The Ultimate Mountain Retreat

Your Alaskan adventure begins in Anchorage. Wonderfully set between the Chugach Mountains and Cook Inlet, it is one of the world’s most northerly cities. A private SUV will meet you at the airport for the journey downtown to the Hotel Captain Cook. The ideal base to begin your trip, the hotel offers spectacular mountain and ocean views, a fine dining restaurant and indoor pool, fitness centre, sauna, and steam room. Guests can also browse the hotel’s extensive private art collection celebrating Alaskan history and culture, as well as the travels of the cartographer Captain James Cook, who mapped much of the Alaskan coastline.

Accommodation is in a Captain’s Deck Junior Suite, and you are free to spend time at your leisure. The hotel’s downtown location provides easy access to the Anchorage Museum, Native Heritage Centre, and the many coastal trails from which to explore the stunning scenery and wildlife. Back at the hotel, you can dine on superb local fare, including wild Alaskan Salmon and King Crab legs. While for post-flight relaxation, head to the hotel’s leisure facilities.

After a hearty breakfast, you will board a seaplane to Fish Lake, close to Talkeetna for a half-day photo tour. Here you’ll enjoy the chance to soak up the beauty and serenity of this natural wonderland, home to bears, moose, and beavers. After capturing images of the magnificent scenery and wildlife, you’ll enjoy lunch before boarding a flight to Sheldon Chalet.

One of Alaska’s, if not the world’s most remote and spectacular luxury lodges, Sheldon Chalet nestles in a natural amphitheatre of Denali’s breath-taking Ruth Glacier. The original Sheldon Mountain House was built by glacier pilot Don Sheldon in 1966, after claiming a 5-acre nunatak (a rocky island), from which to explore and map the Alaska Range. For the following 40-years, the hexagonal building served as a basecamp for adventurous trekkers and skiers, until 2016, when the family developed and built the magnificent Sheldon Chalet.

The ultimate Alaskan retreat, the Chalet provides a luxurious and private experience for up to 10 guests within Denali National Park. Only accessible by small aircraft, it is located 6,000-feet atop the Sheldon Nunatak, bringing you unsurpassed views of the surrounding ice fields and glaciers, as well as Mount Denali, North America’s highest peak.

A feat of engineering prowess, the Chalet echoes the hexagonal architecture of the old mountain house, with each of the five guestrooms, occupying a side of the hexagon, ensuring spellbinding mountain views. With limited guest numbers, the vibe is relaxed and personal. Despite the wilderness location, the world-class chef serves up gourmet dining and there’s a wonderful sauna for warmth and relaxation after a day of activities.

Depending on the time of year, the lodge is the perfect location to view the riotous colours and dancing lights of the Aurora Borealis, while during the summer months the sun barely sets, providing the opportunity for evening hikes and moonlit sledding. The Chalet offers a range of activities, allowing you to choose to do as little or as much as you wish. Select from mountaineering (no experience necessary), rappelling, snowshoe glacier trekking, glacier picnics, exploring ice caves, snow caverns and crevasses or simply relaxing and stargazing on the deck, warmed by the crackling firepit.

Day 9: Anchorage

Your final morning at the Chalet is a chance to drink in the spectacular Denali scenery, before a private helicopter returns you to Anchorage to board the flight home.

A truly once-in-a-lifetime adventure, the experiences, activities and memories of this Alaskan trip will leave a lasting impression.