Alyeska

Alyeska's summit reaches 2,756 feet, dropping 2,526 vertical feet to a base at 230 feet across 76 runs spread over 1,610 acres in the Chugach Mountains near Girdwood, Alaska. Terrain splits 52 per cent intermediate, 20 per cent advanced, 17 per cent expert and 11 per cent beginner. Average annual snowfall reaches roughly 650 inches, among the highest totals of any resort in North America. Alyeska carries no major multi-resort pass affiliation.

The 2,526-foot vertical drop is the largest of any ski resort in Alaska and among the largest in the United States, accessed via an aerial tram built in 1993 by the Japanese firm Seibu/Prince Hotels. The historic Roundhouse lodge at the top of the mountain, built from 1960 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003, now houses a ski history museum. The exceptionally low base elevation of 230 feet, combined with the 2,756-foot summit, gives Alyeska a coastal, near-sea-level starting point unusual among major ski resorts. Seven lifts, including the tram, four quad chairs and two surface lifts, serve the 76-run network.

The Alyeska Ski Corporation was founded in 1954, with the first chairlift and day lodge opening in 1959. Girdwood, the town at the resort's base, was originally called Glacier City, a supply camp for gold miners, before being renamed after James Girdwood, who staked the first gold claims along Crow Creek in 1896. Pomeroy Lodging, an Alaska-based hospitality company, acquired substantially all of Alyeska's resort assets in October 2018, committing roughly 50 million US dollars to improvements over its first five years of ownership.

With no major pass affiliation, Alyeska sells its own day tickets and season passes directly. Adult full-day tickets range from 119 to 169 US dollars depending on date, with an Alyeska Peak Pass priced at 59 dollars for limited access and a full 2025/26 season pass at 1,599 dollars. The resort suits skiers seeking exceptional snowfall and vertical relief within a roughly 40-mile drive of Anchorage, unusual for a resort of this scale anywhere in the United States. Its Chugach Mountains setting and Turnagain Arm views give it a coastal Alaska character distinct from interior or Lower 48 resorts.