Helicopter Flight Seeing with Alpine Air
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Coat // Sweatshirt // Leggings // Boots
In September of this year, my girlfriends and I planned an overnight trip to Girdwood. We did so much in our short time away. You can read all about our amazing stay at our Airbnb here, but by far, my most favorite part of the trip (aside from bonding with some of the best girls out there), was taking a 60-minute helicopter glacier tour with Alpine Air. Y’all. It was fucking amazing.
Our party of six had to split up between two helicopters and I think we lucked out by having Martin as our pilot. It was obvious by the way he handled the aircraft that he was experienced and comfortable in what he was doing. I’m not going to lie, I was terrified at first. My fear and anxiety kicked in fierce. Martin, in his kind and jovial demeanor, initially started out our tour with jokes. But he read the room. And when he sensed my nervousness, he put on his Papa Bear hat and did what he could to curb my anxiety. He distracted me with facts about what we were seeing, pointing out the the hidden lakes, showed us how certain trees formed to make the shape of a goldfish, and answered all of the questions we had. And we had a lot of them.
Once my nerves had calmed, I got to fully enjoy the sights. Below is a quick 46-second video compilation of some of the sites we saw en route to the glacier.
Gorgeous, right? It was a 20ish minute flight out to the glacier and once we landed, we had about 20 minutes on the ground to explore and take pics. I was so glad I packed a cider to enjoy on the glacier. It was just what I needed.
We were allowed to pack a small carry on that was stowed under our seat in the helicopter. Mine contained my cider. My friends’ carry ons contained their camera gear. And before we exited onto the glacier, Martin gave us shoe clamps to ensure we didn’t slip on any ice while exploring.
Would I go again? Absolutely. This trip wasn’t sponsored. I paid for it out of pocket and it was worth every penny. This would make a great gift for the person who isn’t afraid of heights and who seems to have it all. I’m also unashamedly plugging this as a gift for me to my friends and family reading this post. Don’t know what to get me for my birthday or Christmas? Pool your money with a few other people and get me on a helicopter again, please.
If you do end up going on a flight-seeing tour with Alpine Air, one thing to keep in mind is that they do not have a bathroom on site; there is a port-o-potty outside if you have to go. My advice is to make sure you go to the loo before you head out on your excursion.
Sometimes, when in the moments of life and I’m on my phone taking pics, I think, “Dang, Les. Put your phone down and enjoy this. Be present.” I did a lot of that while on the tour. But looking back and seeing the pictures and video I took of our time in the sky and on the glacier, I am so glad there are things to help me remember how breathtaking it all is.
Send me a message if you do end up going on a glacier tour with these guys. I get no kick-back from them. It’d just be cool to hear if you had as great of a time as we did. XO, Les