Alyeska: Top Reasons to Visit or Skip it
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- Опубликовано: 23 авг 2024
- Alyeska Resort is a ski and snowboard destination 40 minutes outside of Anchorage, Alaska. Here are top reasons to plan a ski or snowboard trip there, along with top reasons not to visit Alyeska.
Reasons to Visit:
1) It's Alaska. Skiing or snowboarding the rugged and untamed mountains of Alaska is a dream. Alaska has the allure of being the last frontier. It's a bucket list item.
2) It's Not that Crowded. Because Alaska is separated from the lower 48 states, less people tend to go there for a quick ski or snowboard trip, so locals and a smaller number of travelers equal smaller crowds.
3) It's Predominantly Advanced Terrain. Alyeska is 40% expert terrain and 90% intermediate to expert terrain. If you're an advanced skier or snowboarder, that's a great ratio.
4) High Annual Snowfall. Alyeska receives 600+ inches of snow per year. That beats resorts in Utah and Washington, which tend to receive the most snow in the lower 48 states.
5) Christmas Chute. Alyeska has the longest double black diamond slope in the U.S.
6) Heliskiing. If you visit Alyeska, you can spend a day or more heliskiing the incredible terrain of the Chugach mountains.
7) Ikon Pass. If you have the Ikon Pass, you can now use it at Alyeska.
8) Girdwood. If you like resorts that have low-key no-nonsense towns, Alyeska has you covered with Girdwood, which is small and has no frills.
Reasons NOT to Visit:
1) It's Alaska. It takes longer to get to Alyeska from the lower 48 because it's all the way in Alaska. It's much easier just to go to Colorado, Utah or anywhere else if don't live in Alaska.
2) It's Small. It is not as large as major resorts in the lower 48 states, and only has two basic ways up the mountain that take you to essentially the same spot.
3) Shorter Ski Day. Because Alaska is so far north, the days are shorter. The sun rises as late as 10 am, so the chairlifts don't open as early as they do in the lower 48 states. To compensate, Alyeska does offer night skiing on some nights.
4) Ikon Pass. The fact that Alyeska is now part of the Ikon Pass can be a bad development. It may become more crowded over time and more expensive. Because it's such a small mountain, it won't take much for chairlift lines to be affected. Development of new condominiums may price out locals and change the character of the town.
5) Girdwood. It's small. If you like to party and have a lot of things to do, Girdwood currently may be a negative for you.
Former Alyeska Mtn Mngr here and your summary is pretty spot on. March is a good time to go as the days are longer, the sun aspect lights up the mtn better, the snow is deeper, less likelyhood of rain, and the outer areas like High-T, Silvertip Bowl, and Max's will open more regularly. Backcountry in Turnagain Pass is pretty point and shoot from the Seward Highway if you're rigged for a short drive and have a touring set up. Heli is alaways a good call but most opertaions don't begin until around Feb. Silverton will start early and go up high in the mtns near Seward. Winter King salmon fishing is another good option if you have a down day and doing a snowmobile tour out to Spencer glacier is a great time. Girdwood is a great little town and I loved my time there.
There’s more terrain you can access on the other side of Anchorage, by going up to Arctic Valley. It’s open on weekends, but you can boot pack or skin up too. If you have access to a snow machine (snowmobile) you can get all sorts of lines at Hatcher’s Pass. Cat skiing is more common than heli skiing. Make friends after hours with rich people from the states, who came to heli ski. They usually buy 3-5 packages, and have been known to give their remaining days to locals, when they gas out.
I'm all about the spiritual experience of being on the slopes not the Apres.. looks great to me!
Coolest place on earth
thaaat was a trip down memory lane, i grew up there.
Christmas chute ain’t even the longest double black at Alyeska lol
yes it is bruj
@@slarellano123nope. New Years Chute and the Monies are both longer.
Pro tip is to sign up for the standby catskiing with Chugach Powder Guides when the weather looks likes it's going to be good. Some of the best days of skiing I've ever had for
If one wants to hear some of the world's spoken major languages without needing a passport, try Alyeska 😐☺️
DUUUDE! Always wanted to go there! What a F'ing DREAM!!!
You guys definitely have to make a go at it sometime. It's a bucket list thing!
Sounds like a fun adventure!
Was just there this weekend!!!
The majority of the expert terrain rarely opens with a good bit that hasn't been open in years.
Amen. Alyeska is actually a fascinating little mountain. The avy risk (rightly) has led to extended closures of prime terrain. It's not just the runs themselves, but sometimes other avy paths above them that can't be safely secured. This would be solved by putting a lift of some kind near the actual summit ridgeline, allowing for consistent skier compaction and regular patrol avy work.
But that would be immensely expensive and an engineering challenge similar to the new team at Big Sky or the older ones at Snowbird and Jackson Hole. It would only serve a few "safe" double blacks and a larger chunk of truly extreme terrain. Alyeska doesn't have the ski visitors to fund such a huge project, and a new pod of the gnarliest terrain in NA that's also a 7+ hour flight for most people won't bring new spending crowds. Crowds spend on intermediate family friendly terrain; Northstar sees way more visitors than Sugar Bowl, Mt. Rose and Kirkwood while having a pretty similar footprint because all they do is condos and blue runs.
And Eaglecrest is the best advanced area in AK.
@RD1R I've been working and skiing here for 10 years. I see the problem as a completely different issue then what you are trying to describe.
@@reidcapling4434 probably, and imo that's part of the problem. I've talked to mtn management and patrol during their onboarding to certain... Corporate products... And the very publicly stated reason for a lack of terrain staying open was avy risk.
My solution is the "big resort" build it to the top method of avy control. See: Mammoth, Kirkwood, Palisades, Snowbird. The other option is the "small mountain" approach, like patrol only surface lifts next to a hike ala Bridger Bowl or more solidified access paths like A-basin. Alyeska has done none of that, so the terrain stays closed. I think that's cuz people who live there and run it haven't incorporated modern approaches to avy management + ski area.
They do make a solid 75% of their social media posts about the spa tho 😭
I’ll be there next week!
I am going to here today I live in Alaska it is an hour drive
This video is awesome haha
How did you get those above head clips, did u have a drone or a buddle behind you ? 3:25
@@cezarvrejoiu5095 I used a 360 camera attached to an invisible selfie stick (4 feet) attached to my helmet. Makes it harder to balance/ski, but can capture a cool angle.
@@SkiBoyNY. good stuff brotha ✊🤘
i ski here every weekend don't come it's not worth it, go to hill top. perfect for everyone
Is it possible to go there without renting a car?
Certainly, the hotel can put you in contact with a transfer service so that you can avoid that.
Having been this winter, maybe but it would be a pain. We tried. Taxi/Ubers aren't actually that common or available to Girdwood despite what their website will say. They're only available at prime daytime hours, which would often mean losing out on half a ski day to make it to the airport to sit for 4 hours.
And there is an extra cost for being so far out... In the end it cheaper to rent a small SUV. It was a super easy process to rent cuz it's a small low crowd airport, and there is 0 mountain road to actually get to Alyeska.
Beats the fuk out of Hunter Mountain though eh? Show them your AK Airlines boarding pass same day and get a free lift ticket.