Wild ice skating grows from isolated hobby to organized Alaska community

A legislative lunch-and-learn session Thursday highlighted the rapid growth of wild ice skating in Alaska, from isolated individual experiences to an organized community activity that has drawn international media attention, supports local manufacturing, and contributes to Alaska's outdoor economy through tours and low-season tourism.

The session, sponsored by Representatives Kai Holland and Tim Fields, featured Paxson Woelber, co-founder of the Wild Ice Skating Club of Alaska. Woelber traced the evolution of the sport through three distinct stages: individual activity, group activity, and the current culture-and-scene phase where infrastructure and commercial support have developed around the pursuit.

"This is an amazing thing that is happening," Woelber said. "I want to make sure everybody, even if you are not part of the skating community, I just want to make sure everybody is aware of this. This is really cool and it is just good. It is just a positive thing."

Wild ice skating differs from traditional rink skating in both medium and intention, Woelber explained. The sport involves skating on naturally formed ice without maintenance or grooming. The purpose is covering distance and exploring rather than playing competitive sports in confined spaces.

"It is about going on ice that is just formed naturally on its own, without a Zamboni, without any hot mopping, without any shoveling," Woelber said. "You are changing your equipment to suit the environment or just doing the best you can with it."

The Wild Ice Skating Club of Alaska, which Woelber co-founded, has grown to nearly 12,700 members in its Facebook group. The club hosts regular community events that fill breweries and event spaces around Anchorage throughout the winter.

A 2017 video Woelber produced with Cale Green documenting the sport appeared in National Geographic, the Washington Post, and on Outside TV. The video also won a film festival despite what Woelber described as his poor skating technique at the time.

"People all around the U.S. and really a lot of people around the world just saw this video and they loved it," Woelber said. "We have found this niche that has been massively, massively underappreciated."

Holland, who represents House District 9 covering South Anchorage from Huffman south to Girdwood and Whittier, emphasized the connection between outdoor recreation and manufacturing. He cited Potter Marsh, Rabbit Lake, and Portage Lake as areas attracting people from around the world.

"Manufacturing creates shop jobs on actually running machines, but it also creates jobs for accountants, marketing folks, engineers," Holland said. "It is an amazing way of creating opportunity for our state and our future."

Fields connected the growth of wild ice skating to broader quality-of-life considerations that influence whether young adults choose to move to or remain in Alaska.

"There are tens of thousands of working-age young adults in Alaska now and across the country that are on the fence about coming here or staying here, and something as simple as wild ice skating can make the difference in that decision," Fields said. "I know it did for me."

Woelber described popular skating locations including the Susitna Flats Wetlands, where unusual weather in January created elevated ice levels that opened extensive networks of interconnected lagoons and channels. Skaters can cover 30 to 40 miles in a day on such terrain.

Nordic skates, which use cross-country ski boots and bindings attached to long, stable blades, have become the preferred equipment for wild ice skating. The skates allow users to walk to the edge of a lake in their boots, then clip into the skates on the ice.

"If you have friends on hockey skates, for example, they might take like five strides for every one stride you take on a Nordic skate," Woelber said. "They are just dramatically more efficient."

Safety practices include using ice poles to test ice thickness, carrying rescue claws and throw ropes, and packing warm dry clothes in waterproof bags. On remote trips in very cold conditions, skaters may carry stoves, foam pads, and sleeping bags.

"If you fall through the ice and pull yourself out, you have the tools, or you should have the tools to get warm again, warm and dry, get back to your car," Woelber said.

Woelber moved back to Anchorage in December 2014 after living in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, drawn by outdoor access and trail systems. He bought Nordic skates from Alaska Mountaineering and Hiking in 2016 and immediately embraced the sport.

"I moved back to Anchorage because of the outdoor access and because of the outdoors and the outdoor culture that I was just really missing," Woelber said.

The sport has progressed from isolated individual experiences to organized group activities and now to a broader culture with shared information, safety protocols, and media coverage. This infrastructure has enabled commercial activity including equipment manufacturing and tour operations that bring visitors to Alaska during the winter months.

"Nobody is going to start a company based on five people skating out to Portage Glacier," Woelber said. "But when you see a packed room like that and realize there is actually kind of a broader movement, there is more going on. That provides a lot of encouragement to companies to maybe take a chance on the commercial aspects of the scene."

Woelber emphasized the accessibility of the sport, noting that participants do not need specialized Nordic skates to begin.

"You do not need Nordic skates," Woelber said. "You can go out on your old hockey skates, like go out on figure skates. This experience is very accessible and available to a lot of people."