Snow gear in August? Yes, it’s real. Welcome to high school football in Utqiagvik, Alaska.
The Barrow Whalers opened their 2025 season at Cathy Parker Field last Friday, and the setting looks straight out of another planet. Drone shots taken before kickoff show the field wedged between Imikpuk Lake and the Arctic Ocean. It feels less like a sports venue and more like the final outpost before the world drops off.
The images immediately gained attention. They’re among the viral stadium stories, like that of Georgia High School’s new $62M football stadium . Both are jaw-dropping in their ways, but only one sits on the northernmost tip of the United States, where every single road trip requires a plane.
The Whalers are playing football at the edge of the world, literally.
Life And Fo