Considering booking a trip to Alyeska in late February or early march, but have to book today. Anyone been? Anything to share?
only been there in June, looks awesome from the bottom.
imp wrote:
only been there in June, looks awesome from the bottom.
SAME ! Went to the top. Steepest chutes I have seen (maybe I don't get around much). I say go since Alaska is really very different from ... say ... Summit County or SLC or Tahoe. You are on the coast and not so high elevation. Downtown Anchorage is chill. Outside chance for heli-ski. go.
Reisen wrote:
Considering booking a trip to Alyeska in late February or early march, but have to book today. Anyone been? Anything to share?
Have a good friend who went during late season a few years ago. They had a good time. She did a heli day and had a ball. Was a low advanced skier at the time. Her husband is an intermediate but also enjoyed the trip.
Scenery in Alaska is pretty amazing. I'd say go!
Unfortunately, we decided not to book the Alaska trip. A couple of pro / con factors for anyone considering it in the future:
Background: Delta had a flash sale using miles, with 20k RT + $10 in taxes for flights to Anchorage and Fairbanks. I asked some friends that I know have been there, posted here, and read a bunch online. This was the first time since it closed that I really, really missed Epicski. Pugski is too new, and TGR is just not my scene any more.
Cons:
- The dates were limited to January, February, and a very few options in mid-march. The mid-march dates were too close to Fairfax County spring break, when we'll also be traveling. So it likely would have been Presidents Day weekend in March.
- The flight options had 2 layovers, and travel times were generally in the 13+ hour range. So we'd be spending a lot of time traveling to / from Anchorage, plus two layovers to miss connections.
- If we did Alyeska, most of what I read said it's really only worth it if you heli-ski. I would absolutely love this, but that's $$$ ($2700 for my wife and I to do it for one day), and we'd be paying substantially more for that than the rest of the trip combined.
- Snow conditions seem pretty iffy at Alyeska resort. The low altitude can mean lots of rain, lots of fog, ice, etc. The location means lots of flat light. There is supposedly fairly little tree skiing, and a lot of the best terrain at the resort is often closed.
Pros:
- The flights would be basically free, and the hotel offers a bundle with lift tickets that is very reasonable ($240 a night including daily lift tickets for two adults).
- Alyeska is a short drive from Anchorage and the airport.
- Alyeska looks gorgeous and is different from the normal Summit County / Utah resorts.
- If you have the time and money, the heli-skiing looks amazing.
In the end, the long travel times coupled with the weather, iffy snow, and the fact that I couldn't go and NOT heli ski made me opt out. Instead, we'll be looking at the standard Vail/Aspen/Jackson/Utah/Steamboat/Big Sky vacations. It's just so convenient to take a direct flight for 4 hours vs a two-layover flights that takes 13 hours.
As much as I like Alaska that makes total sense. Cheers.
13 hours travel time with two (lengthy I presume) layovers would be enough to get me to say no. I did something like that about 20 years ago for a $160 RT to Hawaii on United with a 4.5 hour layover in SF.
Never again.
Reisen wrote:
- The flight options had 2 layovers, and travel times were generally in the 13+ hour range. So we'd be spending a lot of time traveling to / from Anchorage, plus two layovers to miss connections.
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