Alaska Ski Adventures

2026 Tour of Anchorage Trip Highlights

Day 1 Highlights

Hillside Park Ski Adventures

The first day, we skied at Hillside Nordic Trails, just a short drive from our lodging in Anchorage. We skied the pristinely groomed trails, then had participants ski a mostly downhill point-to-point trail called the “Tour of Anchorage Ski Trail” to Alaska Pacific University (APU).

Since 1972, the APU and Nordic Elite team has fostered some of America’s best cross-country skiers & Olympians for the United States. During the ski, a snowstorm started, so the participants had quite the adventure! Trip leaders greeted the group with warm beverages and treats.

Alaskan Snow Sculpture & Ulu Knife Fun

Every February, Anchorage comes alive for North America’s largest winter festival. For over 90 years, Fur Rendezvous—” Rondy”—has celebrated Alaska’s frontier spirit with sled dog races, snow sculptures, fireworks, and a whole lot of fun.

Following our ski and lunch stop, we headed to the Alaskan State Snow Sculpture Championships and a visit to the Ulu factory to watch how the Alaskan Ulu knives are made.

Day 2 Highlights

Iditorad and Fur Trade Spectating

We started the day by spectating the ceremonial start of the 2026 Iditorad. This event is a non-competitive, 11-mile kickoff event held annually on the first Saturday of March in downtown Anchorage, Alaska. There were hundreds of spectators cheering on the different sleddog teams, which were released every few minutes at an interval start. The official race start occurred the following day in Willow, Alaska.

Part of the Rondy Festival includes a long-standing Fur Trade Auction where local hunters sell everything from beaver pelts to fox head hats! Very entertaining to watch who was purchasing all these items.

Kikkan Randall Visit and Kincaid Park Ski Adventures

In the afternoon, we enjoyed a meet-and-greet with Olympian Kikkan Randall at the Kincaid Nordic Ski Chalet. Kim’s highlight was playing with Kikkan’s youngest child. Kikkan shared about her job as the Executive Director of the NSAA.

Following our inspirational talk with Kikkan, the trip leaders led the group on a preview ski of the last 10 km of the Tour of Anchorage race. The course is a point-to-point ski starting at Hillside Park, runs across the heart of Anchorage, and along the coastal trail all the way to Kincaid. It is both an urban and nature ski race similar to the City of Lakes Loppet event.

Day 3 Highlights

Tour of Anchorage Race

All the trip participants decided to partake in the TOA race events. One person raced the 50 km skate event, six of us raced the 40 km event, and three people raced the 25 km distance. Everyone had a blast racing/touring the perfectly groomed course.

The highlight for trip participant Jeannine Wittala during her 40 km race was seeing a moose cross the trail! Not every race provides this kind of exciting interruption.

Day 4 Highlights

Beluga Point & Girdwood Ski Adventures

The following day, we did a short road trip to the Girdwood Nordic Trailhead near the Alyeska downhill ski resort. During the drive, we stopped at Beluga Point to take in the views and see if we could spot the bore tide. The Turnagain Arm bore tide occurs daily, with 6-10 foot waves rushing up the narrow inlet between Anchorage and Girdwood, reaching speeds of 10-15 mph. In the summer, you can find locals surfing the 10-foot waves. There are 60 bore tides in the world, and Turnagain Arm is one of the largest.

Trip leaders guided the group on a classic ski from the Meadow trails near Alyeska downhill area to the Girdwood Trailhead.

The Girdwood Nordic trails were quite challenging, with steep climbs and descents that tested post-race-tired legs! Girdwood Nordic trails are located in a rainforest that receives approximately 70-80 inches of precipitation annually. Currently, on April 29th, there is enough snow to ski at Girdwood!

Alyeska Nordic Spa & Portage Glacier

Many of the participants enjoyed a relaxing afternoon at the Alyeska Nordic Spa. This dreamlike outdoor spa center features a hydrotherapy circuit of cold and hot tubs, steam rooms, and a variety of saunas. All the tubs and saunas are surrounded by beautiful pine trees with views of the mountains.

Earlier in the week, trip leaders visited Portage Lake to assess conditions for Nordic Blading. Unfortunately, the ice wasn’t very good, but you could still hike or bike out to see the famous glacier. I was amazed at how much the glacier had receded in the last three years. My husband, Craig, took a few participants to visit Portage Lake and the town of Whittier while the rest of the gang relaxed at the spa.

Day 5 Highlights

Kincaid Ski Adventures

The last day of our trip delivered a top ten bluebird day of skiing on the pristinely groomed Kincaid ski trails. No actual moose sightings, but lots of moose droppings and tracks along the ski trail.

Later in the evening, we took the group to the Glen Alps Trailhead for a panoramic view of Denali. The traihead is a popular hiking and skiing area for locals, located just a short drive from Anchorage. During our hike, we finally spotted a moose grazing and eating in the valley below us.

Nordic Blading at Lagoon Park

Following lunch, we headed to the Westchester Lagoon Park near downtown Anchorage for an afternoon of Nordic Blading and viewing the spectacular Chugach mountain range. Nordic blades have become more popular in the U.S. in recent years.

Nordic blades have been used for over a hundred years in Holland and the Nordic countries for skating on frozen lakes, rivers, and streams. They are more like speed skates than hockey skates. The best part about Nordic blades is that you can use your skate boots, which fit right onto the Nordic blade binding. They are light-weight, fast, and a great way to explore a variety of lakes.

Of all the Endurance Adventure trips that I have led, the Tour of Anchorage trip is by far my favorite! I hope you are inspired to join the next Tour of Anchorage, March 3 – 10, 2027! Below are a few highlights from the trip participants.

Highlights from 2026 Participants