Sheathed as I am in the wicking properties of synthetic clothing, getting wet in these cold conditions can cause serious problems. I move at a deliberate pace, enough to keep warm but not so much as to sweat. Is it possible, I wonder, to drown in one's own air? At 50 below, the air feels as dense as water, seems to pool in the bottom of my lungs forming a lake of oxygen. My throat burns as I try to avoid frosting my lungs with each drawn breath. Back at the house this morning, the needle in the yard thermometer hit the peg at 50 below, unable to register any lower. I pull my chin farther into the hood of my parka. The miniature thermometer dangling from my parka zipper is bottomed out at 40 below zero, the mercury making an angry red knot at the base of the bulb. They stay bent like old men who have endured too many winters. Even when relieved of their burdens the birches do not spring back in the cold. I move gingerly, threading between the trees because the slightest disturbance releases their load, dropping snow onto my head and shoulders. The weight of the snow bends the limbs over so that they form a dark tunnel through which I travel. Above me, snow lies heavily on the branches of the birch saplings that line my way. I'm snowshoeing up from the river bottom, stamping out a sled dog trail to connect our home loop with the wider Koyukuk River system. This drainage forms the mountain's gullet and it exhales chill air that flows down to the lowest point in the terrain, where creek and river converge. MARION CREEK - It's colder here than almost any other place that I know of along the Koyukuk River in northern Alaska. Additional winners can be read at LitSite Alaska ( ). This year's winning entries will be posted on or around May 14. Space is limited for what we can print in We Alaskans. Some 537 entries were submitted from across the state, including this piece by Peter Christian, who is the grand-prize winner and also won first place in the open nonfiction category. Editor's note: In Sunday's We Alaskans we are celebrating the 35th annual creative writing contest sponsored by the University of Alaska and Alaska Dispatch News.

Of fire and stars