Connect To Us >>

Arctic Man – Info
Posted on Saturday, March 23rd, 2013

Join NAOI at Arctic Man 2013 and get your chance to be on NATIONAL TELEVISION!

Click on Image to sign up

That’s right, the Travel Channel is coming to Arctic Man.

You can be part of the action by wearing an avalanche transceiver, zombie costume (aka accident victim) or just stopping by the TEAM CC/ AMDS/ BRP/SKIDOO/ ABS AIRBAG / ADVENTURE MEDICAL KITS - NAOI GAME BOARD!

FIND AND TREAT THE VICTIMS BEFORE THE ZOMBIES ATTACK AND

YOU COULD WIN!!

WIN AN ABS AIRBAG!

Play the ARCTIC MAN Pea Pod Challenge and win Cash! Or join us in the field and play the ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE GAME game and win prizes like helmets, first aid kits and much more!

Wear a transmitting avalanche transceiver and if the Zombie’s find you, you’ll earn a reward. Sign up to

Volunteer, Register to Play or Learn more

Join the NAOI/WACO Snowmobile Give-A-Way

Win a 2013 Skidoo Renegade 550! Winner to be announced Saturday at 6:30 pm in the main tent!

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE PRESENT TO WIN!!!

BUY TICKETS

100% of proceeds support youth and community safety training programs in schools and communities across Alaska

Comments (0)

Beacons and Eggs
Posted on Saturday, March 16th, 2013

Join NAOI and AAIC for the second annual Beacons and Eggs avalanche training program for the whole family in Valdez. We’ll have a short training program followed by egg hunts for the kids and teens. Learn more or sign up online today by clicking on the image below!

Beacons and Eggs Valdez

Comments (0)

Mat-Su Residents – Are you ready if disaster strikes?
Posted on Thursday, March 14th, 2013

As residents of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, we know the forces of nature have the upper hand. Floods, earthquakes, wildfires, and avalanches all get our attention when they happen. Once the danger is past, unless we and our loved ones have been directly affected, we tend to forget that nature’s power is constantly with us. Nature is always ready although we may not be.

We need your assistance as we update the Borough’s FEMA-required Hazard Mitigation Plan. Public participation is a requirement of a robust plan that represents the views and concerns of borough residents along with those of trained professionals in a variety of specializations. We are on a short timeline to complete the draft plan by the end of April.

Please assist us by taking the following actions:

1. Go to the borough’s external homepage at www.matsugov.us and click on the Hazard Mitigation Survey at the top right-hand corner of the page. Please do it now so your opinions can count.

2. The draft Hazard Mitigation Plan is on the planning department’s page atwww.matsugov.us/planning/borough-plans/projects Please have a look at it and give us your thoughts/comments/questions.

3. Let your friends and family know that their opinions count by sharing this request with them. Remember that we have a very short timeline.

4. Send your comments about the Plan to Emerson Krueger in the borough planning department at 745-9526, or ekrueger@matsugov.us

The Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 requires each community in the nation to have a Hazard Mitigation Plan approved by FEMA and renewed every five years. Hazard mitigation is defined as sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk to people and their property from hazards. An approved Hazard Mitigation Plan is an eligibility requirement for any future pre-disaster hazard mitigation funding.

The current Borough All-Hazards Mitigation Plan is nearing the end of the 5-year planning cycle. The planning team wants to ensure that this plan is comprehensive. The update process will require the review and revision of the following plan elements:

• Identification and description of hazards that may impact borough residents

• Vulnerability assessment

• Assessment of the Borough’s capability to mitigate hazards

• Hazard mitigation goals and objectives

• Hazard mitigation actions and projects

• Implementation strategy

• Plan maintenance strategy

Comments (0)

Thank You!
Posted on Wednesday, February 20th, 2013

All of us at the North America Outdoor Institute would like to thank our volunteers and sponsors who helped make the Big Lake Winter Festival successful. Thank you to the Alaska Division of Parks – SnowTrac, Eagle River Polaris/Arctic Cat, Mat-Valley Federal Credit Union, Mat-Su Vintage Racers, National Weather Service, Alaska Pacific University, Lakeshore Studio and KMBQ Radio.

Special thanks to our amazing volunteers including David Dodge, Elisha Dodge, Tim Grady, Andy Romano, Sam Albanese, Matt Medinas (Eagle River Polaris Arctic Cat,) Craig (Mat Su Vintage Racers,) Scott and Ina (Lakeshore Studio,) Rene LeMay, Cody Asher White, Mike White, Noah Plumb, Donnie Ramano, William Ramano, Sam Nerjuson-Ramano, Clifton McIntosh, Andrew Huff, Michael Carson, Hannah Brewster and DB Palmer.

Tim Grady demonstrates avalanche rescue equipment

Andy Romano demonstrates a hypothermia wrap

Comments (0)

Iron Dog and NAOI
Posted on Wednesday, February 13th, 2013

The North America Outdoor Institute and Iron Dog teamed up to produce a series of video safety messages. Our special thanks to SnowTrac, Frostline Productions, Iron Dog and all the amazing racers and volunteers who helped make this project possible. Check it out!

Be Snow Smart Video Messages

NAOI Education Director Dorothy Adler

Comments (0)

Congratulations Larry White
Posted on Thursday, February 7th, 2013

Thanks to BRP/Skidoo, Larry White is the big winner in the Alaska ABS Airbag give-a-way! Larry attended an avalanche awareness class sponsored by Team CC and made possible by BRP/Skidoo on October 27, 2013. He attended a follow-up field class in December and his name was randomly drawn by Skidoo from more than 250 Alaska entries. Training Paid off for Larry. Congratulations.

Larry White won an ABS airbag system from BRP/Skidoo

Barbara and Korey Cronquist of Team CC Wasilla along with winner Larry White and NAOI representative Shelley Plumb

Don’t miss your chance to be the next big NAOI winner. Attend an upcoming avalanche awareness training program made possible by the Alaska Dept. of Public Safety and you could win a shovel, probe and pack from Back Country Access. We hope to see you at a training program soon. Check our calendar of events for a program coming to a community near you!

Comments (0)

Student Feedback
Posted on Saturday, January 26th, 2013

Bill Sullivan of Kenai took the time to write NAOI after attending a training last weekend in Turnagain Pass.

To NAOI: I Wanted to take a few moments to emphasize my opinion of how successfully I think you & your crew nailed that avalanche workshop at Turnagain Pass last Saturday (Jan 19th). My compliments to the whole of you. The site, the weather, but mostly the company made for yet another great day spent in the mountains!

Right off the get go I was greeted with warm hospitality, contagious energy & endearing humor (yup, that’d be that Kevin guy . Shortly after we split into two groups I noted with appreciation & keen approval how Jacob & Bryan knew each others strengths in presentation and deferred to one another effectively. It helped keep things interesting and fluid as the listeners attention shifted between them.

With your teams expert tutelage we engaged in valuable practice in multiple victim searches, in discussions of decision making and terrain traps and snow pack composition. Time and again you and your crew reminded us of survival expectation as related to time buried….15 minutes, 15 minutes, 15 minutes. Planned or not, your physical separation of our two groups ensured opportunity to generate BTU’s trudging across the way. Pretty smart. It was indicative of the thoughtful planning that fueled our 5 hours together.

All in all, I’d just have to say that I’m pretty dagnab impressed with the lot of you, and if NAOIAK’s access to State or Federal monies, grants or other bequeaths is at all influenced by participant feedback, then please count me on the record. Funding NAOIAK’s dispensing of expert, consumable avalanche safety is an entirely appropriate use of tax dollars that gets a definitive nod and two thumbs way up from this citizen. No reservations.

As I drove away from Turnagain Pass and pointed her (my VW Jetta) back towards Kenai I listened to Moondance, van the Man, and recapped the experiences of the day. While it would apt to be to my favor in the least, it would always be to my good fortune to cross paths with Dorothy, Shelley, Jacob or Bryan anytime, anywhere (hopefully in the mountains). Of course this’d go for Logan & Kevin as well. And, although I did not meet Shelley’s daughter, I’ll remain confident that she benefits from her Mother’s obvious warmth, energy and intellect. Good on you guys. I learned some new, had an aging memory refreshed on other, met some nice folks and got to spend another day on the snow in the mountains. Seems pretty fine to me.

Play hard. Play safe !
With respect,
Bill Sullivan

Shelley Plumb gives students instruction.

Comments (0)

Avalanche Training Across Alaska
Posted on Wednesday, January 16th, 2013

From Homer to Skagway, Kenai to Juneau the NAOI avalanche instruction team is busy this week offering free avalanche safety courses thanks to the Alaska Dept. of Public Safety. CHECK OUR CALENDAR for a class near you. Here is a sample of programs. Many of the high school programs will be followed with community programs that evening.

January 15-16 – Juneau Douglas High School, Juneau

January 17 – Kenai High School January 16 – Islands and Oceans, Homer

January 18 – Seward High School

January 18 – Skagway – Klondike National Park Service

January 19 – Turnagain Pass

January 19 – Skagway

Don’t see a class that works for your schedule, call us at 907-376-2898 for more options.

Alaska State Trooper

Kevin Wright photo from the Chugach Avalanche Information Center. Submit your photos and observations by clicking the photo.

Comments (0)

Christopher’s Story
Posted on Tuesday, January 15th, 2013

Christopher Constant Christopher Constant at Alyeska

I love it when hard work results in a phone call that rewards you for your effort. I recently got a call from a friend thanking me for getting him involved with NAOI and helping to improve his snow smart mentality.

Christopher Constant was excited as he told me he’d passed through an avalanche gate for the first time fully prepared with a shovel, probe, and beacon. He did admit he still needs more training on how to use them, but he’s come a long way since I first introduced him to the gear a year ago. But it was his snow sense he was most proud of.

“I was riding chair six and I saw cracks forming under a steep inbounds slope,” he explained. “So when we got to the top I went to the ski patrol station and gave them the location.”

He was pleased when the patroller followed him down to the area to investigate. Watching from a safe distance, he saw the patroller jump on the slope with all of his might and break off a slab 30 X 40 with a three inch crown sending it tumbling down the mountain.

“I literally saw my very first avalanche in action and had my eyes peeled open at the sheer power,” Constant said. “I calculated it out and that pro snapped the trap and sent more than 14,000 cubic feet of snow tumbling down the slope. I kept thinking that if someone had been buried under that, it would have totally sucked! Sure made me realize, I have a lot more to learn about this stuff.”

The best news was when he finished by telling me he’d signed up for a three day Avalanche Level 1 course with Alaska Avalanche School and is reading ‘Snow Sense.’

There is nothing better than hearing from the people that have been positively impacted by our efforts at NAOI and to watch them become more aware and recreate safely.

Thanks Christopher Constant for calling to share your story!

Call 907-376-2898 to learn more about our programs, share your story, volunteer, or become a member!

Comments (0)

Avalanche awareness on the Kenai
Posted on Saturday, January 12th, 2013

This week NAOI takes the Be Snow Smart show on the road to the Kenai Peninsula. We will be conducting free seminars throughout the Peninsula starting in Homer on Wednesday, January 16th. These free programs are great for everyone age 9 and up that travels, plays or works in avalanche terrain. Great introduction and a solid refresher. This program is made possible with support from the Alaska Department of Public Safety, Division Alaska State Troopers.

To Register, Click on the selected course below:

Homer – Wed. Jan. 16th – 6-8:30 pm – Islands and Oceans

Kenai – Thurs. Jan. 17th – 6-8 pm Kenai High School

Seward – Friday 6-8 pm – Seward High School

Turnagain Pass – Sat. Jan. 19th – 11am – 4pm Turnagain Pass Skier’s Side - (Look for the motorhome with NAOI banners) – This is a field training course that will feature route selection and rescue skills. Bring your equipment or borrow ours.