Jeremy Keller Bio: Where Is the Edge of Alaska Star Now? Life in Knik, Iditarod & Politics

Who is Jeremy Keller? He is widely recognized as one of the main figures on Discovery Channel’s Edge of Alaska, which documented the lives of residents in the isolated town of McCarthy. Beyond television, Keller is a homesteader, musher, carpenter, and former U.S. Senate candidate who built an off-grid life with his family in Alaska.

Born in 1971 in Iowa, Keller spent his early years moving across various states in the Lower 48. After a short time at college in Madison, Wisconsin, he left formal education to pursue a more hands-on lifestyle. That decision ultimately brought him to Alaska, where he settled in McCarthy in the late 1990s and began the life that would later be featured on national television.

From Off‑Grid Homesteader to Reality TV Star

Keller built a life far from modern conveniences, homesteading with his wife Alison and eventually raising two sons, Bjorn and Liam, off the grid. When Discovery Channel launched Edge of Alaska in 2014, Jeremy and his family agreed to open their secluded life to cameras—although on their terms. He negotiated boundaries carefully before embracing the opportunity.

Through four seasons (from 2014–2017), viewers followed Jeremy’s efforts to sustain a farmstead, barter goat cheese and lumber, revive abandoned machinery, and navigate conflicts with modernization proponents like Neil Darish. As the de facto leader of residents aiming to preserve McCarthy’s rugged heritage, Jeremy represented the traditional, slow-growth philosophy that clashed with commercial expansion.

Homestead Mastery & Farmstead Life

Season 4 spotlighted Jeremy’s deepening commitment to self‑sufficiency. He expanded the homestead by five acres, built a barn, cultivated hay, raised goats for milk and cheese, and restored an old 1970s bulldozer with help from bush pilot Gary Green. The goat cheese, produced in pint jars, was considered a prized commodity, selling for around $50 per jar. Jeremy’s “farmsteading” approach combined old-school resilience with practical entrepreneurship.

The show also captured moments of him teaching survival skills and even humor (like fart jokes) to his sons—reminding viewers that life off-grid was both hard and joyful.

Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Racing

Parallel to his homestead work, Jeremy Keller has been a committed musher since the early 1990s. He has also taken time to share his experiences through public platforms. In 2019, he uploaded a video titled “Drop Bags” on YouTube, where he explains the logistics of preparing food and supplies for his son Bjorn’s Junior Iditarod run. That same year, Keller delivered a speech at the Iditarod finishers’ banquet in Nome, where he reflected on the physical and emotional experiences of the race—including a moment when he deliberately allowed himself to fall asleep while mushing through a storm, guided only by trust in his team and the rhythm of the trail.

In 2020, he shared a video titled “The Beginning,” offering a deeper look into the early stages of sled dog training. Keller explained that training begins with car training before transitioning to camping, allowing dogs to develop connective tissue strength and aerobic capacity. He emphasized the importance of daily repetition, emotional calm, and rhythm—stating that a musher’s calm demeanor is key to managing the controlled chaos of an excited dog team. The video underscored his methodical approach to mushing and the bond he maintains with his team through routine and discipline.

• 2007: Entered his first Iditarod, finishing 54th in about 15 days. This was even more remarkable considering he had broken his leg just prior to the race.

• 2019: Returned to the trail and finished 37th, completing the grueling race in roughly 13 days and earning prize money.
• 2020: Scratched from the race in Nikolai due to COVID-19 concerns, but became known for mushing the route in reverse to return home.

Now based in Knik, Alaska, Jeremy operates a kennel under the name All Roads Lead to Dogs. His son Bjorn followed in his footsteps, participating in the Junior Iditarod.

Personal Life & Holistic Values

Jeremy met Alison in 1999 while living in McCarthy, a remote town in Alaska that had begun attracting seasonal visitors. Their first date took place in the spring of 2002 and involved a dog sled ride—an early reflection of the life they would later build together. They married in 2003 and welcomed their first son, Bjorn, a year and a half later. Their second son, Liam, was born several years after that.

In September 2004, shortly after Bjorn’s birth, Jeremy slipped on a damp footbridge and suffered a serious leg fracture. The injury required surgery and the insertion of a steel rod extending from his knee to his ankle. Despite the setback, he entered the 2007 Iditarod with a 13-dog team and completed the race.

The Kellers spent close to two decades in McCarthy before relocating to Knik around 2017. The move, which coincided with the conclusion of Edge of Alaska, provided more opportunities for sled dog training and education for their sons. As of 2019, Alison homeschooled their children and was actively studying and applying energy medicine, which she used to support both her family and their sled dogs. While current practices may have evolved, this formed a significant part of their lifestyle at the time.

The Keller family was known for their homesteading lifestyle, rooted in practical self-reliance and a health-conscious routine, particularly during their years in McCarthy and the early period after their move to Knik. In more recent years, Alison has also explored musical expression—releasing her first recorded song, “Sweet Surrender,” in September 2023, signaling a continued evolution of interests and creative pursuits within the family.

Political Foray and Advocacy

In 2022, Jeremy Keller ran as a nonpartisan candidate in Alaska’s U.S. Senate primary. According to a candidate questionnaire published by the Anchorage Daily News on August 5, 2022, Keller listed his occupation as a carpenter and his residence as McCarthy. He also served as President of the McCarthy Area Council.

His campaign platform included a number of controversial and strongly worded positions. He referred to COVID-19 as a “fraud,” called the vaccine “The Jab,” and accused the federal government of orchestrating the pandemic and economic disruption. He rejected federal funding as harmful to state autonomy, denied the legitimacy of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, and dismissed January 6th as a “patently absurd” description of events. He further advocated for arming and training all citizens, opposed immigration reform, and expressed skepticism toward climate change mitigation policies.

While Keller’s candidacy did not advance past the primary, his campaign attracted attention due to its uncompromising rhetoric and rejection of traditional political discourse, as detailed in the Anchorage Daily News voter guide.