Ok, Alaskans I have a dumb question...

[DVarmit]

As most of you know we are selling our home and moving to Juneau. I was sitting here thinking about riding and thought to myself. How in the hell do they ride if the sun barely comes up in the winter? My understanding is that in December the sun barely gets above the horizon between 9:30am and 3:30pm.

Do you guys wait until it stays light longer? Does it get light enough to ride for a couple of hours in December?

We ride at night here all the time but that is riding groomed trails not mountain riding.

 

[Ridgerat]

Ride by moonlight and/or helmet light.

 

[DVarmit]

Ride by moonlight and/or helmet light.

I know your not but my first thought was he is ****ting me.. You guys ride the mountains in the dark? Wow, that take nuts the size of coconuts..Either that or you are really familiar with where you ride.

 

[SnowFlinger]

I'm usually out of gas by the time the sun sets. Plus, 4 hours of hard mountain riding can do an number on the muscles. Especially if your digging out stuck sleds all day. Leaves plenty of time for Pizza and Beer and Beer! It's all good.

 

[DVarmit]

I'm usually out of gas by the time the sun sets. Plus, 4 hours of hard mountain riding can do an number on the muscles. Especially if your digging out stuck sleds all day. Leaves plenty of time for Pizza and Beer and Beer! It's all good.

Our home can't sell soon enough...

 

[akpolaris]

Remember that the time with the least daylight is when it is coldest as well. The best riding is during the spring when there is more daylight and the temps are warmerl

 

[DVarmit]

Remember that the time with the least daylight is when it is coldest as well. The best riding is during the spring when there is more daylight and the temps are warmerl

Well, at least I don't have to learn how and when to ride through trial and error. I already contacted a couple of guys with the Juneau club so someone can show me the ropes..Hopefully...

 

[Turbo Tim]

I'm usually out of gas by the time the sun sets. Plus, 4 hours of hard mountain riding can do an number on the muscles. Especially if your digging out stuck sleds all day. Leaves plenty of time for Pizza and Beer and Beer! It's all good.

Yeah 11am to 3:30 OR 4 is plenty of riding for the dark couple of months

 

[DVarmit]

Yeah 11am to 3:30 OR 4 is plenty of riding for the dark couple of months

We go out on the trails for an entire day. So, there is a huge difference in mountain verses trail riding

 

[Clayton]

Juneau is pretty far south...at a minimum you will have 7+ hours of good daylight

 

[DVarmit]

Juneau is pretty far south...at a minimum you will have 7+ hours of good daylight

That is good news...

 

[AKSNOWRIDER]

I try to have the boys out of the cabin by 8 am, and we normally get back around 7-8 pm,....then sometimes we even get in a nite ride in some of the bowls by the cabin.....lol..you get used to no light..and on the full moon nights..it is a riot...

 

[theultrarider]

Full moon clear night you would swear that the sun is up! Besides, like others have said, this ain't no trail ride. If you are not packin alot of extra fuel, your sled will be out of fuel, and so will you! On sleds that would get 110-130 miles on a tank when on a poker run behaving, I have run out of fuel in 27 miles up in the mtns. Filled the sleds up one more time, but then the humans were done! Might as well put the hot tub on your wish list now too!
Tim

 

[DVarmit]

Full moon clear night you would swear that the sun is up! Besides, like others have said, this ain't no trail ride. If you are not packin alot of extra fuel, your sled will be out of fuel, and so will you! On sleds that would get 110-130 miles on a tank when on a poker run behaving, I have run out of fuel in 27 miles up in the mtns. Filled the sleds up one more time, but then the humans were done! Might as well put the hot tub on your wish list now too!
Tim

Does that explain why a lot of homes we looked at in Juneau have hot tubs..

 

[Gutter]

Juneau is a badass place, sucks to fly into in the winter sometimes though. I snowboard down there quite a bit. Me and my girl looked at places down there, but we went with Hawaii instead.

You have tons of awsome fishing, and if you have a boat you can explore tons of areas. Its not like the rest of most of AK, you have warmer winters but also a ****load of rain.

You can rent boats through various charter services and go explore on your own. www.nordictugcharters.com is who I am going to lease my boat to for 3months once its is built. Just walk around the docks, the rental places are easy to find.

 

[DVarmit]

Juneau is a badass place, sucks to fly into in the winter sometimes though. I snowboard down there quite a bit. Me and my girl looked at places down there, but we went with Hawaii instead.

You have tons of awsome fishing, and if you have a boat you can explore tons of areas. Its not like the rest of most of AK, you have warmer winters but also a ****load of rain.

You can rent boats through various charter services and go explore on your own. www.nordictugcharters.com is who I am going to lease my boat to for 3months once its is built. Just walk around the docks, the rental places are easy to find.

Now that is from one extreme to the other...

 

[bonebreaker zack]

Juneau is a badass place, sucks to fly into in the winter sometimes though. I snowboard down there quite a bit. Me and my girl looked at places down there, but we went with Hawaii instead.

You have tons of awsome fishing, and if you have a boat you can explore tons of areas. Its not like the rest of most of AK, you have warmer winters but also a ****load of rain.

You can rent boats through various charter services and go explore on your own. www.nordictugcharters.com is who I am going to lease my boat to for 3months once its is built. Just walk around the docks, the rental places are easy to find.

does juneau even have any riding areas? i like wasilla cuz its pretty close to center of 5 riding areas, if one place didnt have snow the other did , with a playground (hatcher pass)to ride in 15min from town.

 

[Gutter]

Now that is from one extreme to the other...

Get back to me in January . My girl got offered a job at a hospital there that pays 3x what she makes here.


I have never ridden sleds in Juneau, I only heli board when I go there. I see tracks in some rowdy looking places when we fly out, looks killer. Like turrny but with way more places to go.

 

[DVarmit]

Get back to me in January . My girl got offered a job at a hospital there that pays 3x what she makes here.


I have never ridden sleds in Juneau, I only heli board when I go there. I see tracks in some rowdy looking places when we fly out, looks killer. Like turrny but with way more places to go.

Juneau currently has two area's to ride..Spaulding Lake/Creek and Moler. They are investigating whether or not they could open a trail to the ice fields which, apparently, would open up a huge riding area.

http://juneausnowmobileclub.googlepages.com/home2

 

[2000TCMC]

Ya I flew over the icefields on my way back from Skagway a couple of weeks ago, that is some extreme terrain, looked great. You can take the Ferry from Juneau to Haines and ride up on the pass there too, Look at the "upper huffam" area on the site I am pretty sure some of those photos are from Haines. They get tons of snow last winter they got 5 ' in day. You'll find lots of good areas and good people to ride with. Enjoy