Northwest Alaska Circumnavigation Expedition

During the winter of 2004 the “Iditarod National Millennium Trail Freight Sled Expedition (IMTFSE)” traveled 900 miles by snowmobile from Nenana, Alaska to Nome , Alaska . Initially, the mission was to celebrate the trail with the communities along the way by talking to people and gathering interviews from elders about the trail and its integral historic and present-day importance as an arterial access to their communities.

As expedition participants learned of the many snowmobile deaths and accidents along the trail, it became apparent that the message of trail safety should become a primary focus of their overall mission. Most of these accidents could have been prevented with a basic understanding of backcountry safety, equipment and skills. In response to an obvious need, the group provided over 25 presentations in 17 schools along the trail. Presentations (focusing primarily on school age children) expanded from the originally intended Iditarod Trail information to include more safety oriented topics such as clothing, helmets, survival gear, mechanical advantage rescue systems, GPS units, and satellite phones. Two native expedition team members also spoke about the devastation alcohol abuse in the outdoors has wreaked upon their families and their village. One member’s mother perished in the cold on her own front porch while another member spoke of searching for a man between villages who was found frozen on his snowmobile wearing only a light jacket. Sharing stories and backcountry knowledge inspired both team members and community members alike.


The overwhelming positive response to the IMTFSE’s safety presentations has motivated IMTFSE’s lead guide Mike Buck along with Lisa Wax and Kyle Rennie to organize another more extensive program for 2006, the Northwestern Alaska Circumnavigation Expedition (N.A.C.E.). N.A.C.E. will promote backcountry safety in 23 villages across 2000 miles.

Mike's 25 years of classroom teaching experience combined with Mike, Lisa and Kyle's extensive backcountry experience will enable this year’s snowmobile expedition to become a village-wide educational event. With the support of the Alaska State Trac Grant program, the Valdez Snowmachine Club and other sponsors Team N.A.C.E. hopes to reduce primarily, but not necessarily only, snowmobile related injuries and deaths in Alaska.

Northwest Alaska Circumnavigation Expedition

Tags: snowmobile snowmachine arctic safety alaska