Extreme excursion in Juneau question

[#1survivorfan]

I'm getting ready to make a reservation for 4 adults to do Level 3 with North Star Trekking out of Juneau. It's quite expensive and I haven't read much info about them on this forum so I wanted to find out if anyone has had experience with this company and this excursion. Our group wanted to do an "extreme" activity and this looked like it fit our desires....but.....at 600.00 I'm concerned with making these arrangements blind

Marla

[Budget Queen]

Another "extreme" glacier choice could also be the none flying Mendenhall trek, which is also available, at a cost savings??

 

I have not gone with Northstar Trekking. Perhaps do a board search, I can't recall anything but rave reviews for them.

 

I have done glacier trekking, and in my opinion, it's all about time and distance, to get the better experiences. So your level 3 choice would give you more of this.

[tee_harbor]

Another "extreme" glacier choice could also be the none flying Mendenhall trek, which is also available, at a cost savings??

 

Do you recall who does that tour? I thought it was Gastineau Guiding, yet I can't find it on their site.

 

Another consideration for the OP; how often is the helicopter tour cancelled? A ground access route wouldn't be cancelled, but would require a lot more hiking. You'd to weigh the extra effort vs. the odds of actually getting on the ice.

 

I have not gone with Northstar Trekking. Perhaps do a board search, I can't recall anything but rave reviews for them.

 

I have't gone with them either, but as someone who lives here, I would have heard if they'd lost a tourist down in a crevice or something. They've been in business for years and are professional. Their prices are completely in line with any glacier trekking. It costs a lot of money to get folks up on a glacier.

[Budget Queen]

Above and Beyond does the Mendenhall walk up glacier treks.

 

http://www.beyondak.com/daytrips.html

[H2O babe]

We did a level 2 with Northstar in June of 2006. It was a great excursion and well worth what we paid. We had budgeted for expensive excursions (we also did a float plane excursion in Ketchikan into the Misty Fiords) and we don't regret spending the $$. I don't remember what the difference was between the level 2 and 3 - possibly you have longer time on the glacier? We weren't supposed to get to do any rappelling but our guide gave the 6 of us the option as we thought we were doing so well and could handle it. A first time for me and it was awesome. I was quite scared though. We would certainly spend our $$ with them again in the future.

 

K.

[kenish]

A couple we met on our cruise did a trekking tour with Northstar. They raved about the whole experience.