US AdventuresSkiing Adventures Alaska USA

Valdez Backcountry Ski Expedition

Valdez Backcountry Ski Expedition — Thompson Pass, Chugach Mountains, Alaska

7 days Group: 3 skiers per guide $4,400 per person

The Trip

Valdez Backcountry Ski Expedition · Valdez, Alaska

Earn your lines in the Chugach.

Thompson Pass puts big-mountain terrain right beside the road. Faces, spines, couloirs and ridges rise straight off the highway, with long runs from summit to valley floor.

Duration7 days
Group3 skiers per guide
Price$4,400 per person
ExperienceAdvanced to expert skier or splitboarder · backcountry experience required
SeasonLate March–April
WhereValdez, Alaska

Most Valdez trips are built around helicopters. Ours isn’t. This is human-powered skiing — skinning and boot-packing to every line you ski. It means you ski when the helicopters don’t fly, you learn to read the terrain rather than be dropped on top of it, and you leave a stronger skier than you arrived.

Five days of skiing out of Thompson Pass, three skiers to a guide, with lodging in Valdez and transport from Anchorage included.

Quick facts

Length 7 days — Anchorage to Anchorage
Skiing 5 days, human-powered, from Thompson Pass
Base A rented house in Valdez, shared by the team
Ratio 3 skiers per guide
Experience Advanced to expert skier or splitboarder · backcountry experience required
Season Late March–April
2027 dates March 27–April 2 · April 3–9 · or private dates
Rate $4,400 per person

Why human-powered

You ski every day the snowpack allows — not only the days the ceiling lifts. Weather that grounds a helicopter for three days is an inconvenience on skins, not the end of the trip.

You learn the terrain. Skinning into a line means reading the slope, the snow and the weather on the way up. That’s the skill that carries into every big mountain you ski afterwards.

The road does the approach. Thompson Pass is one of the few places where human-powered skiing at this scale works, because the terrain starts at the parking area.

What you’ll ski

Couloirs, open faces and ridge systems, chosen each day for the snowpack, the weather and the strength of the group. Steep skiing for those ready for it, and plenty of excellent terrain a step below. Your guide reads the group and builds each day accordingly.

Small teams

Three skiers per guide. In avalanche terrain at this scale, a small team moves faster, makes better decisions, and sees more of the mountain.

The Chugach snowpack

Maritime, deep and heavy, and it behaves differently from anything in the interior West. Even experienced skiers from the Rockies should expect to learn something new about snow. Avalanche awareness and mountain travel systems run through every day.

Where this leads

Valdez is a serious ski destination in its own right. If you want to go further, the Alaska Range Ski Expedition puts you on a glacier base camp in Little Switzerland, in the Central Alaska Range. If you’re building toward Valdez, Wasatch Ski Mountaineering — Classic Lines, Avalanche Level 1 and the Mount Baker Ski Descent are the right preparation.

This is a BBE program. We set the standards, choose the guides and decide how it runs. On the ground it’s operated by Wasatch Mountain Guides, our Utah-based operation, co-owned by Willie Benegas — so registration and payment are completed directly with WMG, and we’ll send you the link when you’re ready.

Questions before you book?

We answer every inquiry personally.

Ask a guide

Day by Day

Five days of skiing, built around conditions. There is no fixed plan in the Chugach — anyone selling one is either lucky or not being straight with you.

We collect you in Anchorage in the morning and drive to Valdez — about six to seven hours through the Chugach, past the Matanuska Glacier and over Thompson Pass itself. One of the great drives in North America, and your first look at the terrain.

Settle into the house, stock up on groceries, and meet for a briefing: the snowpack, the forecast, gear and avalanche equipment checks, and the plan for the week.

A day to settle in. Transceiver practice, a look at the snowpack, and a first tour on terrain chosen to let your guide see how the team moves. By the end of it, your guide will know how to build the rest of the week.

Morning: snowpack and weather assessment, then the plan. Your guide explains the reasoning, not just the decision.

Drive to Thompson Pass — 30 to 45 minutes from town.

Ski. Skinning and boot-packing into couloirs, open faces and ridges, with the objective set by conditions and the group. Long descents; the scale is the thing people remember.

Back to Valdez to dry out, eat, and talk through tomorrow.

Somewhere in five days, expect one where the big terrain is closed. On a human-powered trip, that’s usually still a ski day — lower-angle terrain, trees, or a shorter objective with margin. Occasionally it genuinely isn’t skiable, and it becomes a rest day.

Pack up and drive back to Anchorage, arriving late afternoon or evening. Book your flight home for the next day.

Is This For Me?

Is this for you?

Advanced skiers and splitboarders with real backcountry experience. This isn’t the trip to step up on.

Skiing ability

Advanced to expert. Solid in variable snow, on steep terrain, with consequence below you — and still skiing well at the end of a long day.

You don’t need to be an extreme skier. Plenty of the terrain is superb without being at the edge. What you need is to be consistent: Alaska punishes the skier who is excellent on good runs and unreliable on bad ones.

Fitness

Strong. Human-powered skiing at this scale means real climbing days, back to back, for five days. The trip is far better for people who arrive fit than for people who plan to ease into it. Day five is where fitness shows.

Backcountry experience

Required. Several seasons of touring, efficient transitions, and an understanding of what your guide is doing and why.

Avalanche training

Strongly recommended: Avalanche Level 1 or equivalent. The Chugach snowpack is not the Wasatch snowpack, and having the vocabulary to follow the day’s reasoning makes the trip better.

Temperament

Weather runs the schedule. Some days the answer is a smaller line. Skiers who arrive wanting to ski whatever the mountains offer that week have a far better time than skiers with a fixed list.

Who this is really for

Strong backcountry skiers who want terrain at a scale the lower 48 doesn’t have

Skiers who’ve done Wasatch Classic Lines or the Mount Baker Ski Descent and want a bigger arena

Anyone who wants Alaska without their week depending on a helicopter

Who this isn’t for

Intermediate skiers. Come back with a few more seasons — the terrain will still be there.

Anyone new to touring. Efficiency with your equipment is assumed.

Anyone looking for heli-skiing. This trip is human-powered by design.

Age

16 and over. Anyone under 18 needs a parent or guardian to sign the registration documents.

Not sure?

Tell us about your skiing and touring. We’ll tell you honestly whether Valdez is the right trip now, or what to do first.

Before You Go

Five things matter most.

1. Get fit for back-to-back big days

Five climbing days in a row — 3,000 to 5,000 feet a day is normal. Train on skins if you can, and on long, steep hikes with a pack if you can’t.

2. Bring a setup you trust

Skis or splitboard, skins, boots — gear you’ve used and know works. This is not the trip to break in new boots. Bring a ski with float: maritime snow is deep and heavy.

3. Sort your avalanche gear

Bring your transceiver, shovel and probe — or tell us when you book and we’ll provide them. Practise with your transceiver before you come.

4. Book flights with margin

Arrive in Anchorage the day before day one. Fly home the day after day seven. See Travel Planning.

5. Tell us about yourself

Your skiing and touring background

Your avalanche training

Injuries, medical conditions or medication

Any objective you’ve been thinking about

Insurance

We strongly recommend insurance that covers trip cancellation, weather disruption, and rescue and evacuation.

Where and when you’ll meet

In Anchorage on the morning of day one. We’ll confirm the pickup point and time before the trip.

Travel Planning

Travel planning

Flying in

Fly into Anchorage (ANC) and arrive the day before day one. Alaska flights are long and often delayed, and day one starts with a six-to-seven-hour drive. Your Anchorage night is yours to arrange.

Anchorage to Valdez

We drive you — to Valdez on day one and back on day seven. About six to seven hours each way. Daily drives from Valdez to Thompson Pass, 30 to 45 minutes, are included too.

Where you stay

We rent a house in Valdez for the team — included for six nights, with warm showers, a full kitchen and space to dry gear. Expect to share a room. Drying space matters more than it sounds: maritime snow is wet, and five days in gear that never dries is miserable.

Food

Not included. We stop for groceries on day one, and Valdez has a grocery store and restaurants. Most teams shop and cook together at the house.

Flying home

Day seven ends in Anchorage in the late afternoon or evening. Book your flight home for the next day, and arrange your own night in Anchorage.

Staying connected

Valdez has phone service. Thompson Pass coverage is patchy; your guide carries communication for emergencies.

Gear and Equipment

Gear and equipment

What we provide

Group safety and rescue equipment

Avalanche transceiver, shovel and probe if you don’t own them — tell us when you book

Transport to and from Anchorage, and daily to Thompson Pass

Ski gear you bring

Touring skis or splitboard with float — maritime snow is deep and heavy

Skins that fit, plus ski crampons

Touring boots you’ve skied in

Poles with powder baskets

Helmet

Avalanche gear

Transceiver, shovel and probe — your own, or ours if arranged in advance

For steeper objectives

Lightweight ice axe and crampons for boot-packing couloirs

Light harness

Your guide will confirm before the trip whether your group needs them.

Clothing

Base layers, top and bottom

Insulating mid-layer

Waterproof shell jacket and pants — genuinely waterproof; the Chugach is coastal and the snow is wet

Warm insulated jacket for breaks

More gloves than you’d bring to Utah — at least three pairs, plus mittens

Warm hat, sun hat, buff

Sun and eyes

Sunglasses and goggles

High-factor sunscreen and lip balm

Daypack

Ski pack, about 30–40 litres, with ski or board carry

Water bottles or insulated hydration

Lunch and snacks for each day

Personal first-aid kit and medication

Headlamp

For the house

Comfortable clothes and camp shoes

Something to read — there will be a weather day

A full kit list goes out when you register.

Daily Life in Valdez

Daily life in Valdez

Mornings

An early breakfast at the house, then the plan: snowpack, forecast, the objective, and the reasoning behind it. Pack your lunch and water, load the truck, and drive to the pass.

At the pass

Long climbs on skins, boot-packs where the terrain calls for them, transitions on exposed ridges, and descents measured in thousands of feet. Your guide sets the pace and manages spacing in avalanche terrain. Expect a full day.

Weather

The Chugach is coastal. Storms come in fast and sit for a day or two, and the snowpack changes with them. On a storm day we ski lower-angle terrain or trees with margin, or rest if it isn’t skiable.

Food and water

You cook and eat at the house; most teams shop and cook together. Bring a lunch you’ll actually eat when it’s cold, and drink steadily all day.

Drying out

Hang everything as soon as you’re back — skins, gloves, shells, boot liners. Gear that starts the day damp ends it soaked.

Evenings

Eat well, rehydrate, and get to bed early. Your guide will confirm the next morning’s start time.

When it gets hard

Usually around day four or five, when the legs are tired and the weather turns. Tell your guide early if something isn’t right. Adjusting the plan is part of the job.

What to Budget For

What to budget for

The expedition

Ratio Rate per person
Seven-day Valdez Backcountry Ski Expedition 3 skiers per guide $4,400

What’s included — and what isn’t

Included

  • Professional guide for seven days — five days of guided skiing
  • Transport Anchorage–Valdez and back, plus daily drives to Thompson Pass
  • Six nights in a rented house in Valdez, shared by the team, with kitchen, showers and drying space
  • Group safety and rescue equipment
  • Avalanche transceiver, shovel and probe if you need them, arranged in advance
  • Skiing under Wasatch Mountain Guides’ permit

Not included

  • Flights — To and from Anchorage
  • Anchorage lodging — The night before day one and the night after day seven
  • Food — Groceries and any meals out for seven days
  • Personal ski gear — Skis or splitboard, skins, boots, helmet, and ice axe and crampons if your group needs them
  • Gratuities — Customary — 15–25% is standard. Cash is always appreciated, and every WMG guide also accepts Venmo.
  • Trip insurance — Not required, strongly recommended — including weather disruption and rescue
The realistic total

The expedition, return flights to Anchorage, two nights in Anchorage, and a week of groceries. Sharing the cooking keeps food costs down.

Payment and cancellation

Full payment is due when you register with WMG. Cancel more than 30 days out and you can take full credit toward a later date, or a refund less a 5% fee. Between 14 and 30 days you can move dates but not get a refund. Inside 14 days the fee is not refundable, for any reason. Full terms are on Dates and Prices.

Your Questions

More questions? Booking, payment, cancellation, insurance and tipping are answered in the General FAQ — US Adventures. Backcountry skiing questions are in the Backcountry Skiing & Splitboarding FAQ.

No. It’s human-powered by design — skinning and boot-packing to everything we ski. You ski when helicopters don’t fly, and you learn the terrain rather than being dropped on it.

Advanced to expert — solid in variable snow, on steep terrain, with consequence below you, and still skiing well on day five. You don’t need to be extreme. You do need to be consistent.

Fit enough for five big climbing days in a row — 3,000 to 5,000 feet a day is normal.

Strongly recommended — Avalanche Level 1 or equivalent.

Three skiers per guide.

We ski something else — lower-angle terrain, trees, or a shorter objective with margin. Occasionally a day isn’t skiable and becomes a rest day.

Maritime — deeper and heavier than continental powder, and it behaves differently. A ski with float serves you better than a stiff, narrow one.

We rent a house in Valdez for the team — a full kitchen, showers and drying space. Six nights included; expect to share a room.

No. We stop for groceries on the way in, and most teams cook together at the house.

Fly to Anchorage the day before. We drive you to Valdez and back — six to seven hours each way, included.

Bring your own, or tell us when you book and we’ll provide a transceiver, shovel and probe.

Yes.

We choose the guide for each departure, and you’ll have their name and contact details before the trip.

Sixteen. Anyone under 18 needs a parent or guardian to sign the registration documents.

Big-mountain skiing in Alaska carries real risk that can be managed but not removed — avalanches, terrain consequence and remoteness. What manages it is terrain choice, timing, a tight ratio and a guide reading this snowpack every day — judgment, not certainty.

Wasatch Ski Mountaineering — Classic Lines for steep skiing, Avalanche Level 1 for snow judgment, and the Mount Baker Ski Descent for a big mountain. Tell us your timeline and we’ll suggest an order.

Dates & Prices

Dates and prices

Rate

Ratio Rate per person
Seven-day Valdez Backcountry Ski Expedition 3 skiers per guide $4,400

2027 departures

Saturday March 27 – Friday April 2, 2027

3 skiers per guide

Saturday April 3 – Friday April 9, 2027

3 skiers per guide

The two departures run back to back, so your guide arrives already working in the Chugach and current on the snowpack.

Private dates

Private groups can run from late March through April. Call or email us.

What’s included — and what isn’t

Included

  • A guide for seven days, with five days of guided skiing
  • Transport Anchorage–Valdez and back, plus daily drives to Thompson Pass
  • Six nights in a rented house in Valdez
  • Group safety equipment
  • Avalanche gear if arranged in advance
  • Skiing under Wasatch Mountain Guides’ permit

Not included

  • Flights to Anchorage
  • Anchorage lodging
  • Food
  • Personal ski gear
  • Gratuities
  • Insurance

See What to Budget For.

How to book

Contact us with your dates and your skiing and touring background.

We talk it through honestly — this trip has real requirements, and we’d rather establish fit early.

We confirm your place and send you the registration link.

You register directly with Wasatch Mountain Guides. The link is WMG-branded; that’s expected. You’ll complete the application, sign the acceptance of risk, and pay in full there.

You receive a kit list, travel guidance, and your guide’s contact details.

Payment and cancellation

Payment. Full payment is due when you register with Wasatch Mountain Guides — card, PayPal, check or wire.

If you cancel

If we cancel

Before the trip, for weather, hazard or conditions: move to a later date, or take a credit that never expires.

Before the trip, for low enrollment: WMG will contact you as early as possible. You choose a full refund, a credit or a later date, or running it as a private trip at a reduced rate.

Partway through: partial credit, based on the time you spent in the field.

Once the trip starts, there are no refunds for weather or conditions. Your guide will change, shorten or turn the day around when the mountains call for it. That is the job, and it’s the judgment you’re paying for.

Guides may remove anyone whose ability or conduct puts themselves or the team at risk. There is no refund in that case, and any cost of leaving is yours.

Rescue and evacuation costs are your responsibility. We strongly recommend trip insurance that covers both cancellation and backcountry rescue and evacuation. Many standard travel and health policies cover neither.

Full terms: Wasatch Mountain Guides Reservation, Cancellation and Refund Policy.

This is a BBE program. We set the standards, choose the guides and decide how it runs. On the ground it’s operated by Wasatch Mountain Guides, our Utah-based operation, co-owned by Willie Benegas — so registration and payment are completed directly with WMG, and we’ll send you the link when you’re ready.

When you cancel What happens
More than 30 days before Full credit toward a later date, or a refund less a 5% fee
14 to 30 days before Move to a later date, subject to availability. No refund.
Fewer than 14 days before No refund or reschedule — for any reason, including injury, illness, weather or travel delays
Earn your lines in the Chugach.

Thompson Pass puts big-mountain terrain right beside the road. Faces, spines, couloirs and ridges rise straight off the highway, with long runs from summit to valley floor.

Price$4,400 per person
Private & Custom Your dates. Your team.

This trip can run privately, on the dates that work for you.

Scheduled departures
  • Saturday March 27 – Friday April 2, 2027
  • Saturday April 3 – Friday April 9, 2027

Questions first? Ask a guide

Location:
Valdez, Alaska
Group:
3 skiers per guide
Duration:
7 days
Skill:
Advanced to expert skier or splitboarder · backcountry experience required
Pricing

All prices are in US dollars.

Earn your lines in the Chugach.

Thompson Pass puts big-mountain terrain right beside the road. Faces, spines, couloirs and ridges rise straight off the highway, with long runs from summit to valley floor.

Book now

Private & Custom

Make Valdez Backcountry Ski Expedition your own expedition

Every trip we run can also run privately: on your dates, with your people, built around your goal. Same guides, same safety standard as our scheduled departures.

Your dates

We set the departure around your calendar, not the other way round.

Your people

Family, friends, a company team, or just you and a guide.

Your goal

Training for a bigger peak, a winter or speed attempt, a film, or a route that runs from summit to ocean.

Your price

Private trips are quoted for your group size, dates and plan.

Plan a Private Trip
See what private can look like

Professional Mountain Standards

Our guide team includes internationally and nationally certified mountain professionals.

AMGA — American Mountain Guides Association logo
IFMGA / UIAGM — International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations logo
AAGM — Asociación Argentina de Guías de Montaña logo