‘You’re never alone’: Kotzebue snowmachiner races to raise awareness about suicide

With six Iron Dogs and 75 local races under his belt, Chris Collins thought he was done with the sport snowmachining. But when his youngest brother died from suicide this August, Collins decided he needed to return to racing and “spread a message of hope.”

Collins, who is from Kotzebue, paired up with Doug Wicken for the 2022 Iron Dog snowmachine race across the state to raise awareness about the need for suicide prevention in Northwest Alaska. Together, they formed Team 12 and trained for the race while sharing mental health resources with residents.

“This is my second sibling who committed suicide so I felt that I needed to get the word out more,” Collins said. “It’s such a passion of mine because I’m dealing with it myself. It’s the motivation I needed to get back into the race and spread the word about being positive and that you’re never alone.”

Collins’ experience is far from unique. In recent weeks, three people died from suicide in Northwest Alaska, according to Bree Swanson, social services administrator at the Maniilaq Association. Before that, the region reported three suicides in 2020 and 2021 each. In 2018, there were a staggering 14 suicide deaths.

“When you live in a region that’s as small as ours, 14 deaths by suicide is devastating,” Swanson said recently. “This year, we’ve already had three suicides in the last 10 days.”

Looking for the best platform to spread suicide awareness and prevention, Collins looked to racing. In Northwest Alaska, races are big events that bring people together months before the main event. The Iron Dog is especially challenging for racers: The race, which begins in mid-February, takes snowmachiners from Big Lake to Nome before coming back to Big Lake, covering a distance of more than 2,600 miles.

Collins and Wicken trained in various communities, where they hung posters with uplifting quotes and their logo — which features a map of Northwest Alaska in the middle of a suicide prevention ribbon — at city and tribe buildings. Since November, the team has made it through the Iron Dog’s Northern Loop, visiting Koyuk, Buckland, Selawik, Kiana and Noorvik.

When Collins and Wicken came to Koyuk, their visit was announced on VHF radio. Curious residents trickled to the store to meet the new racers in town. The community responded to Team 12′s campaign as well. Collins said that in some of the villages, people have offered to pay for their fuel as a way to express their appreciation.

“They want to see us come through more,” he said. “I had people reach out from different communities through our messenger and on the phone and say, ‘Thanks for doing what you’re doing, it’s already been a help. We see it in our kids already.’ ”

Bringing hope to someone and sharing his experience is an important mission for Collins after losing two family members to suicide.

“I don’t mind talking about it,” he said. “I think talking about it is part of the healing process.”

Collins learned about the death of one of his younger brothers when he returned from a hunting trip five years ago.

“It was too late by the time I got back,” Collins said. “He was battling depression, and depression got the best of him that spring 2017.”

When Collins’ youngest brother died from suicide in summer 2021, no one saw it coming.

“Leading up to it, no one would have guessed that that was going to be him,” he said. “It was a surprise to the whole family and to his friends.”

The highest numbers of suicide deaths in Northwest Alaska are among men ages 18 to 25, Swanson said. This is why, when Collins and Wicken approached Swanson with their campaign, she said it “was just a wonderful way to support” those in need of help.

“We don’t see a lot of men doing a lot of this work, and to have young men that are doing something that really interests a lot of men — which is the Iron Dog — we felt like it was the perfect platform to really work out,” Swanson said. “To remind people, especially young men, that it’s OK to seek services. It’s okay to talk about some of the feelings that they’re having.”

Maniilaq Behavioral Health provided support to Team 12, donating money for posters and decals and providing flyers that show the mental health resources available in the region.

Throughout the year, Northwest Alaska sees high rates of suicides during the summer months, when many young people have trouble getting enough sleep and don’t have school schedules, Swanson said.

“But we also noticed it right after the holidays,” she said. “January is always a month that is high risk, and we feel like it’s because people have been supported by their families through Thanksgiving and Christmas, and after the holidays, that support is no longer there, and people are feeling alone.”

Wicken suggested that harsh winters in the region do not improve the situation.

“When it is dark and cold, it just brings you down. When you’re already down, it brings you even further down,” he said.

The pandemic doesn’t make things better, with fewer gatherings and activities happening in the community, Collins said.

“It’s a hard time right now, the last couple years, with the pandemic going on,” Collins said. “When you’re isolated for so long, without any activities, you become depressed, and there’s nothing to look forward to. Everything has been put on pause and we all understand why, but at the same time, we need to have something to look forward to. I just hope that the isolation and depression in the region starts to lift and people become more active.”

Racing for an important cause, Collins also received support from the Northwest Arctic Borough Mayor Dickie Moto. The mayor wanted to “encourage all residents to get outside, be active, and healthy,” according to Carl Weisner, director of the borough’s Department of Public Services, who substituted for the mayor recently.

“Chris and Doug have rallied our communities on suicide prevention,” Weisneer said in an email. “(They) are role models for younger generations and community wellness.”

For Team 12, this racing campaign is not only about suicide prevention, Collins said.

In January, Wicken and Collins visited Kotzebue Elementary School to show second graders their helmets and protective gear, and talk about the hard work and preparation that goes into the Iron Dog, “just trying to give the kids something to look up to,” Collins said.

Collins, who has been racing for more than 20 years, said one of the main pieces of advice he gives to youths interested in the sport is to be ready for yearlong preparations.

“When you decide to race at the beginning of the season, it takes many, many months of preparation with your body and the machine. You can expect to show up off the couch and jump on a machine and hope that you’re going to be okay,” Collins said. “You have to be all in, 100% committed.”

Collins started his racing career in 2001. He saw other young people race and thought that he would be able to do what they did. For his first Iron Dog race in 2013, Collins paired up with an experienced racer from Kiana, Brad Reich Sr, who taught him a lot about strategy, preparation and the unique aspects of the Iron Dog.

“We don’t have a big support team behind us, and we have to be very careful with our machines,” Collins said about racing the Iron Dog. “We have to have something to finish with. At the end of the day, we can’t go out and beat up our equipment and expect to have support to replace anything.”

Following Reich’s lead, Collins took it lightly on the way to Nome. During the second half of the race, Reich suggested the team “turn it up a little bit.” The two racers came in seventh by time and fifth across the line.

Collins and Wicken have been friends for about 15 years and have discussed racing for several seasons. When Collins approached Wicken, the decision was made quickly.

“He asked me on a Friday, and on Saturday we put deposits down on two snogos, and on Monday we signed up,” Wicken said.

Before summer 2021, Collins thought he had accomplished enough in the sport and competitive racing. This year, he realized that racing can be a platform for dealing with even bigger challenges.

“Racing and the requirements for racing help you with your own hardships,” Collins said. “When you’re a racer, you have to do hard work and have determination, and the hard work and determination will help you in other ways other than racing as well.”

If you or someone you know is thinking about hurting themselves or others, you can seek help through the 24-hour Maniilaq Emergency Room at 1-800-431-3321, which provides health and risk assessments, crisis interventions, and referrals to higher level of care. You can also call the Alaska Careline at 1-877-266-HELP (4357).