Valdez, AK Ski Mountaineering & Heli Touring Package

This year, Southwest Adventure Guides is offering a new trip to one of America's finest skiing destinations. Join SWAG guide Mark Allen, an AMGA certified Ski Mountaineering Guide and IFMGA Aspirant on this unforgettable sking adventure!

The Eastern Chugach Mountains is positioned perfectly to deliver some of the best skiing on Earth. The Chugach is predominantly a maritime snowpack, allowing us to access challenging terrain on large features with excellent snow. The Alaska horizon with hundreds of craggy glaciated alpine peaks is bisected by The Thompson pass highway offering impeccable access to our ski venues. At 2,805 feet, Thompson Pass is the snowiest place in Alaska at this elevation, recording 551.5 inches of snow per year on average.

What is Heli Touring?

Heli Touring combines the best of both worlds: ski touring and heli skiing. We still have the freedom to engage the terrain and travel around on our touring skis, earning-turns and climbing up summits, yet the heli provides us deeper access to this amazing range which we could not achieve in a day, or at all. Plus, the heli will provide a mid-day lift to a nearby peak and spare a long, grueling climb. Heli skiing maximizes the amount of vertical skiing we can accomplish on any given day. It is not uncommon to ski 8,000-10,0000 vertical feet on glaciated alpine powder. Finally, it’s far more economic than the standard heli skiing packages and much more rewarding.

The Itinerary

3-Days of Touring Thompson Pass

This trip will be based out of the old Alaskan fishing town of Valdez, and we will travel to Thompson Pass each day for a tour and peak descent. We will have a choice of one of many classic tours in the area with the focus being to find best possible snow, summit a peak, and ski untracked powder in the steeps. Once everyone is up to speed we will be prepared to go deep into the range via Helicopter.

4-days Heli-Touring Chugach Mountains

When we have touched all the snow we can under our own power, we will hop on board the Helicopter with Valdez Heli Camps. They will be dropping us off on top of our first summit of the day deep in the Chugach. We can make our first long descent with fresh legs and big smiles. Once on the glacier we then pull out our skins and climb up the next objective. The heli will return mid-day for a final bump up to an adjacent peak in the same area. We will finish out the day maximizing the snow available before getting picked up and flown back to Valdez. The rest of our trip will be utilizing this daily itinerary.

All-Inclusive Lodging/Food and Transport

We will be providing airport pick-up to take you to the Harbor Inn Best Western. All meals are included and we will be providing you with lunches for the days out.

• 8 nights lodging At the Harbor Inn at Valdez, a shared with one other guest room. (Let us know if you want a private room extra $50.00 nt)
• Full American-Style Breakfast
• Made to order lunch with up to two sandwiches, fruit and snacks
• Alaskan Style dinner, with at least a choice of two Entrees, Salad, Soup, Vegetables, Desert - and more -Special dietary requirements can be accommodated.
• Beer wine and alcoholic beverages are extra.

Your Guides

Your guides for this trip are Mark Allen and Gary Falk. Mark is an AMGA certified Ski Mountaineering Guide and IFMGA Aspirant and Gary is an AMGA Certified Rock Guide and has also completed his Ski Mountaineering Guides Course. Both Mark and Gary are top-level skiers and possess incredibly engaging personalities. We guarantee you'll want to ski with these two guides for years to come!

Additional Information

Prerequisites: Prior backcountry skiing and/or ski mountaineering experience is required. Particpants should feel comfortable skiing black or double black diamond runs at a ski resort. Participants should also be in good physical condition.

Trip Cost Includes: Guiding and instruction, lodging, food, and transportation to and from the Valdez area, heli drops, and tranportation to and from Thompson Pass.

Not Included: Hotel costs before, or after the scheduled itinerary, trip cancellation insurance, personal climbing and/or skiing equipment, or guide gratuities.

Registration and Cancellation: You will need to fill out our Expedition Application/Registration Form, cancellation policy agreement, and liability waiver, and send it to us with a 50% deposit. Balance is due 15 days prior to the trip. Please click on our Registration link to access the required forms.