Valdez

Valdez is found in Southcentral Alaska on Prince William Sound. It is pronounced locally as "val-DEEZ", not like the Spanish surname.

Understand
Valdez is known as the town in Alaska with the highest annual snowfall. For example, as of late January 2012, Valdez had received more than 10 meters of snowfall, and was using extraordinary measures (such as the National Guard) to deal with it).

Get in
To reach Valdez from Anchorage, there are some options. Quickest is to fly to. Flights are offered by Ravn Alaska (formerly Era Aviation) from Anchorage. If the weather is clear on your 45-min flight, you'll get great views of the Chugach mountains. Or in a full day you could drive the Richardson Highway. Or, you could drive or go by rail to Whittier and try and get a boat across Prince William Sound. The boat trip would take at least four hours. However, most boats from Whittier only offer day trips - glacier sight seeing and fishing - there isn't a scheduled ferry between Whittier and Valdez.

Get around
No public transport. Car and bike rental are available. The new airport is a couple of miles out of town, so if arriving by air, you'll need to get a taxi into town to avoid a tedious trudge. Once in town, walking is a good way to get around, as the town itself is small.

See




Do
Popular activities are mainly outdoor pursuits and include whitewater Rafting on the Lowe River through Keystone Canyon. Sea kayaking in Prince William Sound is offered by a couple of operators will ferry you and a canoe to places such as Shoup Bay, where you can spend the day kayaking in protected waters surrounded by mountains, glaciers, and seabird colonies. Heli skiing and snowboarding are possible in Thompson Pass while, hiking and cross country skiing is available on groomed Mineral Creek trails. Other activities include ice climbing, glacier tours in Prince William Sound, and elderhostel at Prince William Sound Community College.



Media

 * KCHU Radio 770am