Alaska Adventure Operators Expand Offerings

Wesley Bowhay of Glacier Gardens in Juneau manages an attraction that draws between 50,000 and 100,000 visitors annually for its Rainforest Adventure Tour. The business, established in 1998 as an add-on to a plant nursery, features trees planted upside down. Steve Bowhay, now 68, handplants these trees each year after a rental excavator accidentally smashed one in the early days. The exposed roots support between 50 and 150 different flowering plants. Visitors take four-passenger golf carts or an 18-passenger tram up 600 feet on Thunder Mountain to view the Tongass National Forest flora and fauna.

In McCarthy, St. Elias Alpine Guides offers mountaineering, skiing, and ice climbing trips in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Owner Anya Voskresensky leads group expeditions to peaks including Mount Blackburn, Mount Bona, Mount Bear, and Mount Sanford. Voskresensky notes that Mount Bear is similar in elevation to Mount Rainier but differs in mass and remoteness. The company also holds a National Park Service concession for historical tours of the Kennecott copper mill. Tours include access to the 14-story Concentration Mill and a chemical leaching plant, facilities generally closed to the public.

The guiding company, which traces its history to 1978, employs approximately 40 guides. Voskresensky states the business offers women-only trips with a roughly 50/50 ratio of female and male guides. She explains that this structure helps women build confidence and skill in technical sports. Day trips for beginners include climbing in a moulin, a round hole melted by water, where climbers are lowered into the interior of the glacier.

Scott Reierson of Alaska Surf Guides in Seward runs six- to 12-day boat trips for surfers. The company typically operates six-passenger trips with two crew members. Reierson, a Seward native, started the business about ten years ago to share the local surf experience. Tours run March through May and August through October, avoiding the flat conditions of June and July. Surfers travel up to eight hours by boat into the central Gulf of Alaska to find waves. The boats feature a hot shower and a heated wetsuit drying room.

Fred Drake of Snorkel Alaska in Ketchikan has operated his business since 2001. Drake, a Master SCUBA trainer, began his career convincing Norwegian Cruise Lines to provide wetsuits for passengers. His tours take place at Mountain Point, five miles south of the cruise ship docks. Water temperatures reach 60 degrees in peak summer and drop to 42 degrees in April. Participants wear 7 mm wetsuits and use equipment from ScubaPro, BARE Sports, and TUSA. Snorkelers observe kelp forests, sea stars, urchins, and occasionally orcas or humpback whales.

Drake notes that the tour is suitable for most people, including non-swimmers, provided they meet medical and weight restrictions. Winter dives are reserved for experts due to rugged conditions. Drake has been offering the trip independently for the last 25 years.

Operators across the state report that these specialized experiences draw both cruise tourists and local Alaskans. The businesses continue to operate with specific seasonal schedules based on weather and tide conditions.