Alaska?

A snowHead

So I guess most of us have wondered if we could hack it in Alaska and I did look into it a few years back but did'nt have the funds. But has anyone on here done it?

Did you find it doable? Anything faze you?

Also, if you dont mind, what airports did you use (dont think you can do Ancoridge direct), how easy was it to get a 'chopper, is accom expensive and the big question how much did the trip cost?

Be good to hear any know-how!

A snowHead

Been a long term ambition when I was boarding mainly - don't think my ski skills are up to it yet. My research suggests that you've got to be prepare for plenty of down days (and maybe resort skiing in Alyeska) before you luck out on the dream heli days. There seem to be some heli ops which will take pay by the day but every ski bum in Alaska wants to use them on a good day I would suspect.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

i was lucky enough to spend about a year and a half in AK and have been back a few times since, it is an amazing place. However, you definitely need money if you plan to ride there. Alyeska is a nice little resort in Girdwood about 40 mins south of Anchorage but it doesn't actually have that many lifts compared to the big north american or european resorts. Obviously you can hike from them but AK is a bloody big place and you have to be careful where you go. If you only get as far as Alyeska you've probably wasted a lot of money and should have gone to Tahoe or Whistler instead.

To make the most of the place you have to be heli boarding, which is really expensive and fatbob is right, if you book to go for a week you may only get one day out if the weather is bad. As for being doable, with any good heli operation they should take you to something suitable for your standard, they're not going to drop you at something Jeremy Jones did a first descent on the previous week.

To get there try United Airlines, changing at Seattle-Tacoma or Chicago usually, to Anchorage (about £700 at least). It's about a 7 hour drive from there to Valdez where some of the best heli ops are. Accommodation isn't particularly expensive, you can find a basic american motel fairly reasonably. I don't know how much you would spend doing it as a holiday from here as I was there on a longer term basis so it was more of a day trip thing.

Alaska has to be one of my favourite places in the world and there are many reasons to go visit but to go, purely for a snowboard trip you've got to have quite a bit of cash to spare, if you do go though, you'll never forget it!

Help!!

Alaska?

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