Alaska Airlines Gymnasium
The Alaska Airlines Gymnasium is home to the Alaska Nanooks men's and women's basketball programs and the volleyball program. The Alaska Airlines Gymnasium holds a capacity of 1,648.
Carlson Center
The Carlson Center is a 4,595-seat multi-purpose arena near downtown Fairbanks, Alaska. It is the third largest arena by seating capacity in Alaska. The Alaska Nanooks hockey team has called the Carlson Center home since its opening on June 13, 1990.
After spending time in the Great West Hockey Conference from 1985-1988, the Nanooks took on the life of an Independent-Division I school again. They spent six seasons at the Independent ranks before joining the CCHA for the 1994-95 season. Following 19-seasons in the CCHA, the 'Nooks then took to the WCHA following the creation of the NCHC and Big 10 Hockey conferences. The re-alignment in the WCHA led to eight seasons of conference affiliation before Alaska became Independent again in 2021.
Inside the Carlson Center, the Nanooks have a world-class locker room, training rooms, coaches offices and other features that came as part of a 2013 Carlson Center renovation.
E.F. Horton Rifle Range
Named after Master Sgt. Everad Horton, 2009 Hall of Fame inductee, the E.F. Horton Rifle Range has been the home of the Nanooks rifle team since the completion of the Patty Center in 1962, reintroducing a new era of rifle excellence that continues to today. Alaska's dominance came to light in the 1960's as the Nanooks' women's rifle team won the NRA National Collegiate Women's Championship from 1961-67 before Rifle officially became an NCAA-recognized and sponsored sport in the 1980's. Since then, the Nanooks have won 10 National Championships, including nine in 10 years; 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008. Their first came in 1994.
Ernest N. Patty Building
The Ernest N. Patty Building, known as the Patty Center, was dedicated in 1963. It houses the seat Alaska Airlines Court for basketball and volleyball, a 25-yard swimming pool, courts for handball and racquetball, weight rooms, a rifle range, classrooms, locker rooms with saunas and a human performance laboratory. It is home to the university's Reserve Officers' Training Corps program as well as the Nanooks' NCAA varsity teams, which include Division I men's hockey, Division II men's and women's basketball, cross-country running and skiing, and rifle, and Division II women's volleyball and swimming. In 1979, a 1,300-seat ice arena was added on the west side of the center.
The center is named after Ernest Newton Patty, who joined the first faculty of the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines as professor of geology and mining in 1922. Patty served as president of the university from 1953-1960.
Patty Center Pool
The Patty Center Pool is home to the Nanooks swim team. Viewing of Nanooks swim meets can be done from the fan zone on the pool deck below or from the overhanging balcony. The Patty Center Pool is a six-lane, 25-yard pool.
Patty Ice Arena
Alongside the Carlson Center, the Alaska Nanooks hockey team uses their on-campus sheet of ice, the Patty Ice Arena, for daily practices and it is the site of their annual Blue/Gold Scrimmage. The Patty Ice has a capacity of 1,200 and is home to an NHL-sized rink.
UAF Trail System/Birch Hill
The Nanooks cross country and Nordic ski teams use the University trail system and Birch Hill Ski Center as their main practice and competition facilities. The on-campus trails offer great variety of easy terrain and houses the annual Blue and Gold Invite between the Nanooks and Alaska Anchorage Seawolves cross country teams. Birch Hill is often used for competition preparation during the ski season due to it's harsh uphill and downhill terrain and was home to Alaska's first RMISA races in February 2022.
Usibelli Coal Mine Weight Room
The Alaska Nanooks athletic department upgraded their weight room with a generous gift of $75,000 from the Usibelli Coal Mine. Thanks to close-ties with UAF and the Athletic Department, their generosity allowed for a complete first-floor makeover, improving their 2,000-square-foot space and benefitting every Alaska Nanook student-athlete since 2018 and on.
The remodel began in June 2018 and ended in December 2018. The new and improved weight room was able to add branded graphics, squat racks, benches, universal machines, training systems and more. Along with other generous donors, proper weight-training equipment was able to be used, giving our student-athletes the best opportunities for in-game strength, stamina and success.
