Alaska’s great outdoors remains the state’s main attraction, and groups conducting business events in the 49th state have plenty of adventure options to enhance their programs.
The range includes adrenalin-pumping activities as well as relaxing cruises and easy hikes spotlighting the state’s stunning scenery. Picnicking or dog mushing on glaciers are other standout experiences, in addition to flightseeing—or “sky trekking”—one surefire way to see Alaska’s vast landscape in a short time.
“Fishing is very popular for groups, and so is white-water rafting,” says Julie Dodds, director of convention sales for Visit Anchorage. “Of course, we have all classes of rapids up to class V, which is the most rigorous.”
Ron Clauson, owner of Backcountry Safaris, which offers multiday activities in Alaska’s remote areas, advises planners who are unfamiliar with Alaska to understand that the state’s vast size must figure into their budgets.
“Many people try to do too much. They don’t realize how long it takes to get from point to point in this state,” Clauson says. “It’s really best to pick one location and stay there. The Denali area is by far the most popular, but if you are starting from Anchorage, you need at least three days to do it—two days for travel and one day for the park. Many other places aren’t accessible by roads, so you have boat and air costs to factor in.”
That said, budget-friendly outdoor adventure options abound from May through September, along with the top-shelf, mind-bending backcountry choices that operate in any season.
Denali Zipline Tours
www.denaliziplinetours.com
A great way to get the adrenalin pumping is via Denali Zipline Tours’ new program in Talkeetna. Participants begin with basic instruction before hiking out to the first of the line’s five segments, each with its own activity and scenic setting. The fifth segment brings participants near the top of a ridge in a stand of Alaska birch trees, with a suspension bridge providing dramatic vistas of the Alaska Range, the foot of the Ruth Glacier and the Chulitna River valley.
Meanwhile, the small village of Talkeetna, population 700, is an attraction in itself, with frontier hospitality, local arts and crafts, and outdoor activities like fishing, riverboat tours and flightseeing around Mount McKinley. PageBreak
Salmon Berry Tours
www.salmonberrytours.com
Calling all chocoholics! Salmon Berry Tours has a new tour of artisanal chocolatiers who serve up unique items like smoked salmon truffles.
But chocolate is not all the company offers. Salmon Berry specializes in a variety of year-round daily guided tours throughout south-central Alaska.
Founder Candice McDonald and her staff conduct activities like glacier hiking, dogsledding, wildlife viewing and mountain safari adventures.
The Anchorage-based company won the 2012 Chuck West Award for its innovative product and entrepreneurial activity. The award is given annually by the Alaska tourism industry in honor of the state’s famous tourism pioneer.
“For groups of two to about 80, we do adventures such as dogsledding excursions in Chugach State Park and snowshoeing combined with s’mores making,” McDonald says. “We include hotel pickups and transport for all our options.”
McDonald says a budget-friendly idea for groups is a wildlife tour through the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center about an hour outside the city to view animals that have been rescued from the wild.
“This is a good half-day outdoor activity idea,” she says, adding that Anchorage city tours are also popular for groups. “They learn about the history of the city and visit scenic points along the way, where they can disembark to take photos and take in the wilderness.”
Northern Alaska Tour Company
www.northernalaska.com
This is the region that’s home to the stunning Brooks Mountain Range and the 800-mile-long Trans Alaska Pipeline, which snakes beside the unpaved Dalton Highway, the only land route across the Arctic.
Northern Alaska Tour Company provides real northern exposure on its extended list of tour options out of Fairbanks.
Overnight adventures into Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or the Prudhoe Bay oil field (the terminus of the pipeline) include stops and overnights in tiny Coldfoot (population 15). The town, nearly 300 miles north of Fairbanks, dates to gold rush days in the late 19th century. During the 1970s, it gained new life during the pipeline build.
The tour company operates year-round, and wintertime visitors often experience one of nature’s most amazing shows: the aurora borealis. PageBreak
Denali Park Resorts
www.denaliparkresorts.com
Denali Park Resorts offers two lodging choices, McKinley Chalet Resort and McKinley Village Lodge, for a combined 500 guest rooms plus meeting space, meals, activities and evening entertainment. This is Alaska’s popular central region in the shadow of North America’s highest mountain, Mount McKinley, or Denali, its Native American name.
Three- to four-hour guided excursions such as wilderness hikes and natural history tours from the resorts provide invigorating, in-depth views of the environmental, historical and scientific significance of Alaska’s awe-inspiring wilderness. Additional activities include dinner theater, golf, flightseeing and backcountry safaris.
One popular activity puts visitors on the trail of Fannie Quigley in the old gold rush town of Kantishna. National park rangers recite colorful stories about the Wild West days at the base of the mighty mountain overhead.
Great Alaska International Adventures
www.greatalaska.com
Outside magazine designated Great Alaska International Adventures’ remote encampment in the scenic Lake Clark National Park the “Best Bush Camp in the U.S.” Groups access the camp via a bush plane flight over volcanoes and glaciers and into a beach landing. Modern, heated tent cabins, meals prepared with food that is flown in daily and wildlife sightings such as brown bears make for a remarkable backcountry experience.
Back at Great Alaska’s camp on the Kenai Peninsula, other options include rafting down the salmon-rich Kenai River into a stunning glacial lake. Outfitters set up tents, cook sumptuous multicourse meals and maintain the lakeside campsite. And don’t forget the fishing!
Great Alaska accommodates groups of up to 60.
Alaska Sea Adventures
www.yachtalaska.com
Ahoy! Custom group yachting programs are the main group options offered by Alaska Sea Adventures. Its 84-foot Northern Song glides through the Inside Passage in the southeastern region of the state, providing a relaxing environment on the water with its spacious salon, covered decks and open viewing areas. The company’s repertoire includes custom charters and whale-watching, bird-watching and fishing trips.
The yacht’s rigid inflatable boats provide swift transport for those who want to haul in crab traps, dig up a bucket of clams, hike along a rainforest stream or look for treasures on a secluded beach. The skiffs can also take groups into secret fishing spots where they can cast for silver salmon. PageBreak
Martin Buser’s Happy Trails Kennel
www.buserdog.com
Dog mushing, the term for a transport method powered by dogs, refers to the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled on snow or a rig on land.
In Alaska, mushing, a term derived from the French word “marche” (used to command canines to move forward), is not just a competitive sport. Throughout the state’s history, it has been utilitarian and recreational.
Alaska’s annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in March is one of the world’s most famous competitions.
Four-time Iditarod champion Martin Buser offers team building via dog mushing programs at his kennels about 90 minutes north of Anchorage. Groups can participate in dog mushing, tour the kennels where he raises future race champions and see how mushers train the dogs.
Buser also speaks in meeting venues to business groups about leadership, perseverance, goal setting and his Iditarod experiences.
“Buser says leading dogs is no different from leading other teams,” Visit Anchorage’s Dodds says. “In his presentations, he demonstrates how dogs are harnessed and dressed for racing. And he always brings puppies, but he waits until the end to show them because they are scene stealers.”
Crow Creek Historic Gold Mine
www.crowcreekmine.com
Panning for gold in Alaska’s open air is one of the most interesting ways to get in touch with the state’s culture, scenery and heritage. And those who find gold at the Crow Creek Historic Gold Mine site 45 minutes from Anchorage and the nearby meetings-friendly Aleyska Resort can keep their treasure.
“We send groups out with professional miners,” says Nate Williamson, mine operations manager. “We combine educational tours about history and mining with riverside mining. Everything we do for groups is customized, based on their goals.”
Catered and tented dinners within the Chugach National Forest site are a frequent addition, Williamson says. One agenda might include a morning guided tour through the property, with its nine historic buildings and antique mining equipment, in addition to gold panning and a catered lunch.
Crow Creek has been an Alaska fixture since 1896 and owned by Williamson’s wife’s family since the 1960s. The family lives on the property and offers its tours and activities from May through mid-September.
