Janex in Alaska

Who needs a ski life when you have a helicopter? Heliskiing, which is fast growing in popularity among ski and snowboard enthusiasts, eliminates cumbersome lines and heavy ski traffic – but it is not for the faint of heart or for amateur skiers. RealTraveler Janex, who adventured on a heliskiing trip around this time last year has returned to Cordova, Alaska, a prime destination for heliskiers who desire untracked powder, forested mountaintops, and an exciting challenge. Going on anywhere between 6 and 11 runs a day with her snowboarding group, Janex shredded through impeccable powder, took in the sparkling white Alaskan scenery, and marveled at the stunning natural spectacle that is the Northern Lights.

Here’s an excerpt from Janex’s journal, Another 9 Runs Down:

“So out of the heli and now we have to hike up a cornice and our guide steps into a huge hole - I am not in a particularly relaxed state of mind especially when I see we have to get off a lip to stick into the run. Hmmmmm, am I on holiday right now???? So we set off a cornice and drop into a super nice powdery 40 degree slope that goes on for what seems like forever, it opens right up at the end and enables me to take some wide sweeping turns. It is actually a run with snow that can’t help but make you look like the best boarder in the world - a true glory run.

In between these type of runs we take a mellow long sunny run, where we can all go at the same time and spread right out across the glacier, I am back to a relaxed state…One of the truly great days that Alaska has to offer.” (more…)

Heliskiing in Alaska not only provided Janex with a ton of powder-swishing fun, but also gave her a front row seat to nature’s most amazing light show. She writes:

“It is just after 11pm now and my roommie has a nice red wine snore going before I screamed - “IT’S THE NORTHERN LIGHTS” well he got up in a hurry. We had a brilliant toxic green smear move like a slow sliding snake right across the entire night sky. Truly amazing - just wish I had the right camera hardware to catch it. But the memories of today will truly last a lifetime.” (more…)

To read more about Janex’s snowboarding adventures, check out her Travel Blog. Interested in other Alaskan adventures? Visit blogs by E & A for tales of a kayaking trip around Mendelhall Glacier, and check in on RVThereyet as they go on safari in Denali National Park.

More Useful Links about Alaska:
Alaska Travel Guide
Alaska Travel Blogs
Travel Alaska.com