I Climbed me a Wind Turbine!!

Today is the coolest day of my recent memory. I attended a Wind Diesel Workshop at AVTEC, The Alaska Vocational Technical... something... I can't seem to find even on their own website what their acronym stands for! But it's a vocational and technical school that has really great programs in electronics, cooking, and the like. They have a also have a grid-connected 100 kW wind turbine! It is a beautiful Northwind 100, with black blades designed to discourage icing.

Here are photos:

The turbine:


Lunch was cooked and served by students of the culinary school:


I was particularly impressed by the electronics educational lab. Look how nicely they do spaghetti management!


It's warm down South. Warm enough to walk through slush and build a snowman:


It's really beautiful. I have loved Seward since I visited as a tourist in 1994!




Now here I am all excited to get to climb the tower:


And up I go:


It's a long way up (105 feet!)!


And a long way down from the top!


What a view!


Is that a... yes, it is! It's a moose!


A lovely blade:


Some of the controls:




And finally, the descent: