Alaska Adventure Travel

Alaska is the largest and least-populated state in the union, encompassing thousands of square miles of wild tundra, forests, and mountains. Though Alaska exports raw goods like timber and oil, tourism has become one of its largest trades. Adventure travel has spread like wildfire over the past few years, and Alaska adventure travel is among the best in the world.

If you’re looking for something more in your vacation than lounging on a pretty beach or strolling the decks of a cruise ship, have a look at adventure travel. Though some areas like New Zealand or Thailand have started to get themselves into the adventure travel market, Alaska adventure travel remains the center of travelers looking for a little more excitement in their vacations.

Alaska is a vast, wild place, and if you’re looking for an adrenaline rush Alaska adventure travel serves it up in just about any sort of dish you’re looking for. Winter brings in snow, and with it thousands upon thousands of feet of vertical drop coated with fresh powder. Though there are some great lift-accessed ski areas in Alaska, the Alaskan backcountry is really a showcase for heli-skiiing.

Imagine, waking up early on a beautiful sunny day, hoping into your helicopter with your friends and striking out over the mountains. You scout your runs by air, checking on attractive chutes and huge powder bowls. When you’ve sighted your target you’re dropped off, alone on the summit of a mountain that nobody has ever skied before.

From there, surveying the mountains, there’s nowhere to go but down. When you reach the bottom, pumped with adrenaline and elated with the run, your helicopter is already there, waiting to ferry you to another great run.

Summer in Alaska brings long days and new adventures. When the salmon are running Alaska boasts some of the biggest and best salmon fishing in the world. Anglers (and bears) come in from all over to share in the wealth of the run, and some streams get so full of salmon that it looks like you can walk from shore to shore on the backs of fish. You can walk up many of the streams to fish or, if you want to get away from the crowds, charter a bush plane to get you into the middle of nowhere to bask in the solitude.

Kayaking is a fairly new addition to the Alaska adventure travel menu, but with so many un-run, remote rivers that can be accessed by bush plane or helicopter, more and more paddlers are shouldering their boats and heading to Alaska. The whitewater is literally out many paddlers back doors; the Eagle river, boasting grade III whitewater, is only ten minutes outside of Anchorage.