The Chugach Powder Guides’ Kings and Corn package is the ultimate experience for those who like to mix their angling with angulation, and has become a bucket-list item for many avid skiers/fisherman. Picture nights in a luxury backcountry lodge in Alaska, five days of fishing for king salmon, and five days of summer corn skiing, with a little whitewater rafting and gourmet meals thrown in the mix.

There are some distinct advantages to Kings and Corn when compared to a standard AK heliskiing trip. While you won’t be bagging ski movie lines in blower powder, you are also less likely to be shut down by weather for the entire week. And it’s corn skiing–the velvety smooth turns you get when a frozen snowpack starts to warm up in the morning–which most skiers will tell you is the next best thing to powder. And there is little to no avalanche danger, so you eliminate the pucker factor and the threat of copious amounts of downtime often associated with Alaska Heli Skiing. K& C takes place in June, when southern Alaska can have 19 hours of daylight, which leaves plenty of time for hooking Kings.

For 2012, Kings and Corn returns to Winterlake Lodge, which hosted the program for it’s first nine years, for three sessions in June. The week includes guided skiing, fishing and whitewater rafting, lodging for five nights, and meals. The lodge is nestled between Denali and two smoldering volcanoes–Mount Gerdine (11,258) and Mount Torbert (11,413), with views of the vast Tordrillo range. The fishing takes place on the Talachulitna River. And if the skiing and fishing aren’t enough, you can also raft down the Class III Happy River. The $9000 price tag isn’t for the budget conscious, but when you add up all the amenities–guided skiing, guiding fishing, guided rafting, lodging, meals, sea plane travel in and helicopter shuttles to all activities–it starts to seem pretty reasonable.

Epic Quest