Flightseeing Denali with Cole Chambers from K2 Aviation

Cole Chambers joins Jennie to share everything you need to know about flightseeing Denali, the highest peak in North America, and landing on the Ruth Glacier in Denali National Park

K2 Aviation’s Instagram (lots of flightseeing videos!)

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Music credits: Largo Montebello, by Domenico Mannelli, CC.

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Welcome to the Alaska uncovered podcast with me, your host, Jennie flaming, I bring you accurate, helpful and entertaining information about Alaska travel and life and Alaska. My occasional co host and full time husband Jay and I are committed to keeping the Alaska uncovered podcast ad free. To do that we need your help. If you're enjoying the podcast, we invite you to contribute toward tip jar, which is the first link in the show notes. We are so grateful for our listeners and we wouldn't be here without you. Thank you and enjoy the show. My guest today is Cole chambers. Cole has been on the rest K2 Aviation team for over 10 years. She got to know the rest family while working for a major cruise line but sold their excursions. When a position became available she jumped at the chance to join them. Cole believes that flight scene is the most incredible way to see Alaska. She and her husband Smith called Alaska home for over 20 years and now split their time between Alaska and the Midwest to be closer to family. When not at the rests k two offices are on the road doing her job selling Alaska flights in coal can be found cooking for friends and family or out enjoying Alaska's incredible local music scene or going for a hike with her dog Maya. Cool. Welcome to Alaska uncovered. Thank you for being here. Thank you so much for having me. I know I'm so excited about this conversation because Denali flightseeing is just such a cool thing to do. And you're such a fun person to talk about it with. So I'm excited about this. So to start off, um, tell everybody how you got to Alaska? Well, you know, it's a little bit of a love story. So I'll give you the abbreviated version. Okay, you know, my, my dad always loved anything and everything Alaska and always planned on moving there. So when he was in the military, put in countless requests to be transferred to Alaska, and it just never happened. And then he met my mom, and they married and had kids. And so it was his dream. And he used to it when we were kids make us watch all of these major programs. You know, we wanted to watch the ad sitcoms, and we were watching wild America and stuff. So I guess it stuck. Because when I got a little bit older, I had been offered a promotion at a job is after school and work in the hospitality industry. And all sudden, I had this vision of being stuck in one place for the rest of my life. And I thought, oh gosh, I'm gonna do that. So I started to look at jobs in Alaska. And a friend of mine at the time had given me a book called the backdoor guide to short term job adventures. And from there, I found a job working on the 26th glacier cruise out of Whittier. And I went up, I was in my early 20s and just fell in love. I knew when I stepped off the plane Jenny that I called my mom and said, I'm going to live here, I'm moving here and first night and then you know, my, my boyfriend of times, join me now husband, two months later, and the rest is history. I love it. That's such a great story. So fun. So we're talking about Denali flightseeing today. And, um, so I was one of the things that I have found, and I'm sure you've seen this too, is that when people are planning their trip, they get a little bit confused about Denali. There's a lot of things that can be confusing, but one of them is you've got like, the park entrance area, and then you've got and there is flight scene there. But tell kina is really a great spot for flight scene. And I often tell people like Intel Kena you've got better views of the mountain. You know, when you're at the Denali entrance area, you don't see the mountain and people are like what, that doesn't really make sense. Anyway, so could you talk a little bit about why tell K2 which for those of you listening Talkeetna is like three hours away from the park entrance, so it's not close. Um, can you talk about why it's such a great place for flightseeing Even though that's not in the same place? Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, first of all, Denali National Park is huge. It is. It is just massive, and is about the size of Massachusetts. And so when we say help keep the town of Talkeetna. It's three hours away from the Denali Park entrance that kind of gives you a little better idea of how we can still be close to the park if that makes sense. So to keep us located between Anchorage and Denali National Park, the the entrance to National Park and so we're About two and a half hours to three hours from Anchorage right smack in the middle. And but but to kick them town is only 60 miles from the base of Denali, the mountain the tallest mountain in North America, formerly Mount McKinley, we're only 60 miles of the base. And so we are on the southern side, when you're at the Delhi park entrance, they're focusing on the north side of the mountain. The southern side is so great for flightseeing because it has more glaciers and therefore more glacier carved valleys. And we are known for offering glacier landings in addition to our flightseeing. And so first off, you're getting this incredible scenic south side of the mountain. Then you have these really amazing glaciers that you're able to fly up and follow up the mountain as you're looking at the peak of Denali, the summit. And then you can add a glacier landing to the to the flightseeing tour, though the south side of Denali to be as more scenic is closer and so you're almost instantly into the foothills on those flightseeing whereas you're going from Denali National Park takes a little bit longer to get to the mountain itself. Yep. Yes, yes. I hope that answered your question. It does. It's it's that was a really good way to answer it. I feel like it's very confusing for folks because they're like, Wait, this is the only place you can get into the park in like a vehicle or walking. So why is there so much flightseeing like down here? So I think that's a great explanation that you're actually closer to the mountain when you're in Talkeetna. Yeah, yeah. And it's just I mean, the view like you've mentioned before, that is the best place in my opinion, they're all of Alaska to see the range to see it from Talkeetna. So there's something really special to be in town and seeing the the mountain and then to be able to get on a plane and fly to it. Totally. Okay, so you started answering this a little bit already, but I feel like it's important to talk about a bit more. So you talked about the vast size of Denali National Park and of course, Alaska is also vast and largely roadless. So what makes a line in Denali National Park such a special experience? Yeah, that's a great question. You know, flying in Alaska in general is just absolutely stunning. As you mentioned, it's vast. We have very few roads. And so people have this mental picture of what Alaska is, before they come there. I myself did as well. And when we polled people and say, What do you want to see when you go to Alaska. The top three things that come up are glaciers, mountains and wildlife. And that is what we do. Okay, too. We have those glaciers on that mountain, we have the mountains, you know, the crown jewel of Alaska, Denali. And so for people that can, it can be it delivers, I guess that's the best thing it delivers on that mental picture they've had of what Alaska is all about. And people don't want to get off the road system, they want to see those incredible granite peaks, they want to see the wind and glaciers. And it takes very little time you get up in the air, and you meet your pilot, your pilot is super knowledgeable. They love what they do. And everyone in our plane has a window seat. Yeah, they have a window seat. And they have a two way headset. And I emphasize two way headset when I'm talking about our flights, because the commentary is a big part of what we do. And so they're able to ask our pilots questions in real time. Some of our competitors have some other flight tour companies where they're maybe doing a different tour. It's pre recorded, or they have a one way or it's just commentary given. And that's great for is on some occasions, but to be a Denali, when you're seeing such somebody things all at once. It's really amazing to say, oh my gosh, could you tilt the plane? So I can get a photo of that? Or what is that glacier right there, when you call that peak over there? To be able to really ask questions in real time, or if they miss something the pilot said, they can they can say, Oh, I missed that. Could you repeat that for me? Yeah. Also great for them to be able to communicate with their, with their partner or their family to if you see something out your window be like, Oh my gosh, did you see that? So they can communicate with one another as well? Yes, interactive, I guess is the best way I can describe it. I will say honestly, though, a lot of times during the flight, it's complete silence Just because people are so stunned by it. Just like, what I have nothing to say. That's me. I talk a lot. And I don't have a lot to say, on flights. Because I'm like, well, that's cool. It's so true. It's just to taste them. So I really like the ones that get there. They start seeing this mountains. It's like yes, this is the Alaska that I dreamed about. And it's yeah, it's 10 times 100 times better than what you see on TV and, and so they get in and then when they if they're to add the place you're landing Get out for about 10 to 15 minutes on the glacier. And you see even more of that connection happen. People, I always say people sometimes take a few days to kind of unwind on vacation, you're getting one of these flights. You see them when they're in the air. You see them conducting, their eyes are just so wide. And yeah, they get on the glacier, they're breathing that that mountain air and their shoulders drop. And there's just that connection to the environment. And so it really, I guess, kind of grabs all the senses. And and like I said, before, delivers that mental picture. It makes it real. Yeah, yes, totally. And I'm glad that you mentioned glacier landings. Because if, if you're listening, I'm gonna just say that, like, if, if you don't want to get in a small plane, it's cool. First of all, like, you know, if you decide flight scene isn't for you, that's totally fine. And I would really, I always tell people not to, like, try to push somebody into it. Like, leave it to the people who are pumped and excited, like, you could do this by yourself, if you're excited about it, and your partner is like, no way. But, um, if you are doing it, I just, I just want to make a plug for doing the glacier landing. Because like, it's just so unique and cool. So, yeah, I'll just say that. So. Okay, so let's talk about the glacier landing, specifically a little bit more. Cool. So I know. Like, when I did this, that the pilot was like, you know, it's kind of a game time decision if we can actually land on the glacier or not. Um, and the day that I went, the weather was kind of iffy. The whole day was sort of like, we hope we can do this, but we're not quite sure which, of course, that's common with flight scene. But can you talk about how to navigate that if you're like, Oh, I really want to do this. But you know, of course, it's not a sure thing until it actually, the pilot decides, like, in this moment, it's cool to do this. Can you talk about that a little bit? Yeah, yeah, that's a, that's a great thing to kind of explain. So splicing in general, you know, of course, we pay very close attention to the weather. We are a safety first company like any aviation company in Alaska. And so we're constantly monitoring, monitoring. And so with that, we have a whole dispatch team. They start working on weather right now. We have webcams, we watched we watch satellite, we send pilots up for clear view in the morning, just to make sure even the weather was perfect, just to make sure the winds are where they need to be, and everything's accurate. And then we make a call on on flights. You know, we've been doing this for over 60 years now, which is really incredible. The amazing. Oh, yeah, yeah. And so the glacier landing, the pilots love to do the glacier landings as well. Now, I will say, first off, the flight is incredible. And so you should book, even if you want to do the glacier landing, you should book the flight knowing that sometimes we can't land on the glacier. And a lot goes into that. It could be that the glaciers clouded over in certain area, it could be the glacier conditions at the time, there's certain times of the year where the glacier is softer, or we've got a ton of snowfall. We are pleased with landings, we offer those in the summer, we start going at the very end of March, that's when conditions start to get good enough and the temperature is warm enough for us to land. And we do them all the way up until about October, sometimes a little bit longer. But there can be a week or two in August, where the conditions are really slushy. And we just wait until it cools down a little bit or we get some more snow up there. But the It is a Day of Decision. There's times in the morning that we know fairly well that will land most of the day. Yeah, based on the forecast. But there are other days where it's great flying and the flight seems incredible. But as far as the glacier landings, other cloud coverage just is preventing it. Now the nice thing is that we have four different glaciers on the mountain that we can land on. We most often do the flight tour and circle around and land and the route amphitheater, or the Don Sheldon amphitheater on the roof glacier. That's a really large, massive glacier with these beautiful peaks around it. And it's just a really gorgeous place to land. But we also land at Kahiltna base camp and when it's not planning season or Denali base camp, we land on that glacier called the pica which is we also known as Little Switzerland, because those mountains in that area kind of kind of resemble the mountains of Switzerland. And then we have another relation called the elders that we land on sometimes way over on the west side of the mountain. So as far as so those are the four that we can land on the roof glacier. So if we can, the pilots going to they're going to do their flightseeing tour and then the pilot just gently makes his way down and touch it down. You glide across the plane. starts with smoother than you've ever anticipate. Yeah, I've always I've always done by it every time I go, Yeah. And, and then we spent it as a 30 minutes to every flight. That is about 10 to 15 minutes on the glacier. So the 30 minutes includes the offloading, and then loading back on at the end, you have plenty of time to take photos. Some people have a real emotional response, it's not uncommon for people to get teary eyed or emotion. Yeah, because it's so incredible and massive, and it just makes you feel small and appreciative. And then others just have a great time with it. We have snowball fights, or snow angels and lots of photographs. We have people that have renewed their vows or got engaged, have done their Christmas cards up there. You know, it's just a it's a really, really cool experience. But I will say again, that even without the glacier landing, the fight flight is incredible. I always encourage people to book the glacier landing, but know that they'll absolutely enjoy the flight. Yeah, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I think too, like for if you're the kind of traveler that's like, I really like to get away from it all there. There is no getting away from it all like there is landing on a glacier in a small plane with the other people on the plane, and maybe people from a second plane, but like, other than that, like you're, you're just kind of out there. And that's just really cool. Yeah, really, it's, you're so right. I know you've done it a couple times. But I just I love it every time and every time I bring a family member of I know I can talk about it all day long. And I like how you just told me how critical this was. But I didn't I just didn't know. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's one of those things that you really it just, I mean, you know, there's other things like that. I feel like seeing the Northern Lights is the same. Like there's no amount of photography or even video that quite captures what that feels like to see that with your own eyes. And I think that that flying over Denali, and especially landing there is that way to go. Yeah, absolutely. So about a month ago, in kind of early January, I'm done from Alaska helicopter tours was on the podcast. So if you missed that episode, by the way, and you're interested in flight Z, and you should definitely go back and listen to that one also. And one of the things we talked about was kind of the difference between helicopter trips and fixed wing planes, which is a fixed wing wing plane is, you know, a plane with wings. That is what you picture when you picture an airplane. And we talked about some of the like, reasons why those can be pretty different experiences. Um, so is that something that you want to add anything to coal from that perspective of kind of fixed wing lights? I know, like the Blue Pools is something that like, you can't lay on top on a blue pool, swing plane, because it's not gonna go well. Anyway, to talk about that a little bit more to you just, yeah, of course. Well, Don is a dear dear friend of mine. And she's I know she is an aircraft, which is incredible. And so we she and I like to talk shop quite a bit. And it's a very different experiences, we'll travel together a lot, a lot across the US talking about flightseeing. And people often often ask us about the differences. And should we do both. And absolutely, if you get a chance to get on the helicopter and then also get into a fixed wing aircraft, totally very, very different experiences. And you know what a helicopter can land in weather that we can't sometimes they're usually shorter flights. And they're usually they can, they can drop down into some of the clouded areas and still land where where we might not be able to do that. They're also going to land in a smaller area where we need a runway to glide onto. And so the glaciers that we land on are typically snow covered and quite, quite long. They're these long, amazing glaciers where we're gonna get a full runway so you're gonna get the whole gliding and taking off experience, whereas the land right down on the glacier and there might be right next to the one of those beautiful blue glacier pools. We'll see the glacier pools on our flight seeing the pilots will point those out on Denali. But yeah, so they're in there is helicopter flightseeing of Denali from Denali National Park, but they're also not allowed to land in the park. That's a National Park pool. There's no helicopters. And so when they do their glacier landing system in Glacier outside of the park, where we're gonna land and the glacier actually in Denali National Park, so, yeah, just they they are different. Like I said, helicopters are gonna hover are a little bit more, they're gonna land in some areas that that we can't but they're also going to be a very different spirits where we get that full takeoff and landing on a glacier, which is also very cool. So I love the bolt any chance I get it to go on a helicopter or fixed wing aircraft? You can count me in. Yeah, yeah, they're both pretty cool, but I agree. Definitely, definitely different. And I think that was an important point that you mentioned there that I want to just bring up not everyone cares about this. But if you care about the technicality of being within the boundaries of any national park, but Denali in particular, you know, there are lots and lots of wonderful tours that you can do in the Denali area. But the fixed wing flights like kg, Kate, sorry, like k two does. And the bus tour that goes into the park, those other than walking, those are the ways that you get into the park. So like rafting and ATVs. Helicopter, like those are all awesome. They're just not yeah, technically within the park, which I feel like it's important for people to know. Yeah, yeah, that's a good point. Okay. Um, so let's talk a little bit about gear. Right. So let's say that it's like July, and it's 67 degrees. And I'm like, wearing flip flops. How, what do I need? Like, if I'm going to now go up to the snow? Um, how, what do you recommend people wear for the tour? And what gear Do you provide for like, what do they need to bring? And what do you provide for that experience? Yeah, perfect. So generally, on our tours, dressed comfortably, we do we do suggest close toed shoes, preferably sneakers or hiking boots. And, and then dress in layers, like anywhere else you go in Alaska, because the temperatures can change quite a bit, typically up on the glacier is 10 to 20 degrees colder than it is on the ground. And so you can get up there, if you're going in July, throwing your sneakers, we're gonna go up on the glacier, but people may take their jacket off and the stand up there at a t shirt, because that sun bounces off the glacier, you know, and you can always take a layer off, but it's hard to pack them and, and put them on, you know, so yeah, well dressed in layers. That's always the best thing. And you probably talked about that a few times. We have Yeah. Yeah, um, as far as year goes, though, if you have your close toed shoes, you don't need anything special, we're going to give you overboots GoreTex over boots, they're going to go right over your sneakers or your hiking boots, they're going to come up to about mid calf. And that's really just going to keep your feet dry when you're on the glacier. Because if you get a little bit slower you up there at times. And so that's going to keep your feet dry and your pant legs dry. Some people who have waterproof hiking boots, I can wear these Absolutely. You don't have to wear the overt boots. That's just something that we provide. And it's kind of fun to put on some gear to get up on the glacier. It is fun. Yeah. And they work quite well. Other than that, you know, we tell people to bring the sunglasses we have loners if they forget those. And really, that's all the gear you need to be up there with us on the glacier. Yep. And can can you talk about what people can bring? Like, how much there's not a lot of space? I mean, there's plenty of space for your body, but there's not like been space or something like that. So what do you tell people that they can bring with them? On the plane? Yeah, that's a great question. So for, for the plane, you're generally gonna watch, it's a small daypack, a purse, your camera. And really, you don't need other things of anything other than you and your camera. We do say, if you have a big bag or anything you're not going to leave behind. We have lockable bins and we'll take everything from that flight, put it in one band and lock it when you get back. You'll just retrieve it. That's great. So that keeps it super simple for you. But as far as going on the flight, there's not much more you need other than yourself in your in your phone or camera. Yes. And I'm just gonna say I have people who've listened to this podcast for a while for a while or if you're on my email list and get my travel tips, you know that I'm a really big believer in extra batteries for your, like a backup power source for your phone. But you want to make sure that you have your phone like completely charged at the beginning of the flight, especially if you're going to take video like you don't want your phone to go dead, you know, halfway through. That's bad. So make sure you're on top of the battery before heading out. That's a really great tip. That's a really great tip. Yeah, and the other thing with your phones and cameras, we always try to remind you to to when you're on the flights, to remember to put them down for a few minutes to remember to actually look out the window and just be there in the experience and experience in real time. And it's very easy to forget I find myself because doing the sales and marketing I find myself without there. Oh, I gotta get the shot. I gotta get some images. Yeah, remember, you're in Alaska on a flight of Denali. Not many people get to do this. Hey, kick in. Yes. Yes. That Oh, that is so true. Yeah, it's really good advice. Jay, my husband, who's often the co host on this podcast, he's a photographer. And that's something he talks about a lot to you is like, especially with things like looking for the Northern Lights, like don't spend the entire time looking through your camera lens, like, make sure that you're getting to just be an experience, just like you said, Cool. It's really good. Yeah, that is it is it is Northern Lights. Do I've been there? Yeah, yeah. All right. Well, we're gonna take a short break. And when we come back, we'll have a few more questions with coal around flightseeing. And we'll also talk a little bit about the town of Tokina. So we'll be right back. Hi, everyone. Jennie here, I just wanted to let you know about a couple of the other ways that I can help you with planning your trip to Alaska besides this podcast, one of them is my Alaska travel planners, which are digital documents where you can keep track of everything for your trip in one place, stay organized, and share it with your travel companions. And I have different ones for different types of trips. So those digital planners along with my pre made itineraries, which are five of my absolute favorite all time, Alaska itineraries. All of that is in my online shop. So if you want to grab that, that is at shop dot ordinary dash adventures.com. And if you're looking for a little more personal help, or perhaps you're a little further along in the process, and you need some help deciding between a couple of different tours, or locations, or something like that, or maybe you're at the beginning, and you just need the basics of your itinerary figured out. That is what my 30 minute zoom planning sessions are all about. And that is your time to use however you want. It's super fun. We can talk about whatever you need help with. And I'm really good at helping you in a short time, get through the decisions you need to make. And then finally, if you want me to do it all for you, I can do that too. And you'll find all the links for these in the show notes right below the tip jar. All right, back to the show. All right, and we are back with Cole Chambers from K to aviation, which is Intel Kena. And, among other things, k two takes visitors up in planes for flight seen over Denali and Glacier landings in Denali National Park when the weather cooperates and people want that. So that's what we've been talking about so far. Um, and I was wondering, Cole, if you could share a little bit about when you take climbers, because it's not all, like visitors doing flightseeing that you do at Ketu I know you also take people up to start their climb. And by the way, those of you listening we did have an episode about climbing Denali, which it was episode 22 And it was on July 12 2023, with Ryan Krause, who is a search and rescue guy and also has climbed Denali, but I was wondering if you and he did talk a little bit about the experience of flying up there to start the climb but I was wondering if you could say a little bit more about that like maybe what it's like just to be in the office and have like people starting their climb traipsing through them that sounds kind of like kind of a cool experience. It's it's super cool. You know when our team loves it, you know our team gets to know a lot of the climbing guides over the throughout the season and we worked really close with RMI expeditions out of Washington State and they bring all their teams up with us and and so we get to know them quite quite well. climbing season for Denali is really special time you know our busy season for I should say he flies year round. So we do towards year round flightseeing and Glacier landing start, end of March and then our busy season has been made in mid September for flightseeing and Glacier landings. But final season starts as early as April and it goes till mid July. peak season of course is May in June. That's when most of the people that go I've had to climb and so with with that we bring our pilots In for training, and I say training, we we will have some new pilots that they have to be checked off in every aircraft, not new pilots, I shouldn't say that new to us pilots. This is my first day. Time are very experienced pilots, as you can imagine, but we bring them in, because every pilot has to be checked off on every aircraft before they can before they can fly them. And with that, we'll start getting them ready for plenty season quite early. And so we'll bring them in starting early March. Somebody didn't earlier than that, and, and just to get them up to speed so that when the climbers come, we're ready to go and ready to fly them up to Denali Basecamp. Basecamp is at the at the lower end of the Kahiltna Glacier, past the 7000 foot mark on Denali. And so the climbers all come to town from all over the world, which is really amazing to me, they'll register for the climb at. That's how keep the ranger station. And then they've scheduled with us. And with that there's usually a window the weather has to be right, of course. And so they'll schedule a day. And then we know there's a chance that they might not go for three days, because maybe there's a storm that's moved in or what have you. So we're really flexible with them, they will come out and we have one of the hangers that we allow them to use to pack all their gear. We will fly them out to base camp, there's a base camp host there. And then we monitor their climb. And then the radio, the radios when they're finished with their climb and say this team is ready to be picked up, which is really incredible. Yeah, we're really fortunate to be a part of that. That is really cool. Do you ever fly the Rangers up there? Or did they use their own park planes to do that? We do partner with the park and we do do some some flights with some Rangers. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. Awesome. And I'm not as familiar with with that particular portion. But I do know that is exist. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's cool. Okay, so um, one other kind of thing related to planes and flying before we get more into Talkeetna for this is something done. And I also talked about for helicopters too. So kind of same question for you. If this is going to be someone's first time in a small plane, like not a jet. What advice do you have about doing a small plane for the first time? Yeah, that's great. So I think a lot of people don't realize that small planes are they have to follow the same regulations that are the major airlines do as far as safety goes. And so I think that's just having a little bit of a peace of mind and how safe air travel really is in general. Yep. And so for the first time, really get excited. Because it's, it's something that's so very cool. Now, I know it's not for everyone, but I even say even if there's a small bit of interest, I say go for it. Yeah, definitely. Once they get up there, I have people all the time, say, you know, I didn't know, I didn't know if I'd if I'd be afraid or not. And they get up there and they're starting to hear the pilot talk. And they're getting the commentary. And they're learning learning about Denali, the mountain in the park. And they're seeing this incredible scenery. And so many people say, I just forgot about my fear. I forgot that I was afraid. Yes. My husband included, he is not a fan of flying in general, even on major airlines. And yeah, you know, he's, he's gotten a little better at it, because we travel a lot more. But he, when I first got the job, he's like, Well, I don't know if I'm gonna go up. And he's been up a number of times with us. And he says, you know, he says, Every time I get on there, I forget, I forget that. There was a worry at all. And, you know, you're right there in the plane, and you get to see the pilot actually piloting the aircraft, which is something you don't get to see in a major airline. And so yeah, that's totally true. Yeah, I just there's something to it to, and they're so knowledgeable and they love what they're doing. And so that's why I say get excited is what I say as far as getting ready to how to prepare yourself. Just get excited. You know, if you have any questions when you come into the office, that's the other thing. Our teams are really great about answering those what to expect. And yeah, when you come in to our office, we have this really amazing new office we built just for COVID. Of course it finished. But it's this almost a lodge looking. And we really did it for the comfort of our clients. Instead of buying a new airplane. We built this giant lodge office. That just makes it really comfortable when you come in. We have a theater there that's gonna show movie about our flights so you kind of get a sense of what it's all about before you even get up there. Our staff we're gonna weigh you in for your tour as soon as you walk in the door. And that's discreet, of course. But yeah, the whole process just shows you a level of professionalism. You know, like I said, we've been doing this 60 years and so you can see the airplanes out. And you know, the the thing about us to like that I love is that all of our our aircraft are owned and maintained in house and our director of our maintenance staff is one of the owners of the company. And so he loves. Yeah, super cool. And he personally hires every maintenance person that we have. A lot of our maintenance team and our mechanics are also pilots. And so in the wintertime, they are working on planes, but they're also piloting our tours. And I think that's really unique and special about us as well. So yeah, you know, we are a family operated business, but we are the largest flightseeing company in south central Alaska, between us and our sister company in Anchorage. And it really shows when you show up, when you can see our how beautiful our aircraft are there, the striking red and white and, and you can see the maintenance. hangars open and pilots working on them. And every aircraft has 100 hour inspection. So every 100 hours, it is pulled and checked. There's also inspection that happens before any plane takes off. There's a special that happens every time every time a plane gets back, logbooks are kept if there's any sort of question on anything that any lights come on, or anything like that, it's checked out right away, and we don't send it in the next flight round. So yeah, you know, people can be really confident that our planes are so well maintained. And and they it's just that just helps knowing going into it and allows them to really focus on just having a good time and taking in this incredible mountain. Yeah, yeah. That Well, you were talking about that I just got, I don't know why I didn't think of this before. But I'm gonna put your K to use Instagram in the show notes. Because I this winter, I have really enjoyed the photos and videos that you all have posted of flying in the winter. Um, that's been really fun. And of course, you have videos and photos all the time. But that has been really cool. So even if you don't have a trip coming up soon, you can still follow along vicariously and see some cool, like videos and photos. So I'll put that I love that in there too. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, no problem. And I'll also put of course the link to your website. We'll talk more about that towards the end, but okay, so um, if so as far as getting to you, um, you know, you're in Tokina. So if, if someone has a car and they're in Talkeetna, then they could just drive to your office and park there. What about folks who take the train and are staying, you know, at hotels in the Tokina? area? What is the best way for them to get to you? Yeah, that's great. So, I will say, first off, we are partners with every major cruise line. We're partners with every tour operators have sold books through another company. They're usually able to book us no problem. And they can also book Direct, which was really handy. But we are super accessible. So you can get to us, like you said by the highway via car. It's a very, it's an easy drive about two and a half to three hours and a beautiful drive from Anchorage or coming down from Denali. It's a great stop on your way to Anchorage. And then as far as the train goes, that in the summertime, the train stops there twice a day. You got the northbound and the Southbound Train, and so it fits in the schedule. You can even make it a day trip from Anchorage if maybe you're not going all the way to Fairbanks or Denali National Park. You can get onto the Alaska railroad in the morning. Enjoy breakfast on board. That's another incredible way to travel. Yeah, and see amazing scenery and then you get to tell Kena before lunchtime, and you could do a flight scene with us explore the town, have lunch in town and then around 435 o'clock get back on the train and head back to Anchorage. And it's a just a really amazing full day. That's a true Alaskan experience with the Alaska railroad flightseeing And then visiting subpoena. So we also are connected by the park connection which is a motor coach that runs daily from the there they based in Anchorage, but they go down to Seward. They do anchorage Talkeetna and Denali, I believe and so that's an easy way to get to us as well. So there's a lot of different ways and then of course, a lot of tours include us on their itineraries. Yep. So yeah, and as far as hotels go, Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge is a really beautiful hotel in town. It's the it's the largest hotel, there's a lot of small, smaller ins and really cool places as well. And Airbnb ease and small air b&b and largest but helping them launch is the larger one who's got a really amazing view of Denali just off the back it really the past I think the best in the state. And then we're also not far from the McKinley Princess launch, which a lot of people will stay at on their way to Denali or and so that they have a bus from the beginning princess to tell Kate now which connects you to our flights as well. Sweet. Awesome. So that's something people often have questions about as like, I want to go here and there but I don't want to deal with car rental and like how can I add and yeah, so that's great. Okay, so speaking of tequila, I also agree with you that train travel pretty unique and cool way to get places that are on the train routes like Tokina is and Denali National Park. Um, okay, so I would love to know, what are some of your favorite things to do in tell keep now like, if you're listening, just know tell kina is a tiny, tiny town. But it's super cool and quirky. I think so. Are there any favorite things that you'd recommend to visitors for other things to do in Talkeetna besides flightseeing Absolutely. You know Talkeetna one my heart early on. I visited Talkeetna the first year that I lived in Alaska, and I just fell in love. It truly is one of my favorite places. It's it's a small town with a big personality. And there's so many really great just outside of any other activities and there's tons of activities to do. Just walking down Main Street and looking at the small local Alaskan shops. And the amazing amount of restaurants really, for a tiny town. Yeah, so many places to you can get a great cup of coffee. And you can get ice cream right there on Main Street or walking down you can have anything from hotdogs, burgers to fine dining. There's a there's a brewery which is really amazing brewery in town that does also craft cocktails of em cider now. Their beers incredible. So, you know, for a small, really small town it it has so much to offer. And so every time I go I kind of had all those places. Yeah, you know? Yeah, the Talkeetna Roadhouse has been known for years for their incredible breakfasts and their lodging is is really super special. So I stay there quite a bit when I when I go up, especially in the winter time. As far as the brew pub Denali brew pub is probably my my favorite spot for food. I just like the atmosphere there. Mountain High pizza pie for pizza. Both places have will have. They're open in the winter time and so I'll try to trade off and then in the summer. Oh hi has this really incredible courtyard that has live music to sit outside joy and awesome pizza with great beer and watching some local Alaskan music. It's really special about that. The brewery you can actually tour the brewery now they have a pizza restaurant. Right on site along the highways are coming into town. There's a bakery called the Flying Squirrel. I could talk all day about that, that has just the most amazing baked goods and, and soups and then on the weekends, they'll do a fire baked pizza as well. Or oven. A fire oven pizza and yeah, so I just no shortage I love to when I travel. It's all about the food. And so there's no shortage of great food and Turkey. Yes. Of course the Fairview in is one of the oldest bars in the state. And I got to know that at a young age with my husband's musician, I shouldn't say young age, and my younger early 20s. Yeah. Until now, but my husband was a musician that he played there. When we came to town and there's just something really special about it. It can get a little rowdy, but yeah, but I just you're always gonna meet the locals. Meet some of the climbers. Yep. I think that's a cool thing to sit at any of those restaurants and maybe we sitting in some people just came off the mountain. That's incredible. Yep. Yeah. So as far as as far as what to do, you could just do nothing and walk me straight and it would be awesome. But we have so many cool tours as well. We have an awesome zipline company. We've got ATV tours, Dallas Seabees dogsledding for is really, really something special. To be able to even in the summer, have those dogs running on a cart you get to lead in the winter. I just, there's, we have some museums in town. There's some great hiking, some guided hiking with Howard Carbone they're just there's there's just not you could you could really fill multiple days until kitna and totally was a tiny town. How could I do that, but you absolutely could. And then just to walk through the river, we have walked down Main Street and keep walking. And Peyton is known for its rivers and the float trips on the rafts and things like that and you get down to the river, you can have amazing view of the mountain. And just to stand there on the beach for a little bit and check out the river or Tokat naturally means a place where three rivers meet and so on, or you're surrounded by water and mountain. Yeah, great restaurants. What else is there? I know, it's pretty awesome. Um, one other thing that I just wanted to mention that I think is really cool. And Tokina is the ranger station. Um, that is is so it's called the Walter harbor ranger station. And it's, it's right downtown. All these things Cole is talking about are like right there. And it's small. It's not like a big Visitor Center. So that's good to know. But it's cool, because you can go in there and you can see the board that like shows, you know, climbers that are on the mountain, and it's also named for Walter Harper, who was a native Alaskan, who was the first person to reach to the summit of Denali. So that's also kind of cool. So I just wanted to give a shout out to that spot, also. Yes, I'm sorry, I forgot that. So no, you know, that's I loved all those suggestions. I just wanted to add that one because I think it's kind of and by the way, if you get kind of if you can't tell, I easily get caught up a little bit in Walter Harper's story. He was also like, 19 I believe when he summited Denali, which is amazing. There's also a statue and kind of a memorial to him in Fairbanks. So it's like right downtown near the pedestrian bridge. So if you're also going to Fairbanks and you got caught up with the story then or even if you don't, it's still kind of a cool thing to see in Fairbanks. Cool. You know, and you mentioned that and then it reminds me of Don Sheldon and so we also have a we also have an arts hangar in town. And so they do a little a little market during the summertime. And then the arts hangar. It's an old it's an old airplane hangar that they've turned into a theater. And so there's live theater, they have live music national aspect come through there from time to time. And so definitely check out the the John Sheldon parts hanger and, and Don Sheldon, for for those that don't know, I didn't know till I moved to Alaska was very famous pilot in Alaska and one of the foremost rescue pilots for the mountain itself. And if you ever get to read about his adventures, there's some really, really amazing stories on some of the things that he did. Cool. Yeah, that is. Yeah. Tokina has lots of like music and arts, again, for being really small. Like there's a lot happening there. It's very cool. It is, um, okay, so we talked about some of these final wrap up questions a bit already. But now I'm gonna really put you on the spot cool to see if you can pick a favorite. It's gonna be hard. Um, if you're visiting and you could only have a meal in one restaurant. So, I mean, you can pick to I don't want to ask you to do the impossible here. No, you know, first off I can say you can't go wrong, but if I was going to just do one I would probably do the Denali a brewpub. Yeah. It's an icon. Yeah, I just the atmospheres they're so good there and I just feel so welcome and specials and, you know, it's it's uh, they make everything from scratch and so I guess that would I guess that would be it. But you know, like, even the restaurant the Tolkien lesson Lodge has amazing food things. They do the sit on the deck and look at that mountain and yeah, that's special. Mountain High pizza pie. I love their pizza. I can eat a whole one. Yeah, yeah, no, I just you can't go wrong but I would say that's yeah, there's there's a few more of course. But every place everyplace mix it up, stay a couple of days and hit don't as you can see, you don't want to limit yourself to only one restaurant experience and Talkeetna. We have to trust you. I didn't even go into those. Oh, yes. Yes. Also food trucks also so many things. Awesome. Okay, so how about again, I know this is really hard. How about your favorite thing to do in Talkeetna? Outside of flightseeing I hope you mean yes Um, my favorite thing to do you know, I just I just kind of like to hike around the trails and and walking Main Street just taking on the town that way but as far as an activity goes if I was not going to flightseeing I would probably say the Dallas CB dog study experience. Yeah. Yep. That's typically where else and my my family. Yeah, I just think it's such an Alaskan thing to do. Yep. And to see how well love for the dogs are and how they love running. When we say it's the Alaska State sport of mushing, you kind of get a sense of why. Yeah, for sure. And for folks who are listening if you don't know who Delos CVO is he is a he's a famous Alaskan in Alaska. He is has how many times has he won the Iditarod cold times? Yeah. Okay. A lot. Yeah. Cool. That's just incredible. Yeah. It is amazing. Yeah. All right. So finally, what is your favorite month in Talkeetna? Oh, I have to. Okay. So are two times a year so it crosses over? My favorite time in Alaska in general is the end of June beginning of July. Yeah, I just think I just think Alaska comes to life. The mountains outside of Denali turn to lush green. And then you've got this White Mountain of Denali standing there amongst it. The wildflowers are blooming. The rivers are all flowing. It's just I just think it's really Alaska. It's just blowing at that time. And then my second favorite time is at the end of summer, end of August, beginning of September, where autumn is starting. And so we're finally getting Oh, my first time I didn't even mention the 24 hours of daylight. No, you can spend do so much in your day in that time. Yeah, and then fall. We're starting to get dark again in the evenings. And so it's dark enough to potentially see Northern Lights but still be able to do all the amazing activities. We have beautiful fall colors and it's not like New England where you're getting the reds and purples in the trees but you aren't getting the undergrowth, especially in Denali, Park. Lichens and mosses are turning the reds and purples against the yellows and golds of the Aspen and birches. And that is striking and itself. So those are my two favorite times of year. Love it. Those are great choices. Sweet. Well, Cole, thank you so much for joining me for this episode of Alaska uncovered. It was really wonderful having you. Andy, thank you so much for having me. I just I really enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun. Yeah. And thanks to all of you for joining us today for this episode. Make sure to get on my email list if you haven't already. So you can not only hear me give you Alaska travel tips, but get them in your email inbox as well. So thank you so much for being here, and we'll see you next time.

Alaska Uncovered Podcast

Flightseeing Denali with Cole Chambers from K2 Aviation

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