We were attacked by giant Kincaid Park winter mosquitoes. They clung to our backs, their webbed wings struggling to achieve liftoff, their proboscises hanging way out in front of us, blood dripping from their tips. They sucked so much of our blood that our faces turned white.
Carol's picture was on the front page of the February 7, 2005 Anchorage Daily News. Gail had to settle for her picture featured on the Ski for Women web site.

At Carol's house in Homer, we assembled the mozzie bodies from wire wreath frames, plastic coat hangars, water bottles, swim tubes, and lots and lots of wire. Gail had planned to use one float tube for both proboscises, cutting it in half, but Carol always thinks big. Of course, Carol also is athletic and can actually ski.

The night before the ski, in Gail and Grady's living room in Anchorage, we completed assembly by adding the legs of PVC pipe. The room was filled with mosquito parts to the point of discomfort.

Luckily Carol had a large car, so the mozzies fit in with only slightly bent wings and proboscises, for transport to Kincaid Park. With Gail's Honda Civic, they would have had to ride on the roof.

Even more luckily, there was not enough snow to ski, so it was a Walk for Women. The mozzies balanced when standing still, but required an occasional grip to the foreleg for balance. Mother Nature came to our rescue!