dogsled on glacier?

[arb711]

I'm wondering about the excursion that includes helicopter to glacier and then a dogseld ride on the glacier. I know that I want to go to a glacier, and that I want to do something with the dogs, but is is worth it to combine them? The other dogsled experiences are on land, with wheels - how cool is it to do it on the ice? It's SO expensive, I'm hesitating.

[arb711]

Just saw thread a few down on this exact question.

Always open to suggestions, though!

[vozzie]

We did this in Juneau. Highlight of the cruise.

 

BTW, you don't actually land on a Glacier, you land on the ice and snow fields at the top. The dogs actually sled you around on thick snow, not ice.

[tee_harbor]

BTW, you don't actually land on a Glacier, you land on the ice and snow fields at the top. The dogs actually sled you around on thick snow, not ice.

 

That's what a glacier is, ice and snow. ;) That's one of the reasons to get up in a plane or helicopter; to get a sense of the hugeness of the Juneau icefields. They're like a frozen river delta, flowing between the mountains. What you see from the ground is just a small part. The visitors center at Mendenhall does a great job of explaining how glaciers are formed.

[vozzie]

Not wishing to be picky, but a glacier is a river of Ice ... which was created by snow being compacted. You need crampons attached to your boots to walk on a Glacier (ice). You don't need crampons to walk in the snowfields... where the dogsleds operate.

[Budget Queen]

There definately is a difference in the areas of landing with the dog camps in areas of much more snow, where the glacier helicopter landings are more ice.

[penguin6969]

We just returned from our Alaksa cruisetour on the Radiance and we had one of the best excursion in Juneau. All I really wanted to do was the helicopter ride (over the 4 glaciers), land on a glacier and then spent 45-50 minutes on the dog sled. That was the coolest excursion I have ever done - from all 5 cruises. Yes, it was expensive, but sooo sooo worth every penny we spent on it. I would definately do it again if given the chance.

 

The helicopter ride to the dog sled camp was about 35 min in itself. I will never look at another glacier in the same way. Super super view from the helicopter and then landing on the glacier and standing on the back of the dog sled - yes thus the snow..

 

Any questions, please just ask. I took over 1000 pictures on the 12 day cruisetour and love every one of them.

[arb711]

Okay, you've all convinced me - I'll do it! But vozzie's post raises another question for me: The dogsled helicopter lands on the snow, the other glacier tour helicopters land on ice, right? So do I care that I'm not getting to walk on the ice part? I have to say that that sounded very cool when I read about it. And I can't afford 2 glacier/helicopter excursions!

 

 

6 weeks and 4 days. I can't wait!

[advent2000]

Does anybody know whether the Mendenhall glacier tour is better than the Four Glaciers heli-tour.I must know which is better or if there is no difference soon, as our cruise departs in a week or so.

[Sierra Fox]

We just returned from our Alaksa cruisetour on the Radiance and we had one of the best excursion in Juneau. All I really wanted to do was the helicopter ride (over the 4 glaciers), land on a glacier and then spent 45-50 minutes on the dog sled. That was the coolest excursion I have ever done - from all 5 cruises. Yes, it was expensive, but sooo sooo worth every penny we spent on it. I would definately do it again if given the chance.

 

The helicopter ride to the dog sled camp was about 35 min in itself. I will never look at another glacier in the same way. Super super view from the helicopter and then landing on the glacier and standing on the back of the dog sled - yes thus the snow..

 

Any questions, please just ask. I took over 1000 pictures on the 12 day cruisetour and love every one of them.

 

Cindy, I just wanted to make sure I understood you correctly...was the dog sled ride actually a full 45 minutes? I read somewhere on the board where the ones on land with wheels were only around 3 minutes, not long enough as far as I'm concerned.

 

I really want to do a helicopter/dog sled combo tour but since DH is a helicopter pilot I'm having a hard time talking him into spending the cash for it since he flies around all the time for free. Please post which company you went with. Thanks a bunch and have a great day! - SF

[Buccaneergirl]

We did the helicopter/dog sled tour in Ketchikan in May and it was outstanding! It was soooo worth the $$ and it will be a great experience, I promise!!:D

We had done the helicopter to the glacier in Juneau a few years back and it was wonderful too, but I really enjoyed the dogs this time.

[MercedMike]

Cindy, I just wanted to make sure I understood you correctly...was the dog sled ride actually a full 45 minutes? I read somewhere on the board where the ones on land with wheels were only around 3 minutes, not long enough as far as I'm concerned.

 

I think that poster was perhaps exaggerating a bit. Our experience with the dog cart rides, in Skagway and at Caribou Crossing, was that the cart ride itself was about 10-15 minutes. The remainder of the time was the hitching up the dogs, the musher's talk, exploring the camp, meeting the puppies, etc.

 

To be honest with you, after you have seen the dogs hitched up and seen how they take off and how the musher controls them ... ummm ... what more are you going to see or feel in another half hour?

[cokecolect]

Just got off the Radiance last Friday. We did a glacier trek with crampons on the Mantanuska glacier outside of Anchorage. We also did the helicopter ride and dog sledding in Juneau. While they were both great and a wonderful experience, the dog sledding was one of the most awesome things I did in two weeks in Alaska. If need to pick one, do the helicopter/dog sled. We used Coastal Helicopters. It is a smaller company then the others and I would highly recommend them. There were only six people on the glacier when we went and dthere were two dog sleds set up. They piggy back a second sled behind the front one so you can actually stand and brake and get the feel of a real musher. It was about a 15 minute helicopter ride and we were on the glacier (20 feet of snow over the ice) about 45 minutes to an hour. It was expensive, but well worth it.

 

Bruce

[hotmike98]

My advice on this is book the earliest time of day you can. These trips are often cancelled due to low cloud ceiling. We just got back, and because we accepted a ship change from Princess, our time slot was pushed from 8:00 am to noon. We had to wait until noon to confirm the trip was cancelled, and then scramble to book something else. With early flight, you have more time to reschedule, and there is always the possibility that there will be a later opening if the weather clears (usually these are booked solid, but you always want to maximize your odds, unless someone can show that it always clears in the afternoon, but I don't think that's the case). So we missed it last week, gives us a reason for a 4th trip to Alaska, but not this year!

[rram1234]

i was very hesitant about doing this excursion myself, afraid of the helicopter, didnt want to shell out that kind of money, it was the highligh of my cruise, hubby and i are going to do this cruise again and we will both do this excursion again, he did not go with me, one of our friends came with me and he cant stop talking about it and we did this in May.

 

here are some pictures:warning there are alot of pictures

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/559346664sNIejb