Moving to alaska???

M

mcweapon

Member
so i am looking to move to alaska... and wondering if you guys could give me some info on the resorts around there... cities to live in... how cold it is.. how easy it is to find a job... how much rent for houses... i already went to craigslist and a couple resorts sites to check out some of this stuff... but i thought better to hear it from some local skiers....

where would you live in alaska if you could live anywhere????
 
Girdwood is the sickest place, hands down. It's at the base of Alyeska, lots of trees, nobody cares if you smoke, tons of powder.

As far as jobs, Double Musky is the job of choice for a lot of Girdwood residents. You make about $70 on average from tips alone, per night.

PM me if you want any more detailssss
 
And if your moving here, don't move unless your going to be living around anchorage/girdwood. The rest definitely isn't worth it.
 
I'm sorry. Good luck in the arctic woods.

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bithces
 
thanks guys! I am going to keep looking into it...

things i am thinking about before i move...

- big enough city nearby - for a job

- cost of renting a house

- and the one thing that might stop be is the fact that it is dark out all day for like a month... do you guys have any thoughts on that? do the resorts close? how does that work? (sorry if that is a dumb question)
 
You can shred waist deep pillow lines until 9:00pm with plenty of lighting at Alyeska. It's surreal.
 
really? so there is a little sunlight durring most of the day? its not completely black? crazy... i can only imagine.... i really want to do a full moon hike this year....
 
Well, no its pitch black. There's just lights over all the pillow lines.

for spring skiing, it stays sunny until like 11:30 at night.
 
the dark isnt really a problem...some people say they get depressed but its kind of hard to get depressed when your shreddin a beautiful mountain with heaps of snow. whatever you do....do not go to fairbanks in the winter for skiing purposes....its sick in the summer for hiking and biking and frolfing and such....but stay south....
like joe said you might want to look into juneau. thier mountain is fucking rad and it gorgeous there, but you have to deal with rain more so than in girdwood.
Girdwood has quite a few job options with the resort and all as well as the various eating establishments. Renting a house isnt too bad but rents are going up. I would suggest coming up for a little bit and checking out the scene.
 
alaska is boss flossin you will fall in love with it for sure girdwood is where its at but if your worried about a city situation just go to anchorage real close and its god a city feel. winter is not bad lightwise, nightskiing is whats up. lotts of snow. jobs are available. summers sweet. basically heaven if you like to ski and hang out in the outside and meet cool people. PM we if you have any more questions
 
Yeah juneaus sick as fuck, i personally like EC(juneau) better than aly but maybe thats cuase i havent found pillows at aly yet, but anchorage is a city of 250000 people 45 mins from girdwood, and juenaus only like 30,000 poeple
 
so yeah.. i was googleing somethings about alaska and it seems like it doesnt get completely dark all day.. except further north which i can handle...

i really like the look of girdwood... and the resort there... the cost of renting a house seems pretty high.. that sucks... but hopefully i can save up some $ and make it up there in a year or so.... fingers crossed!!!
 
have any of you even spent any time riding eaglecrest? it destroys alyeska in every way, if what you want to do is actually be ON the mountain skiing/riding. alyeska is a bad example of alaska riding.
 
not looking to stir up a battle or anything. i enjoy alyeska.. i have fun there... but the fact is, its a big difference between there and juneau.

no offense to any alyeska locals, but i really get the vibe in general that people think alyeska is amazing and great AK terrain and has a ton of terrain to offer, but if you spent any time in juneau, you definitely would not feel the same way after being able to compare. i have to search to find good natural terrain at alyeska, but in juneau, its literally in every direction, right off the chair.. and the hiking is EPIC. true big mountain lines, no joke. like... haines/valdez status in some spots.

alyeska is a big, mellow, open bowl with almost no trees, and the trees that are there are less than wonderful. lacks natural fun like gulleys, hips, tree jibs, quarterpipe walls, pillows, cliffs, chutes, and everything else, which juneau has a plethora of. the contrast between the two areas is striking.

i sound like a hater.. sorry, i really dont mean to. that area up there does have some sick stuff, but alyeska and nearby is just..... bleh. good for families though? i just feel like im not in alaska when im there.
 
i live in anchorage and girdwood.they are so sick in the winter.i would definatly reccomend being at the most an hours drive from alyeska resortits one of the only good mountains to ride at.
 
I think you've either never been to alyeska or you went up there during a shitty weather day. Alyeska has the best lift accessed terrain in alaska by far. i really only need one example. try skiing north face all day without stopping. theres maybe 15-20 people in alaska how could do it without getting broke off or effed up. the rest of us could do it and be tired and stop. You cant sit there and tell me that there aren't and natural anything's. Im honestly convinced that you skied there one day and had a terrible experience and i feel for you on that. but the point is is that it has everything that you just said it doesn't have, Ive been skiing there all my life and I really have never heard a complaint such as yours. as far as chuts> yeah maybe you have like a couple that are 35 degrees plus but you cant say that you could ski christmas and new years all around it and get tired of it. Ive spent probably near 1500 days skiing at alyeska in my life and I still have to find challenges for myself everyday. No claming over here, but when it comes rihgt down to it alyeska has the goods and if you don't like it, sweet more pow for me. mmm mmm good.
 
alyeska is a big, mellow, open bowl with almost no trees, and the trees that are there are less than wonderful. lacks natural fun like gulleys, hips, tree jibs, quarterpipe walls, pillows, cliffs, chutes, and everything else, which juneau has a plethora of. the contrast between the two areas is striking.

you say it lacks:

gulleys - end of silvertip

hips - upper upper south face near gun mount

tree jibs - under chair one

quarter walls - picnic rock?

pillows - looooolooooosss

chutes - christmas and new years anyone?

and if you want to hike you can go to turnagain or hatcher. your right alyeskas terrain blows farts out my nose.
 
they are really different though.

the tree skiing at eagle crest is amazing. The trees are fucking huge. its like you're in a magical forest that extends to the end of the earth. there is nothing like that at aly. and eaglecrest has a lot more chutes and about 4 times more skiable acerage.

from what you've told me about turnagain, it seems kind of like turnagain but with lift access?

there's no point in arguing about which is better because they are both fantastic.
 
yeah, i wasn't trying to say alyeska was better than ec i was just pointing out everywhere he was wrong... haha
 
this is it., and by gullies, spenser meant gullies with pow and trees in them, not a forest of 6 year olds and their parents
 
ive been there a handful of times all throughout the season, from pow days to spring days.

north face is the most challenging part i remember, but its really not even much. eaglecrest definitely has more challenging terrain, no question. compare shit-for-brains to north face.... no contest. even a lot of the in bounds stuff at EC beats north face easy. steeper and really uneven with gulleys and cliffs all over the place that will eat you if youre not a quality rider.

its not a complaint about alyeska, its an observation based on riding there more than enough to make that call. im not saying its not rad, im only comparing.

and if anything, im the one that should say im convinced youve never ridden eaglecrest.

and to the dude that said alyeska has the best lift-access terrain in AK? absolutely no way that is even close to true, unless by "terrain" you mean typical resort stuff thats big and open and mellow, with the good stuff being few and far between. but if you mean terrain as in wild untamed natural ak-gnar, eaglecrest is lightyears beyond alyeska. if you have been to both places, there is no way you could honestly say alyeskas terrain is "better," even if you are a diehard alyeska local.

i know it sounds like im hating on it, but youre just gonna have to take it the way i mean it, which is a comparison, and an informed one at that. yeah, im sure there have been insanely awesome pow days at alyeska, just like at eaglecrest, but on average, and physical terrain alone (which is a constant), alyeska cant even touch EC. even if i hated juneau and everything about being here and had a giant boner for girdwood and anchorage and the whole area, i would still say the same comparitively.
 
point in case. you had to give me a specific spot of each of those types of terrain. if i were listing spots for eaglecrest with that terrain, i would just tell you to get off the lift and start riding, and youd be there, no matter where you went.

its not that alyeska doesnt have it at all, its that you have to know where those spots are, and here in juneau, its just there. you cant NOT see it.
 
If ur looking for a ski hill in Anchorage then u could try hilltop. Its kinda gay but later on in the season they can have a sick park. I threw a 1080 off one of thier kickers so their jumps can be kinda nice. they have a pretty sick rail though. Just warning u but its bumfuck small. If ur military then u could try the ski hill on the miltary base. Its definatly has potential, it has a hlaf pipe with 12 foot walls and few other things here and there, super cheap 2. but yea thats it for anchorage.
 
i figured as much, but like i said, thats just what i remember. im assuming the most "challenging" stuff is hike-access? either way, ive been all over that place and most of it is definitely mellow, unless what youre used to is little midwest mole hills or socal resorts.

theres no point in debating, though. we all have fun on snow, wherever we are, no?
 
Truth. It's only gnarly terrain because of how sketchy some hits are. It's not steep at all for the most part.
 
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