In 2011, an Olympic skier started a program to get kids in four Western Arctic villages in Alaska outside and on skis. Five years later, that program, known as NANA Nordic, has expanded to 40 villages statewide, with help from over 100 volunteer cross-country ski coaches.
In Ambler, 80 kids from villages in Alaska’s Western Arctic raced each other on cross country skis as part of the NANA Nordic Program. The program promotes healthy lifestyles among Alaska’s kids and has grown in five years to become a statewide effort with funding from the NANA Regional Corporation, Teck Resources, Royal Dutch Shell, and the Rasmuson Foundation.
