, I was always actively seeking ice all the way to Nome. With really good studded tires and a bit of practice, ice isn’t bad at all.”
This was Delamere’s first trip all the way to Nome by fat bike, but he had so much fun amid the suffering that it may not be his last.
“There’s a chance I will do it again,” he said.
* * *
John Lyle, formerly of Fairbanks and now living in Hawaii, sent photos from the 1990s of snow oozing off his late friend Bill Fuller’s shed. The formation reminded Lyle of a breaking wave, so he posed inside the curl as if surfing.
The late Bill Fuller of Fairbanks poses by a deforming country wise email marketing list snow formation near his shed in Fairbanks in the 1990s. (Photo by John Lyle)
The late Bill Fuller of Fairbanks poses by a deforming snow formation near his shed in Fairbanks in the 1990s. (Photo by John Lyle)
“I asked Bill when he thought it would fall,” Lyle remembered.
‘Soon,’ he said.
“How soon?
‘Very soon. Do you have pressing plans for the next hour?
“So, we stood, watching and having a nice talk about life and such. At about 15 minutes the sculpture crashed to the ground. I looked at Bill, who smiled and said, ‘Sometimes you see amazing things when you are patient.’”
• Since the late 1970s, the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute has provided this column free in cooperation with the UAF research community. Ned Rozell [email protected] is a science writer for the Geophysical Institute.