Best port to do helicopter/glacier dog sledding

[Cruise Leprechaun]

Our cruise will be going to Ketchikan, skagway and Juneau in mid July. I would like to do one of the helicopter tours that land on the glacier and dog sled ride on the glacier. I have read that they are expensive and that they are frequently cancelled. I will have my wife and 2 pre-teen boys with me. I havent booked anything in any of the ports yet, I thought I'd plan all other excursions around this trip first. Which port is probably the best to do this in bearing in mind factors like, least likely to be rained out / cost / most scenic and best tour for kids? Feel free to pass on tour companies you recommend as well. Thanks.

[Budget Queen]

Your only options will be Skagway and Juneau. Skagway is slightly less canceled than Juneau. But I instead suggest you just book this where it fits your time the best. You can not predict the future with weather. Hope for the best.

[Texas_firefighter]

I would like to do one of the helicopter tours that land on the glacier and dog sled ride on the glacier.

 

Us too ! We would love more info.

[#1survivorfan]

We did the heli/dog sled out of Skagway through Temsco. It was fantastic and surreal. When you first see the glacier and dog camp from the air you just can't imagine it really looks like that. Then you land and all the dogs are barking. (Really loud!). The staff is friendly and enthusiastic. You get assigned to a sled and leader and have an absolute blast. After you see the puppies and have a couple of cookies. Then all too soon it's time to fly back. It was amazing fun and the highlight of our trip

[Budget Queen]

For further clairfication on glacier dog sledding. You do NOT drive any sleds, there is a driver with you and two sleds hooked together. You ride either the basket or breaks, if wanted, you will switch off posistions.

[Budget Queen]

There is also Godwin's out of Seward, which is the least canceled of glacier dog sledding.

[Cruise Leprechaun]

We did the heli/dog sled out of Skagway through Temsco. It was fantastic and surreal. When you first see the glacier and dog camp from the air you just can't imagine it really looks like that. Then you land and all the dogs are barking. (Really loud!). The staff is friendly and enthusiastic. You get assigned to a sled and leader and have an absolute blast. After you see the puppies and have a couple of cookies. Then all too soon it's time to fly back. It was amazing fun and the highlight of our trip

 

SurvivorFan - that sounds great. Can I ask, was this an excursion you booked on your own or thru the ship and do you remember costs and length of the excursion?

[stired]

There is also Godwin's out of Seward, which is the least canceled of glacier dog sledding.

 

We are taking the Godwin trip and the person we spoke to when we booked said that, unlike all the other sled dog trips, Godwin's actually lets you drive the sled!

[#1survivorfan]

SurvivorFan - that sounds great. Can I ask, was this an excursion you booked on your own or thru the ship and do you remember costs and length of the excursion?

 

 

We booked through Princess. It was expensive....around 500.00 per person. It seems to me that it was about 90 minutes total. This was our big splurge excursion of the trip and was worth it. We had a great time. You could probably book with Temsco directly.

http://www.temscoair.com/

 

We realized that if we hadn't done this excursion, we would always wish that we had.

[Budget Queen]

We are taking the Godwin trip and the person we spoke to when we booked said that, unlike all the other sled dog trips, Godwin's actually lets you drive the sled!

 

You still won't be on your own. No way, are they going to allow much.

 

I will speculate, that the "driver" will sit in the basket and give the commands, you won't know how. I know there are some dogs who are trained to go behind snowmobiles. None just go on their "own".

 

You might want to further clairfy this if it is important to you. For actual driving your own sled, requires a great deal of time and the precision of the commands. I had to go to a "dog sled" school about 4 hours out of Fairbanks. The following year, on the next dog sledding, had to state I had been to the school and demostrate what I knew before we went out.

[stired]

You still won't be on your own. No way, are they going to allow much.

 

I will speculate, that the "driver" will sit in the basket and give the commands, you won't know how. I know there are some dogs who are trained to go behind snowmobiles. None just go on their "own".

 

You might want to further clairfy this if it is important to you. For actual driving your own sled, requires a great deal of time and the precision of the commands. I had to go to a "dog sled" school about 4 hours out of Fairbanks. The following year, on the next dog sledding, had to state I had been to the school and demostrate what I knew before we went out.

 

BQ - I totally understand that I won't be driving alone - nor would I want to because I don't have the training. Godwin just said that they let you stand behind the sled and, with coaching from the musher who is right there with you, you get to "drive". Evidently this is different from the other vendors where you basically just get to sit on the sled.

 

Don't know if I'll ever get the chance to go to "musher school" but it sounds awesome!

[Cruise Leprechaun]

Well I am sold on doing it. My only other question is, which port (Juneau or Skagway) is more scenic. Part of the price you are paying is for the helicopter ride so I would assume you want the ride to be over the more scenic terrain? Is the terrain pretty similar out of Jun and Ska? Teh I read a little on websites and different tours talked about landing on different glaciers ; Mendenhall, Denver (and other glaciers). Is one port more scenic of a ride and is one glacier any better than any other? Thanks again.

[buttah75]

I want to know the same thing! Which port's heli-sled tour is more scenic? This is number one on my list.

[littlegap]

I am hoping they are about the same in terms of scenic. I already booked with Temsco in Juneau because I wanted to have enough time to do the 9 hr tour to Emerald Lake in Skagway. The price is $469 pp. If they cancel, you will receive a full refund. I was told that the heli ride is 30 minutes total there and back on Medenhall Glacier. I think it will be amazing either way. My husband only knows he is going to Alaska. He has no idea what awaits him! :D

[travelteach326]

I have researched most of the Heli/Dog Sled tours. Some advertise a three hour tour and others advertise a two hour tour. When you read the fine print, they ALL describe the same amount of time flying to the glacier and time riding the sled, etc. When you come down to it, they are the same tours - different description of time spent - they count the time of pick up at ship, etc.

 

Our group has 6 people, so we booked the whole helicopter through Temsco in Skagway. The representaive was friendly and very helpful. We even received a discount since we are 6 people.

 

We decided on Skagway from these posts. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate.

[PennyAgain]

I post this about once a month on CC.

 

If you are sensitive to the way the dogs are kept and treated, then it might be better if you skip this sort of tour.

 

These dogs are valuable and are well cared for, but are in no way pets. They are kept chained to their dog houses out of bitting range of other dogs.

 

Some folks get very upset about this, especially youngsters.

 

I don't like the way sled dogs are kept and certainly have never kept my own dogs in such a way. There is a lot of supervision during sled dog races and the Humane Society is doing the best it can, but dogs do sometimes die during races.

 

I don't attend dog sled races as the whole thing bothers me. I don't break down and cry about it, but I don't like the way the dogs are treated.

 

One of my co-workers in Texas went on one of these dog sled tours with her grandchildren and was very sorry she did so as her young grand daughter got very upset. It can be an issue for some families.

 

Don't say you weren't warned.

[Ratatouille]

Ohhh...that's so depressing. :( I never even thought about that aspect and now feel very sad. (And I am so against dolphins in captivity.)

 

Here is Temsco's Cancellation Policy:

 

TEMSCO Helicopters, Inc. reserves the right to cancel flights at any time due to weather. In the event that your tour is weather cancelled, you will be refunded in full. If you need to cancel your tour for any reason, we require 24 hours notice in order to issue you a 90% refund.

 

Due to weight limitations, as well as to ensure passenger safety and comfort, passengers weighing 250 lbs. or more will be charged an additional half fare. If this applies to anyone in your party, please inform us in advance so that we may reserve additional space in the helicopter.

 

You will need to meet at our office 15 minutes prior to your flight time.Skagway is a very small town. It takes less than 20 minutes to walk to our office from most cruise ship docks and hotels in the area. Enclosed is a map of how to get to our office. If you are unable to get to our office on your own, please call us, and we will try to arrange transportation for you.

[buttah75]

I'm so glad you posted this. As a dog lover, this was the tour I was most excited to go on, but there is NO WAY I will even pay money to do this, if it involves seeing animals who are not being treated the way most animal lovers believe they should be. And my teens would not be happy, either. My older son was saddened by the use of a chimp in human clothing during a comedy skit on stage at Universal. And I loved him for that.

 

You just saved me a lot of money, and some principle.

 

Thanks

[buttah75]

I would love to hear specifics about the dogs from people who've been on these trips recently!

[SissasMomE]

I post this about once a month on CC.

 

If you are sensitive to the way the dogs are kept and treated, then it might be better if you skip this sort of tour.

 

These dogs are valuable and are well cared for, but are in no way pets. They are kept chained to their dog houses out of bitting range of other dogs.

 

Some folks get very upset about this, especially youngsters.

 

I don't like the way sled dogs are kept and certainly have never kept my own dogs in such a way. There is a lot of supervision during sled dog races and the Humane Society is doing the best it can, but dogs do sometimes die during races.

 

I don't attend dog sled races as the whole thing bothers me. I don't break down and cry about it, but I don't like the way the dogs are treated.

 

One of my co-workers in Texas went on one of these dog sled tours with her grandchildren and was very sorry she did so as her young grand daughter got very upset. It can be an issue for some families.

 

Don't say you weren't warned.

 

I agree. I am with Greyhound rescue and some folks that like to go and bet on the races just don't realize that they are contributing to the conditions these dogs are forced to live in (22 hours a day in a crate. etc). Same with these tours. When you support them by paying for stuff like this, you're contributing to it .... just something to think about.

[buttah75]

I've always known about greyhound abuse, but I thought it was different for mush dogs.

[kenish]

I recall hearing about protests directed at Iditarod over the years, so I just Googled "sled dog abuse". Lots of information, much of it no doubt very biased. In any case, food for thought and definitely something that should be considered before choosing whether or not to take a tour.

[PennyAgain]

I very carefully wrote that some people, especially youngsters, might be upset by how the dogs live and are cared for.

 

The dogs are valuable and that insures that they are cared for in the way of sled racers.

 

They are not pets.

 

I don't keep my own dogs in such a manner.

 

Yes, there are concerns at all the races about the dogs and some dogs die racing and die in training. Also unless they are used for breeding, they don't get a nice retirement.

 

If people are going to spend so much money to ride on a dog sled, see the dogs, etc. it is only fair that they know that it is not all a picnic.