The Arctic Winter Games bring hundreds of athletes, fans and families to Mat-Su

PALMER — For more than 50 years, hundreds of athletes, coaches and supporters from the Circumpolar North have gathered biennially to participate, compete and celebrate Arctic culture.

This year’s Arctic Winter Games will be held in Alaska for the first time in a decade, as the Matanuska Valley welcomes athletes from across the state, along with Canada, Greenland and northern Europe.

The Games begin on Sunday with the Opening Ceremony and go through the Closing Ceremonies on Saturday, March 16.

The Arctic Winter Games were started in 1970 by a group that included former Alaska Governor Wally Hickel. Contestants are aged between 11 and 18.

The games include 20 sports that are played regularly in the regions represented. They include a heavy dose of outdoor disciplines such as alpine skiing, snowshoeing and biathlon, cross-country skiing and snowboarding.

It also includes sports such as basketball, gymnastics, volleyball and wrestling. There are also many traditional local competitions such as the Dene games, including finger pulling, and arctic sports such as high kick.

Ben Vanderville, who has lived and farmed in Palmer for more than 50 years and attended or coached his now-grown children at numerous past Arctic Winter Games, watched the curling sheet installation Thursday during his daily walk on the center’s indoor rink. He said he plans to attend some of the sporting events next week, but his favorite part of the Games is the cultural exchange between participating countries.

“At the games, you eat at tables with people from different countries with different languages. It’s really very educational,” he said. “My kids still talk about it.”

Sporting events will be held at Mat-Su, with a few exceptions caused by the lack of regulated courses or facilities in the area. The biathlon will be held at Kincaid Park in Anchorage, while speed skating and figure skating will be held at the Harry J. McDonald’s in Eagle River.

Keeping the majority of events within Mat-Su means implementing a series of updates and expansions to local locations. For example, to support alpine skiing and snowboarding events, Skeetawk officials at Hatcher Pass built a series of new, motor truck-accessible trails extending above the current lift.

And at Government Peak Recreation Area, the borough built a new parking lot that will serve both the Arctic Winter Games crowds and the other state and regional cross-country ski competitions held there throughout the season.

The Games have previously been held in Anchorage (1974), Fairbanks (1982, 1988, 2014), Chugiak-Eagle River (1996) and the Kenai Peninsula (2006). The last edition in 2022 was hosted by Wood Buffalo in Alberta.

In addition to the roughly 1,500 visiting athletes plus their coaches and supporters, the events are expected to draw thousands of spectators to the region, pumping millions of tourism dollars into the local economy at a time of year when visitor rates are typically low, tourism officials said.

With hotel rooms in Mat-Su in short supply, organizers are instead turning seven Mat-Su schools into accommodation for athletes and volunteers, with barracks-style double beds in classrooms. That means an extra two days of spring break for area students so that play staff have time to clear and then pack classrooms. Participants will be transported from schools to sports venues by a network of chartered buses.

But exactly what the impact will be on local businesses is hard to predict, said Melissa Mitchell, who helps run Silvertip, a store in downtown Palmer that stocks gifts made in Alaska. She said the store is preparing for a parade of shoppers looking for souvenirs commemorating their visit.

“They’re coming from all over the world, so they’re going to want to enjoy Alaska with things made in Alaska,” she said.

Athletics isn’t the only activity on the menu during the games. A winter carnival will be held March 15 and 16 at the Alaska State Fairgrounds in Palmer, with rides, a caribou petting zoo and a craft fair. On March 14 and 15 at 8:45 p.m., two fireworks will be set off from the fairgrounds.

An indigenous fashion show and concert by Alaskan Inuit soul group Pamyua will be held March 14 at the Glenn Massay Theater on the campus of Mat-Su College in Palmer. And on March 15, Glenn Massay will host a cultural gala featuring performances from all regions represented in the Games.

While most events are free to attend, tickets are required for some of the sports medal rounds, as well as the cultural events, including the concert and gala. Ticket prices range from $15 to $40, depending on the event.

A full schedule of events is available on the Arctic Winter Games website, awg2024.org.

Running the Games requires an army of volunteers, with 2,000 registered, to work long-hour shifts throughout the week, handling tasks ranging from serving food to athletes to providing medical care, organizers said.

[Previously: Mat-Su readies for Arctic Winter Games with volunteers in short supply]

There were initially concerns that the required number of volunteers would not be reached, but a late push over the past six weeks has helped the area reach full levels as preparations ramped up.

That push for volunteers brought together groups that don’t normally work together and created excitement for a week of events that was hard to ignore, said Casey Ressler, games spokesman.

“It’s so great to see so many people excited – it’s a great vibe,” he said. “Just watching some of the volunteer training, I was like, ‘You two groups probably won’t be in the same room sometimes, and here you are on the same project.'”

These volunteers fanned out across Mat-Su on Thursday, clearing classrooms, setting up beds in schools and preparing venues for upcoming sporting events. At the MTA Events Center in Palmer, about a dozen volunteers got on and off the ice, spraying lines and installing blue and red circles, known as buttons, on the ends of four curling sheets.

Due to the upcoming Arctic Winter Games and their use of the ski slopes, the Mat-Su District is closing the State Peak Recreation Area trail system to regular public use from March 10-15. Skeetawk, which hosts some events, will be open to users.

Arctic Winter Games: By the Numbers

• Chartered aircraft transporting athletes/supporters to Anchorage: 17

• Total number of competitors: 1850

• Total athletes on Team Alaska/from Alaska: 355

• Total number of volunteers fully registered/scheduled: 2,000

• Volunteer waiting list: 600

• Schools converted into housing for athletes and volunteers: 8

• Places for competitions and events: 22 pcs

• Sports: 20

• Total games budget: $7 million

• Year of the first Arctic Winter Games: 1970

• Number of times the games have been held in Alaska: 7

• Number of followers on AWG 2024 TikTok: 233