“Providing the opportunity for people to face challenges and grow has been my mission since starting Exposure Alaska and MICA Guides over 20 years ago. Our family of companies is passionate about delivering high-quality adventure tourism experiences, but the importance of learning and community are at our core. Our internship Program has proven to be a powerful learning experience and growth opportunity and our returning Senior Staff are continually challenged throughout their career with the company. The tourism business makes it all possible.
The Matanuska Outdoor Institute is a move towards giving our educational goals the priority they deserve. And enables us to broaden our reach to people who may not yet have a solid foundation of outdoor skills or who do not want to focus an entire season on an internship in adventure tourism”
Don Wray, Founder, MICA Guides & Exposure Alaska
Who we are
Outdoor experts, professional educators, program directors and a group of advisors that share our vision for building capable humans.
In addition to our team of professionals, MOI is backed, trained and operated under the guidance of the outdoor professionals of MICA Guides. For over 20 years, MICA Guides has helped thousands of visitors explore and challenge themselves with zero major injuries or incidents.
This highly professional edge sets MOI apart from the typical summer camp programs.
Our Mission
With Alaska as our classroom, we strive to build a community where a person can develop personal resilience, leadership skills, and outdoor competence that can apply to all of life’s challenges.
Kelsey Winterbottom, MSW
Lead Instructor and Coordinator
Kelsey is thrilled to be the Lead Instructor at MOI. Originally from Rhode Island, she moved out west in search of adventure and purpose — a journey that eventually led her to Alaska’s wild landscapes. Along the way, she earned a Master’s in Social Work, which shaped her approach to leadership by emphasizing empathy, adaptability, and the power of community.
Kelsey brings a wealth of experience to her role, including six years with MICA Guides in Alaska, work as a wilderness therapy guide in Utah, and six seasons as an adaptive ski instructor. She has also worked in one of the most remote environments on earth — Antarctica. She has a deep appreciation for the outdoors as a space for both challenge and growth. Passionate about helping others build confidence and skills in wild places, Kelsey fosters a supportive community rooted in resilience. Whether guiding students through rugged trails or teaching technical outdoor skills, she is dedicated to empowering each person to embrace the unknown and discover their own strengths.
Zachary Donahoe
Instructor
Zachary grew up in New Mexico spending much of his youth outside in nature. An Eagle Scout and lifelong skier, Zachary has always looked for ways to connect his love for the outdoors with his work. After college, he began working with kids in various outdoor settings like backpacking camps, Outdoor schools, and ski instructing.
Since then, he has pursued roles in outdoor youth mentorship programs and has developed a passion for empowering youth to realize and achieve their fullest potential through the great outdoors.
Jason Walsh
Program Director
Jason brings a lifetime of mountain experience to MOI. He got his start fishing and hunting the old school way by rambling on foot over hills, mountains, lakes and rivers learning from his elders how to be on the land.
His work outside began with trails, building cabins, managing remote kayak camps and progressed through several years as a Park Ranger. After graduate school he went on to develop public land management practices for the State of Alaska that incorporated community and native voice into the decision making process.
He has worked as an educator on public lands, the director of a state/federal land organization, an international instructor on eco-tourism, a community forum leader, a native village liaison, and a wilderness guide. While his work has been awesome it is his role primarily as a father of four and husband to one amazing woman that keeps him motivated and striving to do better everyday.
Don Wray
Founder of MICA Guides and Exposure Alaska
After some rather boring years growing up in NC, Don signed up for a rock-climbing course in college and was introduced to outdoor adventure. Joining an expedition to Peru after graduation sealed the deal and set him on his life’s path. Following a brief detour as an engineer for the US Navy, working to make submarines quiet, Don got back on track and spent the next 10 years or so working and traveling in some of the most remote areas of the world. From South Pacific islands, to Outback Australia to deep field camps in Antarctica.
He settled in Alaska in 1999, built a homestead and started Exposure Alaska. Which led to MICA Guides, Glacier View Adventures, Matanuska Glacier Helicopters and the Matanuska Outdoor Institute.
Don’s drive is providing opportunity and challenge, for himself and others. He has climbed big mountains, traveled, organized trail crews, led expeditions, started companies and taught classes on 7 continents.
When he’s not in front of a computer or building something, you can find him skiing, biking or paragliding with his wife Mandy and their dog Mesa. (Well, not the paragliding part).
Daniel Schweppe
Instructor
Daniel is a small-town North Carolinian who stepped out of the foothills and beyond the Blue Ridge, finding himself in Glacier View, Alaska. Daniel’s spirit of adventure and curiosity has encouraged him to apply his passion for the outdoors into several seasons’ experience working as a backcountry guide in Wyoming, and now with MICA Guides and Matanuska Outdoor Institute.
Daniel recognizes the impact of cultivating respect and responsibility for our natural world early in life. He seeks to foster leadership, stewardship, and responsibility among young people. With a degree in Outdoor Experiential Education from Appalachian State, Daniel’s career is built upon his belief that the best classroom is the backcountry. Ultimately, he hopes to provide each youth who finds MOI with an effective, engaging, and impactful experience they can pursue beyond Glacier View.
When Daniel isn’t in the field, you can usually find him fast asleep in his hammock with a book shading his face, plucking a guitar under the boughs of a good tree, or making an effort to keep his espresso from burning in the moka pot.
Alec Sica
Chief Financial Officer
Alec arrived in Alaska greener than alder after a soaking rain. Having never hiked anything over a few hundred feet, carried a backpack with more than a few books in it, or climbed anything other than out of bed, the summer of 2017 altered the course of his life forever. Working on the Logistics Team with MICA Guides, Alec was transformed under the weight of wet ropes and steep ice climbs. Once a 19 year old business student disillusioned with his uninspiring future in corporate America, Alec became an outdoor professional with abundant opportunity for adventure and an intimate community of friends to share and grow through life with.
Alec joins MOI with 5 years experience at and as the current General Manager of MICA Guides. He is most passionate about finding ways to provide others the kind of life-shattering opportunity he experienced at one of his most influential moments in his life.
When he’s not crunching the numbers or staring at schedules, you might find him taking some powdery turns in Colorado’s San Juans, writing a journal entry by a wood stove in Vermont, or rambling down a highway looking for that next great adventure.
Hira Shamsuddin, MEd
Assistant Director of Curriculum Development
Hira is a professional teacher with a master’s in education. In the off-season, Hira works at South Eugene High School in Eugene, Oregon teaching The Integrated Outdoor Program. This unique program combines leadership, literature, and outdoor education into a year-long exploration-based education. Hira also teaches literature and ethnic studies.
Having a long history with the outdoors, Hira has worked for MICA Guides, Oregon Adaptive Sports, The American Alpine Club Craggin Classic Series and volunteered with the IOP for eight years before becoming a program teacher.
Hira specializes in leadership education and has written outdoor leadership curriculum for over two years. In her off time, Hira enjoys climbing, rafting, and hiking with her two dogs Remy and Moonpie.
Passionate about representation in the outdoors, Hira works within in community to provide spaces for women of color to enter the outdoor recreation field. Hira is excited to be working with the incredible and talented staff at MOI.
Scholarships Available
We want our courses to be accessible to everyone.
Generous donations from our community make this program possible. Thanks to our partners, we are able to offer discounts for a limited number of students. They can’t last forever, so take advantage of them while supplies last! Sponsors and scholarship amounts will change each month, and the closer it gets to summer, the smaller the discount.
Until the end of April, book online and use the code mica30 to save 30% on your tuition.
