Alyeska Resort
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox ski area
| name = Alyeska Resort
| logo =
| picture = Alyeska Resort.JPG
| caption = Alyeska Resort in June 2008
| location = Girdwood, Anchorage, Alaska
| nearest_city = Anchorage
| pushpin_map = Alaska#North America
| pushpin_relief = 1
| coordinates = {{coord|60.9705|-149.0982|type:landmark_region:US-AK|display=inline,title}}
| pushpin_label_position =
| map_caption = Location in Alaska
| top_elevation = {{convert|2750|ft|-1|abbr=on}} lift served;
{{convert|3939|ft|-1|abbr=on}} (summit)
| base_elevation = {{convert|250|ft|-1|abbr=on}}
| vertical = {{convert|2500|ft|-1|abbr=on}} lift served;
{{convert|3200|ft|0|abbr=on}} total
| skiable_area = {{convert|1400|acre|km2}}
| number_trails = 73
13px - 11% easiest
13px - 52% more difficult
13px - 37% most difficult
| longest_run =
| liftsystem = 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 = {{convert|650|in|cm|-1|abbr=on}} - top
{{convert|512|in|cm|-1|abbr=on}} - mid
{{convert|208|in|cm|-1|abbr=on}} - base
| snowmaking = {{convert|113|acre|km2}}
| nightskiing = Thu–Sat (4–9 pm)
nightly (late Dec to early Jan)
| external_link = [http://www.alyeskaresort.com/ alyeskaresort.com]
}}
Alyeska Resort is a ski resort in the Girdwood area of Anchorage, Alaska, approximately {{convert|30|mi|km}} from downtown Anchorage. Mount Alyeska is part of the Chugach mountain range and the Alyeska Resort is the largest ski area in the state. It includes the mountaintop Mt. Alyeska Roundhouse, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Facilities and terrain
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Mt. Alyeska Roundhouse
| nrhp_type =
| image =
| caption =
| nearest_city = Girdwood, Alaska
| coordinates = {{coord|60|57|42|N|149|4|50|W|display=inline,source:ProprioMeOW}}
| locmapin = Alaska
| built = 1960
| architect =
| architecture =
| added = November 5, 2003
| area =
| governing_body =
| refnum = 02000562{{NRISref|version=2010a}}
}}
The Alyeska Ski Corporation was founded in 1954, and the first chairlift and day lodge were opened in 1959. The Roundhouse ski lodge and ski patrol station at the top of the mountain began construction in 1960. It is an octagonal building. Still standing, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as "Mt. Alyeska Roundhouse" in 2003, and now houses a museum to local ski history.{{Cite web|url=https://roundhouseatalyeska.org/|title=Home|website=Roundhouse at Alyeska Museum}}
Currently, Alyeska has five chairlifts, one high-speed aerial tramway, and two Magic Carpets. Of the five chairlifts, one is co-owned by Alyeska and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20110725001819/http://www.alyeskaskiclub.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=70&Itemid=114%2F Tanaka Foundation] (Chair 5). Chairs 6 and 4 are high-speed detachable quads, while Chairs 7 and 3 are normal quads. Chair 4 was updated to a high speed quad in 2012. A sixth chairlift, Chair 1, was removed from service in the summer of 2017.
Chair 4 ends halfway up the mountain. The tram ends three-quarters of the way up the mountain. The interconnected buildings contain the Roundhouse (patrol quarters), and a much newer facility housing the upper tram terminal, a quick-service cafeteria, and the Seven Glaciers 4-star restaurant and bar. At the base of the tram is the modern 300-room Hotel Alyeska.
Chair 6 goes to the highest lift served point on the mountain at {{convert|2750|ft|-1}}. Several areas above Chair 6 are occasionally opened, but require hiking to access. Plans to build a new chair lift higher up the mountain have been announced.
Mount Alyeska is a fairly challenging mountain, and has a much higher percentage of advanced and expert runs, as compared to most other mountains in North America. It has a small section for the novice, but the rest of the mountain is almost entirely for the intermediate and the advanced skiers.
=Terrain Aspects=
Racing
Alyeska hosted World Cup giant slalom ski races in 1973 for both men and women. Alyeska first hosted the U.S. Alpine Championships in 1963;{{cite magazine|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1135206/index.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220122603/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1135206/index.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 20, 2013|magazine=Sports Illustrated|last=Terrell|first=Roy|title=Cool skiing in sun-baked Alaska|date=April 15, 1963|page=54}} the championships returned in 1981, 2004, 2007, and 2009.{{cite web|url=http://www.skiracing.com/?q=node/6960|publisher=Ski Racing.com|title=Alyeska to host U.S. Alpine Championships in 2009|date=July 7, 2008|accessdate=December 28, 2012}}
American Olympic gold medalist Tommy Moe (b. 1970) sharpened his racing skills at Alyeska as a teenager in the 1980s.{{cite web |url=http://verticalfeet.com/ |title = VerticalFeet.com-Accurate Ski Resort Ranking with monthly updates}}
2006 purchase
Alyeska was bought in December 2006 by John Byrne III, who said he planned to make improvements to the resort, with a concentration on people who come to ski for the day. Some of the improvements included the installation of RFID gates at all of the lifts, the removal of bubbles from chair 6, new paint on the tram, and construction of the only superpipe in Alaska. According to a statement issued October 9, 2018 by the resort's director of marketing, Eric Fullerton, Alyeska Resort has entered into a contract to sell "substantially all of its resort assets" to Pomeroy Lodging.{{cite web |last=Polk |first=Leroy |last2=Palsha |first2=Rebecca |date=October 9, 2018 |title='We'll see what happens'; Girdwood locals react to Alyeska Resort's sale |url=https://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Alyeska-Resort-to-sell-Girdwood-hotel-complex-to-Canadian-company-496259481.html}}
Climate
Alyeska has a subarctic climate (Köppen: Dfc), with short but mild summers and long, snowy winters. Snowfall is extremely heavy, owing to the Aleutian Low, with an average year getting {{convert|209|in|cm}} of snow at the base (elevation 250 feet above sea level) and an average exceeding {{convert|650|in|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} at the top of the Glacier Bowl Express (GBX) chairlift. The record annual snowfall measured at the top of the GBX is {{convert|939|in|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} during the 2000–01 season. Precipitation in general is heavy, but is considerably less from late spring to mid- summer. A freeze has been recorded for every month of the year.
{{Weather box
|location = Alyeska Ski Resort, 1991−2020 normals, extremes 1963−present
|single line = Y
|Jan record high F = 57
|Feb record high F = 53
|Mar record high F = 57
|Apr record high F = 67
|May record high F = 78
|Jun record high F = 85
|Jul record high F = 89
|Aug record high F = 88
|Sep record high F = 73
|Oct record high F = 63
|Nov record high F = 51
|Dec record high F = 50
|year record high F =
|Jan avg record high F = 42.0
|Feb avg record high F = 42.9
|Mar avg record high F = 45.6
|Apr avg record high F = 54.4
|May avg record high F = 68.0
|Jun avg record high F = 75.7
|Jul avg record high F = 77.3
|Aug avg record high F = 75.3
|Sep avg record high F = 65.7
|Oct avg record high F = 54.5
|Nov avg record high F = 44.5
|Dec avg record high F = 41.2
|year avg record high F = 79.1
|Jan high F = 27.1
|Feb high F = 31.4
|Mar high F = 35.7
|Apr high F = 45.5
|May high F = 55.4
|Jun high F = 63.8
|Jul high F = 66.5
|Aug high F = 64.5
|Sep high F = 56.3
|Oct high F = 44.4
|Nov high F = 32.7
|Dec high F = 29.4
|year high F =
|Jan mean F = 22.0
|Feb mean F = 25.4
|Mar mean F = 27.6
|Apr mean F = 37.1
|May mean F = 46.2
|Jun mean F = 54.2
|Jul mean F = 58.1
|Aug mean F = 56.0
|Sep mean F = 48.5
|Oct mean F = 38.0
|Nov mean F = 27.4
|Dec mean F = 24.3
|year mean F =
|Jan low F = 16.8
|Feb low F = 19.3
|Mar low F = 19.5
|Apr low F = 28.7
|May low F = 37.0
|Jun low F = 44.7
|Jul low F = 49.6
|Aug low F = 47.6
|Sep low F = 40.8
|Oct low F = 31.5
|Nov low F = 22.2
|Dec low F = 19.2
|year low F =
|Jan avg record low F = -5.0
|Feb avg record low F = 0.0
|Mar avg record low F = 4.0
|Apr avg record low F = 16.1
|May avg record low F = 29.8
|Jun avg record low F = 37.2
|Jul avg record low F = 43.0
|Aug avg record low F = 39.1
|Sep avg record low F = 29.6
|Oct avg record low F = 17.2
|Nov avg record low F = 3.7
|Dec avg record low F = -0.9
|year avg record low F = -7.4
|Jan record low F = -30
|Feb record low F = -24
|Mar record low F = -18
|Apr record low F = -2
|May record low F = 24
|Jun record low F = 31
|Jul record low F = 32
|Aug record low F = 30
|Sep record low F = 17
|Oct record low F = 2
|Nov record low F = -15
|Dec record low F = -18
|year record low F =
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation inch = 7.34
|Feb precipitation inch = 6.57
|Mar precipitation inch = 5.37
|Apr precipitation inch = 5.25
|May precipitation inch = 3.99
|Jun precipitation inch = 2.21
|Jul precipitation inch = 2.66
|Aug precipitation inch = 4.86
|Sep precipitation inch = 8.26
|Oct precipitation inch = 7.78
|Nov precipitation inch = 7.65
|Dec precipitation inch = 8.98
|Jan snow inch = 37.4
|Feb snow inch = 36.6
|Mar snow inch = 37.5
|Apr snow inch = 9.6
|May snow inch = 1.2
|Jun snow inch = 0.0
|Jul snow inch = 0.0
|Aug snow inch = 0.0
|Sep snow inch = 0.0
|Oct snow inch = 8.1
|Nov snow inch = 29.9
|Dec snow inch = 54.2
|year snow inch =
|unit precipitation days = 0.01 in
|Jan precipitation days = 18.9
|Feb precipitation days = 17.7
|Mar precipitation days = 15.9
|Apr precipitation days = 15.9
|May precipitation days = 14.2
|Jun precipitation days = 11.9
|Jul precipitation days = 14.4
|Aug precipitation days = 16.8
|Sep precipitation days = 19.6
|Oct precipitation days = 18.8
|Nov precipitation days = 18.3
|Dec precipitation days = 21.8
|unit snow days = 0.1 in
|Jan snow days = 11.0
|Feb snow days = 10.7
|Mar snow days = 9.9
|Apr snow days = 3.9
|May snow days = 0.4
|Jun snow days = 0.0
|Jul snow days = 0.0
|Aug snow days = 0.0
|Sep snow days = 0.1
|Oct snow days = 2.7
|Nov snow days = 9.3
|Dec snow days = 14.0
|year snow days = 62.0
{{cite web
|url = https://wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?mt9175
|publisher = Western Regional Climate Center
|title = Period of Record Climate Summary
}}
Retrieved on October 6, 2022
{{cite web
|url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&stations=USC00500243&format=pdf&dataTypes=MLY-TMAX-NORMAL,MLY-TMIN-NORMAL,MLY-TAVG-NORMAL,MLY-PRCP-NORMAL,MLY-SNOW-NORMAL
|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
|title = U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access
}}
Retrieved on October 6, 2022.
}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.alyeskaresort.com}}
- [http://www.powdertour.com/phpBB3/gallery2.php Powder Tour] Social Community - Member submitted Alyeska images
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Category:Event venues on the National Register of Historic Places in Alaska
Category:Sports venues on the National Register of Historic Places