Quick Details
Our Extended Helicopter Glacier Trek is for adventure seekers who want to maximize their time on the glacier, learn basic ice climbing techniques, and explore more territory than our standard Glacier Trek offers.
The adventure begins as you are outfitted with mountaineering boots, a climbing harness, gaiters, and appropriate rain gear, as well as gloves, a backpack, water, and a granola bar. Once everyone is ready, you will receive a safety briefing before boarding one of our A-Star helicopters for a flightseeing tour over old-growth trees of the Tongass National Forest, impressive mountain ranges, and massive flows of ice that change from white to radiant shades of blue. Flight routes are based on the pilots’ choice depending on conditions to give you the best views of the day.
Upon landing at our base camp on the glacier, your guide will outfit you with an ice axe, crampons, and a helmet, and provide instruction on how to properly use the equipment for safe glacier travel. Once familiarized with the gear, you will hike across the rugged terrain past moulins, deep crevasses, and crystal blue rivers, as you make your way into the glacier’s most remote areas.
Your climbing destination is a massive 300-foot ice wall where you will learn ice climbing techniques and have the opportunity to practice your skills on a portion of this towering feature while on belay.
After an educational exploration of the stunning glacier features and ample photo opportunities, your pilot will return you on a short, scenic flight back to our heliport. Our comfortable vans will then return you to your pick-up point.
Please see FAQ’s page for general information about our tours and safety, here.
Enjoy sweeping views of the Tongass National Forest and the Juneau Icefield on your helicopter flight to and from base camp.
Learn and practice the basic techniques of ice travel and climbing as you trek into the most remote areas of the glacier.
Ascend a small portion of the massive 300-foot ice wall and belay back down while you enjoy stunning views of your pristine surroundings.
Pose for adventure photos on a vertical ice wall and in front of azure-blue ice features.
We will provide you with rain pants, a rain jacket, gloves, a harness, mountaineering boots, crampons, gloves, ice axe, helmet and a hip pack with water and a granola bar.
You should dress for a 10-15°F temperature decrease from sea-level (at the cruise ship docks) to the glacier. We recommend that you dress in long socks, warm layers, and sunglasses.
NorthStar’s policies prohibit the following items on our aircraft/tour:
Due to weight and balance limitations, as well as guest safety and comfort, passengers weighing 250 pounds (113kg or 18 Stone) or more will be charged an additional $150.00 to reserve adequate space on board the helicopter. Total weight includes shoes and clothing. Surcharge must be paid at time of booking.
We arrange seating based on the weight, balance, safety, and comfort of the whole departure, and cannot guarantee that we will be able to keep groups together on the aircraft. Please note that we will do everything possible to keep groups together for the flight portion of the tour, but we are sometimes required to split a group between multiple helicopters. All groups will be together for the glacier portion of the tour.
If you decide to cancel more than 24 hours before departure, you will receive a refund minus a 10% cancellation fee. If you cancel less than 24 hours before departure, you will not receive a refund.
Weather in Juneau can often be overcast and rainy. Decisions to operate tours are based on safety and tour quality. Should we decide not to operate your scheduled tour we will do our best to reschedule. If this is not possible, you will be refunded in full. In most cases we will not make the decision to cancel a tour until within an hour of departure, as the weather can quickly change and we do not want to preemptively cancel a tour – if it is at all possible it will run.
