A legislative lunch-and-learn session Thursday highlighted the rapid growth of wild ice skating in Alaska, from isolated individual experiences to an organized community activity that has drawn international media attention, supports local manufacturing, and contributes to Alaska's outdoor economy through tours and low-season tourism.

The session, sponsored by Representatives Kai Holland and Tim Fields, featured Paxson Woelber, co-founder of the Wild Ice Skating Club of Alaska. Woelber traced the evolution of the sport through three distinct stages: individual activity, group activity, and the current culture-and-scene phase where infrastructure and commercial support have developed around the pursuit.

"This is an amazing thing that is happening," Woelber said. "I want to make sure everybody, even if you are not part of the skating community, I just want to make sure everybody is aware of this. This is really cool and it is just good. It is just a positive thing."

Wild ice skating differs from traditional rink skating in both medium and intention, Woelber explained. The sport involves skating on naturally formed ice without maintenance or grooming. The purpose is covering distance and exploring rather than playing competitive sports in confined spaces.

"It is about going on ice that is just formed naturally on its own, without a Zamboni, without any hot mopping, without any shoveling," Woelber said. "You are changing your equipment to suit the environment or just doing the best you can with it."

The Wild Ice Skating Club of Alaska, which Woelber co-founded, has grown to nearly 12,700 members in its Facebook group. The club hosts regular community events that fill breweries and event spaces around Anchorage throughout the winter.

A 2017 video Woelber produced with Cale Green documenting the sport appeared in National Geographic, the Washington Post, and on Outside TV. The video also won a film festival despite what Woelber described as his poor skating technique at the time.

"People all around the U.S. and really a lot of people around the world just saw this video and they loved it," Woelber said. "We have found this niche that has been massively, massively underappreciated."

Holland, who represents House District 9 covering South Anchorage from Huffman south to Girdwood and Whittier, emphasized the connection between outdoor recreation and manufacturing. He cited Potter Marsh, Rabbit Lake, and Portage Lake as areas attracting people from around the world.

"Manufacturing creates shop jobs on actually running machines, but it also creates jobs for accountants, marketing folks, engineers," Holland said. "It is an amazing way of creating opportunity for our state and our future."