Alaska Gurus

Today we announced a new backpacking trip we're offering this summer in Denali National Park! We've finally found the transportation link to go from Anchorage in a floatplane with Rusts Flying Service all the way into the park, and eventually all the way out to Talkeetna with Talkeetna Air Taxi. This is going to be an AMAZING TRIP!

Click Here to check out the trip!

Here's the link to the press release.

New Guided Alaska Backpacking Trip in Denali National Park

The new Alaska Alpine Adventures website went live tonight, January 10, 2009 at 7:50pm PST. Aaron and I are proud of the effort and certainly want to give a shout out to The Thinkery for their unbelievable dedication and commitment to the project. The collective effort yielded a site that is 1) full of compelling imagery (all of which are from actual Alaska Alpine Adventure trips!) 2) easy to navigate and 3) an appealing place to hang out for a while.

While we still have some fine tuning to do, we're confident that you'll find the site worthy of a bookmark for those times when you just need an Alaska fix! We'll be sharing some of our favorite pages in the coming days/weeks, but in the meantime, just check it out.

Hey Everyone,
We've been in incommunicado for the last few days and wanted ya'll to know the reason why. Aaron and I are totally consumed with our new website, which we hope to launch (fingers and toes crossed) on Monday, January 11, 2010. We're really excited to share with all of our friends and fans the new AAA presence. Here's what you can look forward to in the new site.

- User friendly layout.
- Comprehensive destination information.
- Dedicated trip pages with slide shows for each trip.
- A simple, yet refined navigation structure.
- And of course, TONS of great photos taken on real Alaska Alpine Adventures.

Stay tuned...a bright new light will be soon shining in Spenard, Alaska!

Alaska Business Monthly (April 2008)
"Seeking Adventure? Look No Further"
By Heather A. Resz

It's a bit like spinning the globe and pointing a finger to select a destination the way modern-day explorer Dan Oberlatz, owner of Alaska Alpine Adventures, plucks expeditions from his imagination and then plots them using topographic mapping software. His love of Alaska's wild placed led him to start the business in 1998 as a way to help pay for his own trips into Alaska's backcountry, and in the company's second year in business it had two clients, Oberlatz said. "It took us a long time before we made a dime," he added. "It kind of started as a way to finance our aspirations to see the state."

New trips added to the Alaska Alpine Adventures Web site emerge from Oberlatz' teeming brain. Say he sets his mind to float the Charlie River. He loads the mapping software on his computer and plans a route. Then he adds the adventure to his Web site's list of possible expeditions and Oberlatz guides the trip if enough people sign up.

After 10 summers of showing visitors the wilderness he loves, he said he was finally able to hire his first full time employee last year. And, if his reservation list is any indication, Oberlatz said, Alaska Alpine Adventures is on pace to have its busiest year so far. His bump in business may be due, in part, to the company's inclusion in a National Geographic Adventure Magazine feature. In the November 2007 issue, called the "Best Adventure Travel Companies on Earth," Oberlatz' business was listed among the top 10 adventure travel companies worldwide, and was one of eight Alaska companies featured.
"We're on a pretty elite list," he said. Alaska Alpine scored highest on the client interview portion of the six month long review. Oberlatz said all of his clients gave the company the highest possible rating for customer service.
But those high marks only drive Oberlatz to work harder. "We really have to make sure we are living up to that expectation," he said. "We're challenging ourselves to be better and to improve."

Flat Screen
The majority of Alaska Alpine Adventures customers come from two places: Web bookings and repeat customers, Oberlatz said. He added that one client from Louisville, Ky., has booked eight consecutive trips. Increasing numbers of travelers are using Internet search engines to browse lists of companies offering Alaska travel options. For small companies, such as Oberlatz', the Web levels the playing field between big and small travel companies. "It's a flat screen," Oberlatz said of the way the Internet lets travelers make their own reservations with companies of all sizes.

The "Alaska Visitor Statistics Program V, Interim Visitor Volume Report," prepared for the State of Alaska by the McDowell Group, estimated that 1.7 million out-of-state visitors came to Alaska from May to September 2007. Visitation increased by 43 percent between 2001 and 2007, according to the report. Marketing materials for Alaska Alpine Adventures credit Alaska itself for pulling travelers back to experience its wonders again and again. Our guests are drawn by the magnetism of northern wildernes and its creature," the brochure says. "They revisit to savor the palpable emoution of solitude, and to immerse themselves in something that few are fortunate to experience - pure and untouched wilderness."

Oberlatz said the food is another reason clients return. Chef Derek Nelson has spent the last 10 years fine-tuning backcountry techniques, recipes and ingredients. His healthy, flavorful, filing and nutritious meals include fare such as steaming chicken satay on a bed of udon noodles followed by a homemade coffee-toffee brownie. "People know they are going to eat very well on our trips," Oberlatz said.

Although Oberlatz has spent nearly two decades adventuring through the wilds of Alaska, he stills remembers his first two years living at Lake Clark where he fell in love with the Great Land. Ultimately, it's that love of place that is Oberlatz' passion. "Once in awhile when I'm with guests and the float plane drops them off," he said. "I see the look in their eyes and I remember the first time a float plane dropped me off."

Pursuit of Happiness
Oberlatz said that looking back 10 years to when he started his adventure guiding business, he would never have guessed he'd be doing this, be married and the father of two. Flexibility to create his own schedule is the biggest benefit the business offers his young family. In fact, Oberlatz said, he was on his way to pick up his daughter from school. "I'm living my dream," he added. Oberlatz is not the sort of guy to measure his own success against stacks of hundred dollar bills - he's more a pursuit of happiness kind of guy. "We want to grow it slowly and live our lifestyle," he said. "We help people see a great place in a great way."

While Alaska Alpine Adventures offers trips statewide, Oberlatz said the majority of his expeditions are still within Lake Clark National Park. The company focuses on multi-day trips within Alaska's national parks and wildlife refuges, such as Katmai, Wrangell-St Elias National Park and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Oberlatz said in addition to basics such as how to camp in bear country or how to paddle a kayak, the company's small groups of clients also learn about indigenous cultures and how to travel safely in Alaska's trail-less wilderness. "People want to come away not only having had a great adventure, but also having learned something," he said.

Survey results from the November issue of Adventure Magazine are online at www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure.

OK Folks - if you ever wondered what it's like to live in Valdez, AK, read this story in the Anchorage Daily News. Valdez has received over 6 feet of snow since Monday! Incredible. Considering that Valdez is situated at sea level, one can only imagine how much snow has piled up at Thompson Pass - which is 20 miles or so and almost 3000' higher than town. And it's only December! This bodes well for our April 8-12 ski trip! If you want to ski in Valdez and the mighty Chugach, and don't mind hiking for your turns (well, we may also consider a heli-bump for one of the days), give me a call or contact us on Facebook. Get yourself to Anchorage, and we'll take care of the rest.

Click here for a link to the ADN article on Valdez!

©Dan Oberlatz

 

 

 

Summit Day!  I took this shot of guide Joe Stock and client Nick Gilson from the 9000' summit of Mt. Chamberlin as we began our roped descent of the beautiful north ridge.  Ropes and crampons were necessary, as the last 2000' of Mt. Chamberlin is glaciated and crevassed.  The weather was so perfect, that we were able to spend nearly an hour sitting at the top of the Brooks Range enjoying lunch and a 360 degree view of the high arctic.  Looking north, the thin line white line at the horizon is the pack ice of the Beaufort Sea and represents the top of the North American land mass.  It's an astoundingly beautiful place.

 

 

Dan Oberlatz

Alaska Alpine Adventures, LLC

1-877-525-2577 

 

 

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Once again Lake Clark National Park has been surreptitiously snubbed by the mainstream media, and some have suggested and firmly believe that this is the result internal Department of Interior order to keep Lake Clark's incredible scenery, solitude, and it's growing reputation as Alaska's (if not the Nation's) greatest treasure a complete secret from the general public. So if you're inclined to believe people like renown documentary film maker Ken Burns (Have you seen his most recent film on our National Parks?) or read magazines like Backpacker or National Geographic Adventure (RIP - but thankfully they're still online), you may want to keep this blog post to yourself.

All kidding aside, click here for a pretty good article in Backpacker about some of of America's great National Parks. Do we still think Lake Clark NP is the best park in the system? Yes. Do we think that it's the most overlooked and under-rated park in the system? Definitely. But we're also big boosters of our nation's greatest natural resource - our wonderful public lands - and we always appreciate it when they are recognized and lauded by the influential. Enjoy.

Great News Folks! Alaska's board of fish yesterday voted unanimously to draft and send a letter to the Alaska legislature that says the area merits special protection. Despite some heated testimony from both sides, the Board ultimately did the right thing. This is really good news and gives us plenty of reasons to celebrate!

Here's a link to the story on KTUU.com.

Today the National Geographic Society decided to kill National Geographic Adventure Magazine. As longtime advertisers and friends of this publication, we're beyond bummed at this untimely demise. Not only was Adventure one of the few magazines completely dedicated to the life of adventure and exploration, they were also completely committed to furthering the virtues of sustainability. With the winds of National Geographic filling their sails, editor John Rasmus was able to bring to news stands a publication where photographers, writers, adventurers could share the wonders of our planet found through the pursuit of travel and exploration. Read this NY Times article for the details, and then read west coast editor Steve Casimiro's blog called "The Adventure Life" for a more profound obituary.

If you're reading this blog, there's a good chance you're like us: You spend at least a few hours a week scouring your favorite gear sites, pining over some piece of outdoor gear, looking for the best deals, hoping to catch a sale. The only way you would consider going out last week on Black Friday (essentially giving up a perfectly good day off of work that you could be spending in the mountains) would be for that percentage off of your "gotta have it" item. To some, shopping is an activity. To us, being in the mountains is.

We came across this site this week, and hopefully it will help you spend more time in the mountains, and less time looking for deals or elbowing your way to the sale items at REI.

We've added a link to it under equipment links, so it's never hard to find!