This is how a winter vacation in Alaska is fun

It's just before two in the morning when the phone rings. "Madam, sorry to wake you up..." That's exactly what I was waiting for. Because when I checked in, I ordered a Northern Lights wake-up call. And now the time has come: The Northern Lights can be seen! When I pull back the curtains, I can't believe my eyes. Veils of every shade from light green to deep purple dance across the night sky. The magic that would put any laser show in the world in the shade lasts for half an hour.

The scene of the experience is the "Alyeska Hotel" in Girdwood, located around 60 kilometers south-east of Alaska's largest city Anchorage and the ideal location for a special kind of winter adventure.

Despite the location at an altitude of 80 to 800 meters, Mount Alyeska is always supplied with plenty of white splendor, record amounts of snow are the order of the day. Which is why, after nightly snowfall, the avalanches are released in the early hours of the morning before the lifts go into operation. These are also wake-up calls of a special kind. After all, numerous US ski championships have taken place here and even a World Cup race in 1973, which the then 19-year-old Hansi Hinterseer won.

Brand new at the Alyeska Resort is the Nordic Spa, the first of its kind in the USA. In a huge area in the middle of the northernmost rainforest in the world, there are a number of pools, saunas and relaxation areas. What could be more fascinating than sitting in the bubble bath and watching the Northern Lights?

Admittedly, winter in Alaska sounds more like survival training than a vacation. But word is getting around more and more that the tale of murderous cold and permanent darkness is not true. Alaska offers ideal outdoor conditions for nature-loving active vacationers. It gets really cozy from mid-February. The sun shines almost 14 hours a day and brings comfortable daytime temperatures around freezing point and warmer.

Skiers are offered a fascinating ambience: Where else can you have the sea in front of your nose with every turn? Where can you enjoy an unobstructed view of seven glaciers from a gourmet mountain restaurant over a caribou steak or salmon fillet? And where do you have to stop after every tenth turn on the last ski descent into the valley to stare at the surrounding mountains, which the evening sun has bathed in pink to violet light?

Fun and conviviality are the order of the day for local skiers. The current ski fashion is just as uninteresting here as any new ski technology trends. When it's freshly snowed, they simply slip on their all-purpose pants and parka and throw themselves down the slopes with a hoot. And when they tumble down the steep mogul slope on the North Face more than swinging, they shake the snow out of their hair and cheerfully sum up "That was fun!"

In the spring they prefer to wear shorts and a T-shirt. In the late afternoon, you can meet the likeable warhorses at après-ski in rustic pubs such as the Sitzmark or the Girdwood Brewing Company and later over dinner at the Double Musky or the Jack Sprat.

Anyone who travels to Alaska from far away naturally wants to see a little more of the country. With the blue and yellow panorama train of the Alaska Railroad you jerk south at a leisurely pace. On the left a magnificent, untouched mountain world, on the right the deep blue sea and enchanted lakes in which the white peaks are reflected.

You can't shake the feeling of driving along a hundred kilometer long photo wallpaper. From the destination train station in Seward, a picturesque coastal town on the Kenai Peninsula, the ship takes you right into the heart of the world of glaciers, whose tongues reach into the sea. Again and again huge chunks of ice break into the water with an ominous noise.

The sea otters, floating lazily on their backs, are undeterred. They seem really comfortable in their role as photo models. And even the sea lions sunbathing on a bare rock seem to regard the passing ship as a welcome change rather than a nuisance.

According to biologist Stéphanie Hayes, there are only about five white orca whales in the world. She discovered one of them off the coast of Alaska – and published the recording on the Internet.

Source: WORLD

Agnes Cove is the playground for orca whales. One by one emerges from the blue depths of the sea; they let their huge backs roll over the water surface and disappear again. By the way, the orcas are not whales, but belong to the family of dolphins. They remain in Alaska year-round, while humpback whales spend the winters in the waters of Hawaii or Mexico.

On the way back, we'll stop at Girdwood Brewing Company, one of America's most popular microbreweries. Half a dozen fat bikes are parked in front of the entrance. These are chunky, beefy sports bikes that locals and holidaymakers use to explore the snowy expanses around Girdwood.

Inside you can make yourself comfortable with tasty beer creations such as "No Woman, No Crayo" or a Kölsch called "Down The Chute" and chat with the easygoing locals, who can't believe how and why someone made the long journey from Europe Has. They find the fact that Girdwood was voted the best ski resort in the world by the renowned travel magazine National Geographic a few years ago, super cool, but also exaggerated.

The crowning glory of a ski vacation in Alaska is heli-skiing. The filigree helicopters of the Chugach Powder Guides take us right into the white paradise. Floating above the peaks you first get a flash. This country is so vast. So beguiling. So overwhelming.

Once at the top, we pour ourselves into enthusiastic "Aaahhs" and "Oooohs". Thousands of peaks all around, in between the mirror-smooth water of Prince William Sound glitters, in which ice floes float like building blocks. One begins to suspect that in a federal state that is four and a half times the size of Germany but has only around 700,000 inhabitants, the dimensions are shifting completely. You feel tiny - and yet so great.

Arrival: For example with Lufthansa to Seattle and on with Alaska Airlines to Anchorage. Or with United via Denver or Chicago. Travel time around 20 hours. Thanks to the time difference (10 hours), no overnight stay is necessary.

Organizer: Aeroski Erben, aeroski.com; Chugach Powder Guides, chugachpowderguides.com

For more information: anchorage.net; alyeskaresort.com