Alyeska Resort facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Alyeska Resort |
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Alyeska Resort in June 2008
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 Alyeska Resort
Location in Alaska
Alyeska Resort
Location in North America
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| Location | Girdwood, Alaska |
| Nearest city | Anchorage - 27 mi (43 km) |
| Coordinates | 60°58′14″N 149°05′54″W / 60.9705°N 149.0982°W |
| Vertical | 2,500 ft (760 m) lift served; 3,200 ft (975 m) total |
| Top elevation | 2,750 ft (840 m) lift served; 3,939 ft (1,200 m) (summit) |
| Base elevation | 250 ft (80 m) |
| Skiable area | 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) |
| Runs | 73 - 11% easiest - 52% more difficult - 37% most difficult |
| Lift system | 8 total - 1 tram - 2 high-speed quad chairs - 2 quad chairs (fixed-grip) - 1 double chairs (fixed-grip) - 2 magic carpets |
| Lift capacity | 10,335 per hour |
| Snowfall | 650 in (1,650 cm) - top 512 in (1,300 cm) - mid 208 in (530 cm) - base |
| Snowmaking | 113 acres (0.46 km2) |
| Night skiing | Thu–Sat (4–9 pm) nightly (late Dec to early Jan) |
| Website | alyeskaresort.com |
Alyeska Resort is a super cool ski resort in Girdwood, Alaska. It's about 27 miles (44 km) from the city of Anchorage. This resort is the biggest ski area in Alaska! It's on Mount Alyeska, which is part of the Chugach mountain range. At the top of the mountain, you'll find the Mt. Alyeska Roundhouse. This historic building is even listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
| Top - 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
Exploring Alyeska: Fun on the Slopes
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Mt. Alyeska Roundhouse
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 Location in Alaska
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| Nearest city | Girdwood, Alaska |
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| Built | 1960 |
| NRHP reference No. | 02000562 |
| Added to NRHP | November 5, 2003 |
The Alyeska Ski Corporation started way back in 1954. The first chairlift and a day lodge opened in 1959. The Roundhouse, a special ski lodge and ski patrol station, began being built in 1960. It's a unique building with eight sides! It's still standing today and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. Now, it's a museum that tells the story of local skiing.
Lifts and Trails at Alyeska
Alyeska Resort has lots of ways to get up the mountain! It has five chairlifts, one fast tram, and two Magic Carpets. Two of the chairlifts (Chairs 6 and 4) are super-fast, called high-speed detachable quads. The other two (Chairs 7 and 3) are regular quad chairs. Chair 4 got its speed upgrade in 2012.
The tram takes you about three-quarters of the way up the mountain. At the top, you'll find the Roundhouse, a quick-service cafeteria, and a fancy restaurant called Seven Glaciers. At the bottom of the tram is the big Hotel Alyeska, with 300 rooms.
Chair 6 goes to the highest point you can reach by lift, which is 2,750 feet (838 m) high. Sometimes, even higher areas are open for expert skiers, but you have to hike to get there.
Challenging Slopes
Mount Alyeska is known for being a bit tough! It has a lot more advanced and expert runs compared to many other mountains in North America. There's a small area for beginners, but most of the mountain is best for intermediate and advanced skiers.
- North-facing slopes: 35%
- West-facing slopes: 40%
- East-facing slopes: 0%
- South-facing slopes: 25%
Alyeska's Racing History
Alyeska has hosted some big ski races! In 1973, it held World Cup giant slalom races for both men and women. The U.S. Alpine Championships have also been held here many times: in 1963, 1981, 2004, 2007, and 2009.
A famous American Olympic gold medalist, Tommy Moe, learned his amazing racing skills at Alyeska when he was a teenager in the 1980s.
New Owners and Improvements
In December 2006, John Byrne III bought Alyeska. He had big plans to make the resort even better, especially for people who come to ski for the day. Some of the cool changes he made include:
- Adding RFID gates at all the lifts. These are like special scanners that read your ski pass quickly.
- Taking the plastic "bubbles" off Chair 6.
- Repainting the tram.
- Building the only superpipe in Alaska, which is a huge half-pipe for snowboarders and freestyle skiers.
In October 2018, Alyeska Resort announced that it was being sold to Pomeroy Lodging.
Climate at Alyeska
Alyeska has a subarctic climate. This means it has short, mild summers and long, very snowy winters. It gets a lot of snow, averaging 209 inches (530 cm) each year! This is because of something called the Aleutian Low, which brings a lot of storms. It can even freeze any month of the year!
| Climate data for Alyeska, Alaska | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 57 (14) |
53 (12) |
57 (14) |
67 (19) |
78 (26) |
85 (29) |
89 (32) |
88 (31) |
73 (23) |
63 (17) |
51 (11) |
50 (10) |
89 (32) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 42.0 (5.6) |
43.0 (6.1) |
45.8 (7.7) |
54.2 (12.3) |
67.6 (19.8) |
75.5 (24.2) |
77.0 (25.0) |
75.2 (24.0) |
65.6 (18.7) |
54.5 (12.5) |
44.6 (7.0) |
41.7 (5.4) |
78.6 (25.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 25.7 (−3.5) |
29.8 (−1.2) |
35.0 (1.7) |
43.9 (6.6) |
54.1 (12.3) |
61.8 (16.6) |
65.3 (18.5) |
63.1 (17.3) |
55.0 (12.8) |
42.3 (5.7) |
31.6 (−0.2) |
28.5 (−1.9) |
44.7 (7.1) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 20.2 (−6.6) |
22.6 (−5.2) |
27.2 (−2.7) |
35.9 (2.2) |
45.2 (7.3) |
52.8 (11.6) |
56.9 (13.8) |
54.8 (12.7) |
47.3 (8.5) |
35.9 (2.2) |
26.0 (−3.3) |
23.1 (−4.9) |
37.3 (3.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 14.6 (−9.7) |
17.3 (−8.2) |
19.3 (−7.1) |
27.8 (−2.3) |
36.2 (2.3) |
43.7 (6.5) |
48.3 (9.1) |
46.5 (8.1) |
39.5 (4.2) |
29.5 (−1.4) |
20.4 (−6.4) |
17.6 (−8.0) |
30.1 (−1.1) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −5 (−21) |
−0.2 (−17.9) |
4.0 (−15.6) |
16.4 (−8.7) |
29.8 (−1.2) |
37.0 (2.8) |
42.9 (6.1) |
39.0 (3.9) |
29.6 (−1.3) |
17.0 (−8.3) |
3.6 (−15.8) |
−0.9 (−18.3) |
−7.5 (−21.9) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −30 (−34) |
−24 (−31) |
−18 (−28) |
−2 (−19) |
24 (−4) |
31 (−1) |
32 (0) |
30 (−1) |
17 (−8) |
2 (−17) |
−15 (−26) |
−18 (−28) |
−30 (−34) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 7.72 (196) |
6.15 (156) |
4.93 (125) |
5.16 (131) |
3.44 (87) |
2.28 (58) |
2.71 (69) |
4.71 (120) |
8.23 (209) |
8.32 (211) |
7.01 (178) |
9.14 (232) |
69.8 (1,772) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 32.8 (83) |
33.8 (86) |
36.8 (93) |
12.0 (30) |
0.9 (2.3) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
10.8 (27) |
31.8 (81) |
50.4 (128) |
209.3 (530.3) |
| Source: WRCC | |||||||||||||
Images for kids
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Turnagain Arm seen from Mount Alyeska
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Mount Alyeska
