Snow dump should allow Arctic Valley to open Sunday

Southcentral alpine skiers, boarders and telemark skiers will have another option beginning Sunday, when the Arctic Valley Ski Area plans to open. The ski area just north of Anchorage received 14 to 18 inches of fresh snow over the weekend.

Eric Pedersen, Arctic Valley's director of marketing, is describing Sunday as a "soft opening" from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. because not all of the lifts will operate. Because of that, lift ticket prices will be reduced to $10.

"Conditions will be variable," Pedersen said by email, "with good powder in many spots."

Arctic Valley's tubing park opened Dec. 31. This weekend will be fourth opening, from 3:30-5 p.m., and Pedersen warns potential tubers that "the sessions are selling out fast!"

Rents rise for Forest Service cabins

Backcountry visitors will pay more beginning this month to spend a night at many of the 184 U.S. Forest Service cabins in the Chugach and Tongass national forests.

This is the second phase of a three-year effort to boost the prices at some of Alaska's most popular recreation destinations.

[Now's the ideal time to book a cabin for a midsummer Alaska getaway]

Forest Service cabin prices range up to $85 a night for the new and popular Spencer Bench cabin, which sleeps eight and can be reached in summer by the Spencer Glacier whistle stop train from Portage. Prices vary depending on demand and individual cabins' amenities.

Snowmachining areas open

The recent heavy snowfall will allow several Southcentral areas popular with snowmachiners to open.

— The Placer area will open Wednesday, according to the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center, and the Forest Service aims to open the 20-Mile snow corridor shortly.

— Lost Lake and Primrose are open, though the Forest Service is asking riders to remain on existing hard-packed trails.

— All areas of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge traditionally open to snowmachines are available. Areas not included: Ski Hill Road, Skilak Loop Special Management Area, Swanson River and Swan Lake Canoe Systems, Wolf Lake pipeline corridor and areas in the Caribou Hills that are above timberline.