The Great Alaskan Snowboarding Adventure

It’s been over a month since I’ve been out on my bike. I miss it, but between cold weather and snow it’s difficult to get outside. On the positive side I’ve been able to work more on strength training which should help next season. The goal is to compete in a Triathlon, and Jessica and I have started a new training plan.  It’s been going we’ll however the holiday and a short trip to Alaska have thrown things off a little bit. But now that the new year is almost here, it’s time to get serious again. Never the less I wanted to update you on the great alaskan snowboarding adventure we had last week.

We thought a trip to Alaska in mid December would be a snow filled, cold blast. But what we discovered was a snowless, not so cold adventure that resembled something out of Christmas Vacation.

I’d been wanting to hit the slopes in Alaska for some time. I had accumulated a ton of frequent flyer miles from my previous job where I was traveling all the time. After doing some research I found I could actually get two tickets to Alaska with my miles. They had a super saver discount which allowed me to upgrade to first class. My research also showed that the ski resort I was looking into averaged 250 inches of snowfall by mid December. I was also able to secure accommodations at the resort for an outstanding deal that even included breakfast.

The disappointments started long before we took off. A few days before the trip I got a phone call from Alyeska, the resort we would be staying at. They informed me that the temperatures were far to warm and they hadn’t been able to open the mountain for skiing very much. Basically they were only open on the weekends. They offered me the ability to rebook which was nice. However, the time was already taken off at work an the flights couldn’t be changed. We decided to go for it anyway, after all it’s Alaska, there had to be snow, right?

We took of on a Thursday and endured the long six hour flight to Anchorage. We landed and were impressed by the airport. Not to small, but clean and modern. We had decided to rent a car so that we would be able to explore a little bit. The car rental counter was easy to  get to, which was a welcome relief. The attendant got me squared away and handed me the keys. It was a Mazda 2, which I had thought was a small SUV. Nope, it was the smallest car I’d every seen. We had two snowboards and our bags that we had to fit in it. We had to put down the back seats and cram the boards between the driver and passenger seats. It almost filled the car back to front.

Once we got loaded we took off to grab some dinner. It was only about 4pm, but we were hungry. The sun had already set, which was strange since it was so early. Jessica wanted Indian, and I had no objections, so we searched and found there were only two Indian restaurants in Anchorage. We arrived at the first one and they were closed until 5pm. So we tried the second and were in luck. We enjoyed our first meal in Alaska and then decided to get some drinks in downtown at Humpy’s. Yes, it’s the name that caught our eye.

Humpy’s was fun, but nothing special. We finished our drinks and decided to head to Alyeska which was a 40 mile drive. The directions were easy, so we hit the road. It was dark and kind of icy, not a fun drive. Jessica fell asleep and I was on my own to navigate. The highway went along the water and I imagined the views would have been spectacular had I been able to see anything. Finally we got to the Alyeska Highway and I turned. We drove for about 4 minutes and then the mountain seemed to come out of nowhere. It was beautiful, all light up for night skiing. Not that they had night skiing open, but the lights were still on. At this point I wasn’t able to find the Hotel and Apple Maps was of no help. Thankfully Jessica was able to reach a nice young man at the hotel who guided us in over the phone.

We got to the hotel and checked in. It was a little strange because there was almost no on there. It was a large hotel, and it seemed very deserted and quiet. It was okay though, because were tired and ready to get some well deserved sleep.

The next morning I was anxious to get up and get breakfast, then hit the slopes. They had said the restaurant opened at 7am, so I was up and ready then. Jessica, on the other hand was not. She was catching up on some well deserved sleep. We did get to breakfast fairly early though and we saw only one or two other guests. We ate and then got ready to hit the slopes. The mountain had been closed all week, so the snow was going to be fresh. Because the sun doesn’t come up until 10:30am, the mountain does not open till then. I think we were ready to go at about 9:30, which meant waiting in line for a while. It was a good thing though. The Alyeska tram, which you had to take to get to the top of the mountain was packed. It was a super long line and it could only take about 60 people at a time. We were lucky and able to get on the 4th tram.

When we got to the top I wasn’t sure what to expect. There was a lot more snow than I expected, which was a good and bad thing. There was only one lift opened which took you to the bowl at the top. Here the snow was deep, waist deep and it took some work to maneuver. It was fun though, but a good workout. Once you got out of the bowl there was a groomed run that took you to the only lift that was open. The first few runs were fun, but then it started to get old. Don’t get me wrong, I love to ride, but the same short run over and over again was not the experience I was looking for. Towards the end of the day everything got skied off and the groomed run turned to nothing but ice.

Jessica and I made the decision to not board the other two day we were there. With no new snow, and the extra crowd that could be expected on the weekend, we figured it wasn’t going to be much fun.

We decided to relax in the hotel’s hot tub after the day of boarding. It was a good decision. In the hot tub we met a guy who said he rode up on the lift with us. We didn’t remember him, so we don’t know if he was just saying that. There was one jerk, who actually sat right between us once, we wondered if maybe that was him. We chatted a bit and he was a local that was taking advantage of the hotel’s amenities for free. He suggested some stuff for us to do and places to hang out. He told us the nightlife was amazing and we had to hit up this place called the Sitzmark at about 11pm. He also recommended the Seven Glaciers restaurant which was on top of the mountain. He said at least have a drink there to check out how amazing the bar was.

Jessica and I went to this place called Jack Sprat’s for dinner. It was one of the only places that boasted vegetarian fare. It was an expensive place, but the food was good. We got an appetizer, yam fries. They were fucking delicious. They were not what we expected at all, but they really filled us up.

After dinner we decided to go the the Seven Glaciers bar to get a drink and check it out. We had to take the tram again, but there was no line this time which was nice. We got up top and it was a fancy place. We went to the bar and took a seat. To be honest it wasn’t that great. You could see the mountain from the bar which was cool, but it was dark and there wasn’t really much to see. The bar wasn’t that impressive either. They had Alyeska Ale on tap, so of course I had to order one, Jessica did the same. Yeah, it wasn’t great. Then we noticed that everyone else at the bar was drinking some sort of white drink. We asked the bartender what it was. He said it was the secret and it could only be ordered at that bar. We asked what was in it, but he could only tell us it was vodka based and had some dairy for allergy reasons. I said that sounds delicious let’s order two! Jessica, in her infinite wisdom recommend that we just get one incase we didn’t like it. I said how could we not. Well we just got the one and it was horrible. It tasted like artificial lime juice. I’m glad Jessica’s around to keep me in line.

Next we decided to go to the Sitzmark to check out the nightlife. We got there and it was dead. It was a cool place though with paintings on the ceiling that glowed with the black lights they had up. There was live music, the Eternal Cowboys. They played covers and weren’t too bad. The drummer was just using a wooden box which was slightly impressive. It did pick up a little bit later in the night, but it was mostly old fat people. Not really our style so we decided to head back to the hotel.

The next morning at breakfast we talked to our waiter about different activities that we could do. There weren’t a ton of options, but we decided that we’d try to go snowshoeing. They had a rental place in the hotel and we checked it out after breakfast. We asked the guys if they had snowshoe rentals and they quickly replied yes. Then we asked if there was anywhere to go? They hesitated, but then we got couple of recommendations. It was $15 for the rental, so we decided to do it and find a place.

The most promising recommendation was along Crow Creek Trail. We took our little Mazda and headed that direction. The pavement ended and a sign warned us that driving was strongly discouraged. I thought great, but what else were we going to do. We finally arrived at a trail head and parked. We could see the trail, but there was no snow. We started off carrying our snowshoes so we could put them on once we found the snow. Well it never came. We payed $15 to carry them!

Since that was a bust we decided to try another trail at the Turn Again Arm. We weren’t really sure where this was so we just drove till we saw a sign for hiking. We parked by a little waterfall next to the trail which looked steep. We knew not to take our snowshoes this time. Basically we hiked up the side of a mountain, the entire way was steep and slippery. It was fun, but I was quickly ready to head back and eat.

For dinner we decided to try the Sushi place at the hotel. It was good and we got to sit at the Sushi bar. After dinner we went to the hotel bar for desert and more drinks. We had baked Alaska, which wasn’t all that great. I got to try some local beers which were really good. We weren’t sure what we were going to do the next day, but had decided on snowmobiling or taking a helicopter tour. We talked to the front desk and they said the concierge would be in at 8am to help us make arrangements.

We woke up at 7 so we could get breakfast and meet the concierge at 8. To our surprise there was lots of fresh snow. We got to the concierge and she was useless. Turns out the snowmobiling place didn’t open till 10, so we just decided to take care of it ourselves. We went into Girdwod the little town nearby for coffee. At the coffee shop we were able to talk to the snowmobiling place and they said they had guides out checking the trails and it looked like it would be a fun day. We were supposed to start at 1pm.

As soon as we got back to the hotel to change into our snow gear we got a call and they cancelled the snowmobiling. We were bummed. We had sat around the entire morning waiting and now we had nothing to do. We decided to check out and head back to Anchorage and try our luck there.

The new snow had continued to fall and the road was icy the entire way to Anchorage. It was not a fun drive at all. The little Mazda was not able to make it around the turns without fishtailing. At one point we must of had about 15 cars behind us. I had to pull over and let them pass. We finally made it to Anchorage without innocent. We parked and decided to hit up the Glacier Brewhouse. It was busy and not a bad spot. Very progressive for Anchorage.

After lunch we walked around the city a bit, did some shopping and decided to find a spot for dinner. It was actually not an easy task. There weren’t that may options available as many were closed. We finally found a place in the Captain Cook hotel. It wan’t the best food but it would do for the last meal in Alaska. After we were done, we headed to the airport to return the car and catch our flight home.

I was slightly excited because we were flying first class which would be well deserved on the long flight. When we returned the car Jessica mentioned to the attendant that they should include an ice scraper, which would have come in handy. They guy was a total asshole and said they usually do. We had put the back seats down to fit our stuff in and I guess covered the scraper.  He promptly found it and pointed it out.  Sorry dude, we obviously didn’t see it, you didn’t have to be such an ass.

We got to the gate a little early, so we were just hanging out. I figured I better hit up the restroom before we boarded. I walked over to the restrooms and noticed this guy lying on the ground. I thought to myself, people are strange. When I was walking back to the gate I saw he was still there. He had a hamburger in his hand and his wallet was sitting behind him with cash sticking out. It looked like he had passed out and fallen out of his seat. I got back and told Jessica wondering if I should do something. We looked over and a lady from the shop across the way was shaking him. He was not moving. A few minutes later some paramedics came. They put on their gloves and one of them took his pule. Then they just stood there. I asked Jessica if she thought he was dead. Why would they just take his pule and do nothing? Eventually two police officers came over.  They also put on gloves. One of them reached down and took his pulse. Again they just stood there. It was so bizarre. Suddenly the man starting moving and the police handcuffed him. He was sitting on the floor handcuffed for a while. We wondered if he was drunk or on drugs. At least he wasn’t dead, that would have been a horrible way to go. Eventually we had to board, so we couldn’t continue to watch. But by the time we got on the plane we noticed the man was standing and the handcuffs were removed. We’re not really sure what happened, but it was a little entertainment to end our trip.

The flight back in first class was great, we enjoyed some wine and all the extra room. We hadn’t gotten to see the northern lights, which we were hoping to see. We though maybe once we flew above the cloud cover we’d see them. No such luck, but what could you expect after all the the disappointments on the trip. But I have to admit I’m glad I got to see Alaska, even if it didn’t turn out exactly as planed.