Dogsledding/helicopter in Juneau

[ike201]

I'm about to book a dogsledding/helicopter ride in Juneau with either

Coastal or Temsco. Does anyone have a recommendation on what time

we should go? Someone told me morning flights tend to get cancelled more, but when we called the company they said it's a myth. Also,

if we booked a 1 pm flight, would that give us enough time to go to

Mendenhall Glacier in the morning(we are going on our own)?

 

Also, any recommendations which company is better? Or has a better safety record? Temsco is slightly more expensive but lands on Mendenhall Glacier. Coastal lands on another glacier. They seem basically the same.

[Budget Queen]

It makes no difference what time you book, it will be unique for your day with no way to predict anything. Being that neither company picks up at Mendenhall (at least, in the past), I only suggest you take a cab direct to their office from Mendenhall. Unless you don't care about wasting an hour in transit time.

 

I've flown with both companies, 2 with TEMSCO and 3 with Coastal. Both well run, pick one. :)

 

It makes NO difference what glacier either. Mendenhall is just more well known, certainly not superior to any other in the Juneau icefield.

 

As you must already know- have back up plans in place, know what else is available to occupy your time and have phone numbers handy if needed.

[Yukon]

You'll see the "morning-clouds" story here a lot, usually in regard to the White Pass railway in Skagway, but it just ain't so. There are many situations that cause clouds/fog, and they are just as likely to form in the mountains due to convection on a warmish afternoon.

[jerry20001]

Do have back up plans as mentioned, the dog sledding/helicopter tour does often get cancelled due to weather. This applies to both Juneau and Skagway. Flight-seeing with a flexible route can be a possibility. The dog sledding since it goes to a specific location can have localized weather condition problems. As Yukon mentioned, there is never a way to guess whether the weather will be better early or late.

 

It does take an element of luck to do this tour. I have never heard of anyone that didn't rate it an experience of a lifetime, but have heard of many cancellations, it goes with the territory. Good luck!

[ellbon]

I did the early mornign thru the ship but was able to get a lot done that day. I am glad i did as it got warm up there with all that sun.

[gstarrysky]

We flew with Temsco on our last trip and it was awesome. The weather did not allow us to land on Mendenhall Glacier where they usually land but he landed in another area on the Glacier and we walked around there. It was well worth the money. We are returning to Alaska this summer and have booked with them again.