Deke (co-owner and founder) started the kennel (Nautique Sky Kennel) in 2014. He had previous mushing experience in Colorado and Sweden before starting his own kennel, and since then has been breeding and raising his own dogs while competitively mushing in long-distance dog sled races such as the Iditarod, Yukon Quest, Copper Basin, and Two Rivers dog sled races. He won the Leonard Seppala Humanitarian Award for exemplary dog care in the 2023 Iditarod. He enjoys sharing his unique lifestyle with guests as well as sharing the trail with his best dog companions and human friends!

Jonah (co-owner and founder) got into mushing when he moved from Wisconsin to Fairbanks in 2021. Jonah has been mushing together with Deke and his dogs since 2022, doing training runs, tours, and long-distance races like the Copper Basin and Yukon Quest. Jonah won the Sportsmanship Award in the 2024 and 2025 Yukon Quest races and the Spirit of the North award for toughness in the 2026 Yukon Quest 750. He especially enjoys sharing the goofy personalities of each individual dog with guests and cleaning the yard of doggie turds when the Northern Lights are out.

Nolan is Deke’s son and has been a major part of the kennel since he was born. He keeps things loose and reminds us all that the point is to HAVE FUN! He is the two-time defending champion of the Two Rivers Fun-ale kid dog sled race. He enjoys mushing small teams in the spring in his Charmander Pokemon costume and raising his litter of pups (the Chicago Bulls litter) into the next group of top-tier race dogs!

Izzy hails from Fairbanks originally with long ties to dog mushing being raised as the daughter of a Yukon Quest dog musher. She has been running and training dogs since she could walk and has spent the last couple of winters handling for long-distance dog mushers. Izzy joined the team for the summer 2026 Cataract Glacier dog mushing tours and is excited to be a part of the team during the 2026/27 winter, where she will be guiding dog sled tours and racing in mid-distance races.

Madi comes from Texas originally and has been working seasonal jobs all across the country up until coming to Alaska in the summer of 2021 to work as a dog mushing handler/guide on Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau, AK. Since then, she has spent 3 summers on glaciers working with sled dogs, including the most recent summer 2026 on Cataract Glacier with North Star Dog Mushing Company. In 2025, she moved full-time to Fairbanks. This winter, she will be guiding with NSDMC and running her first distance races with our sled dogs.