Juneau - Helicopter Glacier Trek or Pilot's Choice Glacier Explorer?

[sarsmile]

One last excursion choice to make - in Juneau, should we do the Helicopter Glacier Trek (with the 2 hour hike on the glacier) or the Pilot's Choice Glacier Explorer (land on two different glaciers with a little time to wander on each)?

 

We don't care that much about whether we use the trekking equipment or not, just about which one would allow us to see the most interesting glacier features. Does the extra time for the Trek (4 1/4 vs 2 3/4) give you time to get close to more interesting parts of the glacier? Or is most of the extra time spent teaching you to use the equipment, and you can really see the same features on the Pilot's Choice?

 

Any advice appreciated - thanks!

[ozetraveller]

G'day, sarsmile.

 

Thanks for asking that question, my DW and I were wondering that, too.:)

 

We would also like to know if, during the helo flight, one gets to heli-tour over the same glaciers for both trips. Put another way, does the heli-trek go straight to the landing site, our does it fly over a number of glaciers, to give the pax a feel for the variety of glaciers in the region?

 

Cheers to all!

[Budget Queen]

Glacier flying is totally varied and determined by the pilot. Many many ways to get to the vast number of glacier viewing areas. I would give an edge to the trekking, as it gives you an excellent close up view of the ice and it's features.

[sarsmile]

You're welcome, ozzie - glad I could help ;). Our last trip was down in your part of the world, and it was spectacular. Not a cruise, though...

[Hoosier Gal]

My husband and I took the Pilot's Choice two years ago. It was AWESOME!! cannot imagine anything better. :) :) :)

[jrask]

No question for me. We did the Glacier Trek and loved it. I think its fair to say that you will see far more ice features and the more interesting stuff with the trek or extended trek as compared to a normal landing + walkabout.

 

You'll spend the better part of the 2 hours (or 4 hours for extended) actually hiking and exploring the ice features. The equipment isn't exactly complicated stuff. You're suited up with outer wear before the helicopter ride. Maybe 5-10 minutes of the time is taken by the guides attaching the crampons to your boots - time that you will be spending staring out in awe anyway. These are basically spikes on the bottom of your shoes and coming off the toes. You'll also get an ice axe. This can be used for various things, and your guides will make various uses like chopping off ice. For you, it will be a walking stick. Figure maybe 10-15 for training on how to use the equipment. Basically, we're talking about how to kick your feet into the ice and lift directly out so you're not stuck in ice. You lean differently depending if you're walking uphill/downhill/sidestep and this also changes where would place the ice axe/walking stick for each of these. Not complicated stuff, so no big amount of time committed to this. In fact, it would be less than half the amount of time if they didn't watch The experience is not about using the equipment, its about where the equipment allows you to explore. You get quite a bit higher than where a helicopter could land, and you'll be in tighter quarters with ice around you. We explored a tunnel of ice, a stream, a waterfall, tons of interesting ice formations, and stared down 2 moulins (big holes cared into the ice by water melting on the surface...wide enough and deep enough for people to climb down .... has the most amazing deep electric blue color) once we were secured to the glacier by an ice screw.

 

We looked back down at people who were doing the walkabout version - relatively flat terrain not too distant from the landing site. Completely different feel down there.

[ozetraveller]

G'day, BQ, Hoosier Gal, jrask.

 

Many thanks for your input, it all sounds fantastic. A glacier landing was always going to be our Juneau excursion (how could it not be on a first Alaska trip?), it was just a matter of which flavour. We have now decided that the trek is the way to go. We'll go for the 2 hr rather than extended version, as we still want to see something of the town.

For interest, our son proposed to his wife inside an ice tunnel on the Fox Glacier in New Zealand! How cool :cool: was that??

 

Thanks all, for your input.

 

sarsmile,

 

Glad you enjoyed your trip Down Under. Where did you go? Great Barrier Reef, Ayer's Rock, Sydney? It is a huge country and well worth a visit - as is yours!! :D We're on the 22 May sailing on the Star, how about you? Enjoy your glacier trip, whatever you decide!

 

Cheers,

[jrask]

Sounds good. The supposedly gets you to some more interesting areas. Our guides kept stumbling across great stuff and figured it was so good that it was worth pushing us a little. After 2 hours, I could definitely have gone for more, but ultimately we decided as you did that we wanted to diversify our experiences.

 

I still don't understand from the original post: "4 1/4 vs 2 3/4"