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Snowmachining is an integral part of life in Western Alaska.
But riding a high-powered machine on treacherous terrain comes with risks. In Nome, local and state groups are working together to make it safer – with free helmets for kids.
“In rural Alaska, our main source of transportation in the villages are four-wheelers and snowmachines,” said Katie Hannon, injury prevention coordinator and health educator at Norton Sound Health Corporation.
Part of Hannon’s job is providing helmets to communities in the region to prevent traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs, a head injury caused by a blow or jolt, often during a crash, which can range from concussion to fatal brain trauma.
“Not everybody has cars there. Everybody has a four-wheeler and a snowmachine there,” Hannon said. “And they're more at risk of getting a TBI on the four-wheelers and snowmachines because they don't have helmets on.”
According to the Indian Health Service, motor vehicle accidents – which include snowmachines – account for 43% of all unintentional injury deaths in American Indian and Alaska Native populations. And child mortality rates in that demographic are roughly two and a half times higher than all other U.S racial groups combined.
Hannon studied helmet use during a 2024 fellowship with the Indian Health Service. It focused on attitudes, knowledge, and overall use in her home village of Koyuk on the northeastern corner of the Norton Sound.
“There was no data for Koyuk. There was no data for rural Alaska. Or if there was, there was very little,” Hannon said. “So it was very challenging trying to compare places because they are very different. People on the road system have more access to helmets as compared to people that are not on the road system.”
Koyuk has just over 400 residents. During her research, she observed only about one in seven ATV and snowmachine riders were wearing a helmet. Anecdotally, kids seemed to be strapping on helmets at even lower rates.
“Nine kids out of 10 in the classrooms raised their hands when I said, ‘Do you not have a helmet?’ ” Hannon said. “You know, I'm a mom, I have five kids, and I want all my kids to be wearing helmets. I don't want TBI’s, for me or for anybody.”
Some communities in the Norton Sound mandate helmet use. The City of Nome requires one for riders under 18.
But Koyuk doesn’t have a helmet law. And with helmets costing between $150 and $700 a piece, simply owning one is a challenge.
“It's hard to get helmets there,” Hannon said. “They're expensive, like, it's hard to get anything there. There's no local stores that sell helmets.”
The Helmet Safety Program
Each year since 2020, the Iron Dog snowmachine race donates helmets to communities along the race route through its Iron Dog Helmet Awareness Program. Its racers, as with most organized races, are required to wear helmets to participate.
This year, 35 helmets were sent to Nome. Jessica Farley, co-chair of the youth snowmachine race committee of the Nome-based Bering Sea Lions Club community service charity, helped get them out to the community.
“What I wanted to do this year is give them away in a really targeted approach,” Farley said.
Farley partnered with Palmer-based nonprofit, Alaska Safe Riders, to visit Nome Public Schools’ three campuses. There, she taught students about the importance of wearing a helmet and signed up kids to receive one free of charge.
“What I didn't expect was the demand,” Farley said. “Iron Dog gave us 35 helmets. We thought that would be enough. It was not even close.”
Farley said 70 students signed up, with each completing a survey explaining why they needed it.
“Each child gave a compelling reason,” Farley said. “They've had their helmet for nine years. They've been in 10 crashes. ‘It's cracked.’ ‘It doesn't fit my head.’ There were so many reasons why they needed it.”
Manufacturers say helmets should be replaced after every crash, but Farley said that was often not practiced among students.
“Many of them said that they had been in multiple crashes, but they just learned that day from Alaska Safe Riders that they needed a new helmet,” Farley said.
Now, the Bering Sea Lions Club, Norton Sound Health Corporation, and Iron Dog officials are working together to raise money for the additional helmets. During February’s Iron Dog race, the Bering Sea Lions Club helped organize a three-day breakfast fundraiser. Farley said it brought in a few thousand dollars, but that it was only about a quarter of the $7,600 she estimates is needed.
The group hasn't scheduled another fundraiser yet. Farley said with race season in full swing, most of the team's attention is on keeping riders safe on the course. But once race season wraps up, fundraising will take center stage.
