Alaska is paradise for those who crave adventure. Picture soaring peaks swathed in sheets of ice with craggy faces begging to be climbed; endless slopes of fresh powder with thousands of vertical feet untouched by previous skiers; freshwater streams carving through untouched pine forests and filled with salmon ripe for catching.
It's about as exotic as Americans can get without pulling out their passports. To experience those elements, though, you’ve got to venture beyond the cruise ports—something few tourists do. But, now, it’s easier than ever to experience the forty-ninth state, thanks in part to new hotels and experiences embracing the growing trend of experiential travel.
Tourism is on the rise in the Last Frontier: The state hosted 1.93 million visitors in 2017, a 4 percent increase over 2016, and tourism rates have increased by 26 percent over the past decade. United Airlines even launched a new direct route from Newark to Anchorage this summer to accommodate more travelers heading northwest.
It’s still true that most of those visitors do come via cruise ship. But as ground zero for activities like heli-skiing, ice climbing, and glacier hiking, Alaska is also attracting adventurers with money to burn exploring the most exciting terrain in the United States.
Experiential travel is one of the fastest growing sector of a trillion-dollar industry—for example, 67 percent more travelers chose to book outdoor activities (like glacier hiking and mountain biking) than in 2017, according to data from TripAdvisor. Natural adventure destinations like Alaska are poised to benefit significantly, and hotels and tour companies within the state are already setting themselves up for success.
Sheldon Chalet
One of the newest five-star properties, Sheldon Chalet may also be one of the most unique in the entire U.S. Perched atop a rocky outcrop in the middle of a 35-square-mile glacial amphitheater, the hotel is nearly 50 miles from the closest town and only accessible via helicopter or small plane. Its five private acres used to house just one small mountain shack used by famous Alaskan bush pilot Don Sheldon, who pioneered the technique of glacier landings on Denali back in the 1950s and 1960s.
The mountain house still stands, but Sheldon’s children, Robert and Kate, have reimagined the property as a luxury chalet with just five rooms. The two buildings are the only livable structures within Denali National Park, giving guests an unparalleled way to experience the landscape. Their philosophy of adventuring in place caters to those who want to drop off the grid for a few days (there’s no wi-fi on site) and appreciate the immensity of the majestic surroundings—including, on clear days, views of Denali, the tallest mountain in North America, just 10 miles away. But it’s not just enough to take in the views; they also offer expedition-style glacier treks, rock climbing, rappelling into crevasses, igloo building, and skiing or sledding.
Tordrillo Mountain Lodge
Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, a former hunting and fishing lodge on Judd Lake, an area only accessible via a 40-minute floatplane flight from Anchorage, is also banking on filling their rooms with adventurers. Founded nearly 15 years ago by Olympic gold medalist Tommy Moe, Alaska heli-ski pioneer Mike Overcast, and fly fishing expert Mike Rheam, TML has a reputation as one of the preeminent heli-skiing destinations, with their guides uncovering more heli-ski terrain than anyone else in Alaska. The lodge also offers unparalleled remote activities like heli-fishing and heli-biking.
The lodge reopened in February 2019 after a multi-million dollar renovation and unveiled the state’s first via ferrata, a type of climbing route popular in Europe (there are less than 10 in the U.S.), 80 miles from the nearest road on the massive Triumvirate Glacier. With interest in climbing growing thanks to documentaries like Free Solo and its imminent debut in the 2020 Summer Olympics, the lodge hopes to draw tourists beyond the cruise circuit and into the wilds of the Tordrillo Mountains.
Or Stay by Sea
For those who still like the idea of exploring by boat, experiential travel agency Pelorus is reinventing the idea of the Alaskan cruise. Their custom wildlife viewing expeditions take you from yacht to wilderness via helicopter to track black and grizzly bears and wolves, spot orca and humpback whales in the Prince William Sound, paddle board around Alaska’s thousands of glaciers, and heli-ski pristine backcountry trails.
These aren’t your average adventure trips; there’s no roughing it or sacrificing amenities. Sheldon Chalet and Tordrillo Mountain Lodge are both five-star properties that serve up farm-to-table produce, fresh Alaskan oysters and fish, and top shelf champagne despite their far-flung locations. The Chalet has a sauna built on top of the rock, and TML has a private helipad in front of their cabins in case arriving by float plane is too bourgeoisie. Pelorus yacht experiences come with a private chef and hot tub on deck.
And so it's the prices—in addition to the difficulty just getting to these epic locations—that makes them so exclusive—that keep these experiences reserved for a specific type of luxury traveler. Sheldon Chalet costs $3,150 per person per night with a three-night minimum; summer packages at TML start at $6,000 per person for three nights, while winter heli-skiing packages begin at $14,000 per person for seven nights. Pelorus trips, which are entirely customizable, start at $30,000.
The prices are steep, but there’s nowhere else in America where you can find this level of luxury combined with this caliber of adventure—more on par with what you’d find on a luxury African safari, in the Alps, or on a private island in the Maldives than in the States.
It’s not that these parts of Alaska haven’t been explored before; it’s that doing so often takes a level of knowledge and mountaineering, aviation, or sailing skill few tourists have. But with new properties and experiences providing incredible access to the lesser visited internal destinations, the state is well on its way to becoming the ultimate adventure playground—for those who can afford it.
