Skiku. Kornfield is not alone in this endeavor: many skiers and coaches have volunteered their time to “to foster the health and recreational benefits of skiing, biathlon and running through sustainable programs across Alaska”. We spoke to Kornfield on May 3 to learn more about his commitment to Skiku and get the rundown on his year. (To subscribe to the Nordic Nation podcast channel, download the iTunes app. If you have iTunes, subscribe to Nordic Nation here.)
Nordic Journeys is looking for a communications and marketing coordinator tasked with maintaining a consistent and professional look and feel for our organization’s public communications and marketing tools. You must have excellent interpersonal and communication skills, be willing to work collaboratively to complete projects, and have expertise using social media platforms and other communications software tools. Responsibilities: Supports the staff team in administration and implementation of programs through: Database management Volunteer base communications Events communications and...
(Press release) ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition (PCFSN) has selected Skiku/NANANordic to receive a 2015 PCFSN Community Leadership Award. The award is given annually to individuals or organizations who improve the lives of others within their community by providing or enhancing opportunities to engage in sports, physical activities, fitness or nutrition-related programs. Skiku/NANANordic’s vision is healthy and active families traveling together on skis while enjoying Alaska’s vast and beautiful...
In April, FasterSkier contributor Seth Adams joined the volunteer ranks of NANANordic and headed north to Noorvik -- a remote city in the Alaska's Northwest Arctic. The following is his editorial recapping the experience.
An intimate look at first-timer Seth Adams' adventures with NANANordic, which introduces youth to nordic skiing in remote regions of Northwest Alaska.
"It's not about skiing," Shungnak School Principal Roger Franklin wrote in an email to FasterSkier about NANANordic, newly expanded and known as Skiku. "It's much more, and it's saving lives daily." This year, the program brought skiing to 27 villages in Northwest Alaska.
Having the opportunity to teach 8 days of cross country skiing to the remote villages of Alaska is both rewarding and demanding. It’s hard to pin down an exact ‘workout’ we do up there, because by the end of just one day, your feet burn, and your mental focus just got tested by 100+ eager Inupiaq kids, thirsty for time on skis. There can, however, be progress made toward personal growth depending on how you want to slice it.
Wishing you were with NANANordic teaching skiing in Northwest Alaska right now -- or wonder what the program's like? Check out these videos.
(Press release) ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Lars Flora, two-time Olympian and executive director and founder of NANANordic, is one of three U.S. representatives chosen to participate in the International Olympic Academy (IOA) from June 11 – 25, 2013, in Athens and Olympia, Greece. The other two are U.S. Olympic Committee staffers. The IOA’s goal is to educate and motivate young people to use their experiences and knowledge gained from the session productively in promoting the Olympic...
After a successful demo in the small Alaskan village of Kiana last year, former national team biathlete Zach Hall coordinated an effort to introduce biathlon to six villages this year as part of Lars Flora's NANANordic program. For kids in the villages, the combination of skiing and hunting just makes sense; for the athlete coaches, it was the experience of a lifetime.
In its second year, NANANordic reached three times the amount of villages and more than twice as many students in Northwest Alaska. And if you ask founder Lars Flora, they're not done with spreading cross-country skiing just yet.
While most of his cross-country skiing brethren kicked up the last bits of snow at Spring Series in Craftsbury, Vt., Lars Flora was hard at work at home in Anchorage, Alaska, crunching numbers and finalizing details of his upcoming trip. It would have been easy if he had been the only one traveling to Northwest Alaska, but Flora had 17 volunteer coaches and two doctors to accommodate, the NANA Development Corporation to run by, and...