Alaskan-owned, Alaska-made

Ermine Skate is the result of a group of Alaskans coming together to design, manufacture, and sell premium Nordic skates in our home town of Anchorage, Alaska. Alaska’s glaciers, lakes, lagoons, and sloughs are an endless playground for Nordic skaters, and Alaska’s outdoor culture is second to none. This is the perfect place to launch North America’s first Nordic skate brand.

Meet the Ermine

The ermine (pronounced ur-min) ranges across Eurasia, Greenland, and North America, including nearly all of Alaska. Small, sleek, and bold, the ermine is a ferocious hunter capable of taking prey several times its own size. Encountering a curious ermine is always a highlight of any winter walk, ski, or skate.

In the summer, an ermine is typically referred to as a stoat. The name ‘Ermine’ is used only when animals are in their white winter coats; to use an archaic phrasing, when a stoat is “in ermine.” Few animals transform so much between the seasons that their names change too. This radical seasonal transformation is also a central part of wild skating, when waterways freeze over and change from liquid water into sparkling, smooth, skateable ice.

We hope to see you out on our skates this winter, when the lakes, sloughs, and lagoons have frozen solid and the world is “in ermine.”