Alaskan Ski Resorts

Alaska is a HUGE wilderness, located next to western Canada. Many people don’t realize, that Alaska is actually bigger than Texas, California, and Montana combined. This is due to the distortion on maps, so all the countries can fit on a landscape view compared to a circular view. On an actual globe, you can definitely tell that Alaska is BIG. It has a total of 586,000 square miles of land (Texas is only 268, 581 square miles) and is equivalent in size to a fifth of the lower 48 states of America.

Now all of that being said, this massive piece of land makes for some EPIC skiing and snowboarding. Alaska has some of the BEST backcountry terrain, filled with endless bowls, chutes, glades, powder, and glaciers. For all you adventure seekers, Alaska HAS to be on your bucket-list!

What Alaskan Ski Resort are You?

Skiing/Snowboarding in Alaska

A lot of Alaska’s terrain is backcountry, but there are a few mountain resorts here that you can go to. Many of the resorts are close to Anchorage, Alaska, the most populated city in Alaska (almost 300,000 people), you are sure to find somewhere to stay.

1. Alyeska Mountain, is NO joke! It is mostly geared towards advanced to expert skiers ONLY. It is a kick ass mountain, with most of their terrain being diamond or double diamonds, mainly having wide open bowls, chutes, and glades, you do not want to bring a beginner to this mountain. They receive an average of 42 feet of snow and have over 1,600 acres of terrain to ski/snowboard on. There are nearly no crowds and they have a massive 60 person tram. Safe to say, you won’t have to worry about lift lines here. A lot of people heli ski/snowboard in the Chugach Mountains for even more powder and extreme terrain. In the summer, Alyeska also offers many different hiking trails. It is about 45 minutes from Anchorage, Alaska, so you could stay somewhere in Anchorage if the resort is too pricey.
2. Eaglecrest is another awesome resort! It is only a quick flight from Seattle to Juneau (Eaglecrest is only 12 miles from Juneau and the airport). It’s only a 15 minute drive from Juneau (on Douglas Island) to Eaglecrest. This resort has a mix of everything, from extreme diamonds and doubles, to massive bowls and gentle beginner trails, with little crowds. This mountain really has it all. A great place to stay if you don’t want to pay resort prices, is Juneau.
3. Arctic Valley is another great place. It is only opened on the weekends, but that doesn’t stop them from pounding snow on the mountain all week. This mountain is very beginner and intermediate friendly, thus is would be a great resort to learn how to ski or snowboard on. They have over 500 plus acres with all their skiing being above the tree line, so the views are STELLAR! And it is only 10 minutes from Anchorage, which again is a great place to stay at if you decide to ski/snowboard here. Arctic Valley also offers many different hiking trails in the summer.
4. Ski Land is another great, smaller resort located in Fairbanks, Alaska. Its double chair, is the most northerly chairlift in North America. When skiing/snowboarding here, you’ll also be able to see the Brooks and White Mountains. They have a great cafe on the mountain, the Aurora Cafe. They also have a viewing of the northern lights here, which are spectacular. The resorts cafe, has wide open windows, so skiers and snowboarders can take in the amazing show of the northern lights and the views of the mountain.
5. Moose Mountain is very unique, has it has no chairlifts, they have buses waiting to bring you back to the top of the mountain. Everyone is very friendly on this mountain, as you all have the same unique fate of having to get driven back up the mountain to ski or snowboard to your next run. It is very much a bonding experience. The average snowfall is quite different from the other resorts, getting an average of five feet of snow per season. Moose is located only 20 minutes from Fairbanks, Alaska, which is a great place to stay. This mountain is typically 20-30 degrees warmer than Alaska’s other resorts.
6. Mount Eyak is a much smaller mountain (only about 30 trails) compared to the rest of these on the list. It is also the most difficult to get too, being located in the man-made ski town of Cordova, this mountain is perfect for people who thrive off isolation.
7. Hill Top is a great mountain for all you beginners, offering mostly beginner runs, this mountain is catered to people learning how to ski or snowboard. Located not too far from Anchorage, Alaska, Hill Top is great for learners, as it is a pretty small mountain.

Back Country

Let’s not forgot about the backcountry terrain! There are four main mountain ranges near Anchorage, Alaska, Kenai, Talkeetna, Chugagh, and the Alaska Mountain Ranges. These mountains include wide open bowls, chutes, glaciers, steep terrain, glades, and a lot of powder.

1. Chugagh Mountains: these mountains get an average of 650 inches of snowfall per year and you can ski on glaciers, while being covered in non-stop powder. You can access these mountains by foot or by helicopter. These mountains are about 7 miles away from Anchorage. You could stay in Anchorage or the popular ski town of Girdwood, which is about an hour away.
2. Talkeetna Mountains (Hatcher Pass): are located near the towns of Willow and Palmer, Alaska. They are about 60 miles apart from one another, encompassing the famous road, Fishhook, which is nestled right in-between the Talkeetna mountains. It is quite the scenic route. Palmer is about 12 miles south of Hatcher Pass while Willow is about 26 miles west of it. The Talkeetna mountains are about an hour and a half drive from Anchorage. The drive here is super scenic, going through the mountains, you can also snowshoe and hike (in the summer) here. This is a very popular and reliable place for people to backcountry ski/snowboard, this article will give you more information about where to park.
3. Thompson Pass (Valdez): Valdez is a ski town in the Chugagh Mountains on the edge of Prince William Sound, being relatively close to Anchorage (here is a list of the closet cities). Thompson Pass is filled with 4,000fters, glaciers, powder, and STEEPNESS. Here is a list of great places to stay near Thompson Pass.
4. Central Alaska Range (Denali): Denali National Park contains the tallest mountains in North America (Denali at 20,320ft & Mount Foraker at 17,402ft). Some of the lower mountains below these giants contain awesome, stable powder, which is great for skiing and snowboarding. These mountains are about 2 and a half hours from Anchorage, the ski town, Talkeetna or Fairbanks, which are all good places to stay at.
5. Kenai Mountains (Turnagain and Summit Pass): are great for beginners to backcountry skiing or snowboarding. The Turnagain winter recreation center, has a nice 8 mile hike, that afterwards, you can backcountry ski/snowboard on nice gradual terrain, with tons of powder. Once you feel comfortable here, you can definitely move up to the more intense places and mountains. This pass is fairly close to Anchorage, Alaska.

And that wraps up our skiing/snowboarding in Alaska tour. Alaska really does have some of the most wild terrain and mountains to ski/snowboard. I highly recommend getting out there and trying for yourself, especially if you are an adventurer lover, you will not be disappointed. These mountains and the POWDER do NOT lie. Take care, thank you so much for reading and get out there!