AK vs. PNW

[regct]

Baker is only like 10k.

10K as in 10,000 feet? Haha...

pnw if you own an umbrella.

Anyone that's lived in the PNW knows you don't use an umbrella. Goretex FTW...with a big ass hood.

[AlderBash]

If teaching is your main source of income, Haines can be a tough place to get a gig.

Also, you are a bush flight or ferry away from actually getting to an airport, so if you like seeing your family in the lower 48 frequently it can be challenging.

That said, the town's always stoked for new folks!

[F.D.V.]

Anchorage is a great starting point in the state. It has almost everything most larger cities have in the lower 48. If you are looking for an urban setting with quick access to the outdoors, this is the place. If you are looking at lift served, this is one of the only places that will give you choices of areas in the state (besides Fairbanks, but who counts Fairbanks as part of AK anyways, it is TOO damned cold up there).

If you are looking at more BC options with near instant sled access, Seward as mentioned earlier is a good place to go.

If you can handle having nothing at your disposal, having to order nearly everything, including a lot of your groceries, and the nearest town with anything at all in driving distant being over 5 hours away, in the middle of the Yukon and in another country, Haines will work for you.

As for the PNW, there are endless possibilities also, on the east side of the Cascades in WA, you have a lot of skiing options within 1-2 hours of Spokane. You have backcountry, lift served, sled accessed terrain and both heli and cat access in Nelson, BC. The good thing about being east of the Cascades, especially in the Selkirks, is it is steep, deep, relatively stable and MUCH drier snow than the West side.

On the Westside, you have Alpental, a burly old schoolesque no frills area that is close to a top 15 city in the US--Seattle.

If you want a town a little more out there, a little farther away from people and a slower pace of life, check out Port Angeles. It has everything outdoors, including surfing and skiing. The ski area, Hurricane Ridge, has a rope tow and a poma and only runs on the weekends. HOWEVER, there is some pretty nice touring in the Olympics. The terrain is very diverse, so you can pick and choose destinations depending on your skill level and desire that day. Another plus of PA is that the ski community is small and on weekends, you can do roadshots all day and still have freshies every run AND a ride up the mountain by someone driving up--most people if they have extra room will stop and pick you up.

Thanks much!

[the_big_lepowski]

I guess if your not used to the small town scene Haines might be your personal hell but you definitely don't have to order your groceries

[SWskier]

I've been in Durango since 2001. But lived in ANC for a couple years a few years back. Had an awesome time in AK and still make trips back to ski, but I am happy to be back in sunny SW CO full time again. I'd be happy offer you any input/comparisons. Feel free to shoot me a pm.

[Scotsman50]

If you are married and going to AK and your wife is relatively hot....one thing you should consider is that every guy in the area that you settle is going to try and fuck your wife. This will be a persistent effort over many years and may or may not succeed. There are so few women in AK( and it additionally attacks the less attractive since" there they shall be treated like queens) that the old saying is , " you're merely taking YOUR turn, for the present."

I love AK, visit often, have 75% of my business in AK, have an office in Anchorage, and love to ski there..live there?...no fucking way...full of misfits, pyschos and those trying to escape from something....plus they will try and fuck your wife.

[dk_alaskan]

I should have said groceries beyond staples.

[concretejungle]

I should have said groceries beyond staples.

People in AK eat staples? Gnar.

I don't know much about AK but when I visited I wasn't impressed with Anchorage as a city. I'm sure I missed some parts but it didn't strike me as an exciting place to live. The skiing was fantastic.

[Chugachjed]

If you are married and going to AK and your wife is relatively hot....one thing you should consider is that every guy in the area that you settle is going to try and fuck your wife. This will be a persistent effort over many years and may or may not succeed. There are so few women in AK( and it additionally attacks the less attractive since" there they shall be treated like queens) that the old saying is , " you're merely taking YOUR turn, for the present."

I love AK, visit often, have 75% of my business in AK, have an office in Anchorage, and love to ski there..live there?...no fucking way...full of misfits, pyschos and those trying to escape from something....plus they will try and fuck your wife.

Got any positions open in anchorage? Ski teching doesn't pay the bills.

[Chugachjed]

People in AK eat staples? Gnar.

I don't know much about AK but when I visited I wasn't impressed with Anchorage as a city. I'm sure I missed some parts but it didn't strike me as an exciting place to live. The skiing was fantastic.

Nobody lives in anchorage for the city.

[Scotsman50]

Got any positions open in anchorage? Ski teching doesn't pay the bills.

Only if you change your view about me naming my husky Chugach ( who has since died).
But seriously...what you do?...we are heavy marine civil/oil service construction and engineering company..union workforce..(operators, carpenters and pile drivers union..so you have to be union). We are always looking for project engineers/managers.

[snoqpass]

The only thing I train for is Cinco. Which falls on a Monday this year, so I guess we'll be celebrating Cinco de Cuatro instead

You are the only person here planning the last day of the season

[ak_powder_monkey]

Lepow...we are looking at Valdez, Haines, Anchorage. I am a teacher so a lot depends on where I could secure employment (secondary or community college).

Good luck with that in any of those places. Its budget cutting season here in the greatland.... Valdez and Haines don't need teachers very often. Anchorage, well, ASD is a freaking mess right now.

PNW has ski lifts and roads, AK does not. Also its dark as shit here... On the upside skiing is CLOSE everywhere. The down side is that winter is cold, dark, and actually winter.

[ak_powder_monkey]

If you are looking at more BC options with near instant sled access, Seward as mentioned earlier is a good place to go.

If I had a wife I'd want to stay here in Seward forever. But its damn lonely... With HUGE HUGE mountains.

[dk_alaskan]

Second dibs...even in the field i work in...

Only if you change your view about me naming my husky Chugach ( who has since died).
But seriously...what you do?...we are heavy marine civil/oil service construction and engineering company..union workforce..(operators, carpenters and pile drivers union..so you have to be union). We are always looking for project engineers/managers.

[stalefish3169]

I've lived in both places.

AK has the best skiing anywhere hands down. Skiing ski mountaineering lines in deep powder conditions is unreal when you can do it. For most people, this isn't very often. The days are short in mid-winter and access can be brutal. The lack of reliable tree skiing is also problematic. Good luck skiing in the sickest all time conditions if you can't see shit in the alpine. And don't even get me started on the North wind. That shit will make you think hell froze over and you're in it when it turns epic pow to moonscape sastrugi in 12 hours. I can't speak firsthand on the other AK areas, but I've heard from reliable sources teaching positions in HNS are hard to get. AK is expensive as fuck and its hard to get much of anything up there. Laugh all you want, but I once saw a Canadian from White Horse, YT go on a rant about how third world Haines was...that ought to tell you something.

I used to live in Maple Falls for its close proximity to Baker. It was still about 45 minutes away on a powder day. Bellingham is 1.5 hrs and it in no way feels like a ski town. So don't go there looking for the ski town vibe. With that being said, the sickest inbounds deep pow shredding I've ever done was at Baker...nowhere else is even close. It averaged 10" a day for 6 weeks once when I was there. You will wonder what the hell you were doing in Colorado for so long...haha. You also have way more alternate options. Whistler and Baker are under the influence of considerably different storm tracks. It's good to have options.

Edit: So true about the relationship drama in AK. I heard of some crazy shit happening when I lived there. Lots of divorces.

[ak_powder_monkey]

yeah to do it right here you basically need to be able to drop anything with 3 of your closest friends at any time to hit the weather window right.

Now I just need my friends to quit their jobs...

[Ak_pride]

You don't lose your girlfriend, you just lose your turn. Both places are kind of the same in terms of conditions, it can go from pouring rain cursing the gods wondering what the hell your doing with your life to the best day or your life in a matter of days.

[Alaskan Rover]

Actually don't overlook teaching in a place like Unalaska (the actual town at Dutch Harbor). The borough pays its teachers well and male teachers are sought after...the Unalaska school is a group of really great kids and smart! The student body is pretty much half aleut and half non-aleut (I'd say that other half is about 70% white and the rest hispanic, filipino and asian). The school is well resourced with an excellent computer lab, good laboratories, and really nice library. There is also a great pool and exercise center which the school shares with the rest of the community. Unalaska/Dutch Harbor is a great community...one trying to deal with the new found fame from that damn show.

And best of all...it is the freakin Aleutian Chain...some incredible little mountains (not super tall, but gnarly as hell!!!!) within easy reach of town and you can skin to great terrain directly from the school!!! You can take a snowmachine to the farther mountains that ring Captain's Bay or easily take a boat to equally fantastic terrain on Akutan.

Why move to Ak to end up in a "normal", crowded CITY like Anchorage when you have these huge oppurtunities in the rest of the state. NOTE: Not that I'm dissing you guys that live in Anchorage like Chugachjed, etc...it's a fine city...i've lived there myself, its got great coffeeshops, a fine library, the Tony Knowles Bike trail system, and the Chugach at your doorstep!!! But it's a big city.

Chugachjed....don't you live in Eagle River??

Oh and as to the question at hand: In terms adventure and eye-popping scenery and immensity of terrain....I'm sorry...but the PNW doesn't even hold a candle to AK...not in anyway. Why is this even a thread??? It should not even be a question.

I mean really...come on....how many people put the PNW on their bucketlist?? "Oh...man, I would just love to go to Tukwila before I die!!" I'm just kidding , of course...the PNW has a lot of absolutely gorgeous places to it...the misty coast of Wa/Ore being just one!!

But if you do have to post a thread about it...if it is really even a question in your mind and you put it on the same list as some place like the PNW...then Alaska might not be for you. It's like a wife or a girlfriend...if she doesn't send shivers of love and excitement up your spine STILL...then what are you still with her for? Same with AK...if you don't wake up in the morning...every morning ...look at those mountains and say to yourself "My god...I can't believe i am here!!!" then Ak might not be the right place for you.

But if you think it IS for you and you ARE thinking about teaching, PM me...I've got a lot of contacts in some great little off-the-beaten path towns and villages that have great little K-12 community schools in places that aren't merely places but distillstions of raw and beautiful life and adventure that was once abundant everywhere and still exists in the weird microcosm of the Alaskan villages off the highway grid.

[Chugachjed]

I'm in anchorage but I've lived all around.

[PNWbrit]

If I had a wife

I wouldn't worry too much about that.

[icelanticskier]

The lack of reliable tree skiing is also problematic.

do the trees move around a lot?

rog

[pipedream]

You are the only person here planning the last day of the season

Cinco de whatever might be the last day the padded seats spin, but the season goes year-round in these parts, amigo.

[DBdude]

Bellingham pretty much sucks. It rains all the time, and there are no real mountains anywhere. Baker is only like 10k. And hippies. Did I mention the hippies.

hard to make $$$$$$ in Bellingham

seattle environs are awesome for those inclined to snow sports

[Skree]

hard to make $$$$$$ in Bellingham

seattle environs are awesome for those inclined to snow sports

Teacher salaries wouldn't really be much different between Seattle and Bellingham.

What do you teach, F.D.V.?