Greater Healy/Denali Chamber of Commerce

Denali National Park and Preserve News Release

2008 Denali Bus and Campground Reservations Available by Phone, Internet, Mail and Fax Beginning December 1.

Doyon/ARAMARK Joint Venture, the transportation concessioner for Denali National Park and Preserve, will begin accepting advance reservations for the 2008 visitor season for shuttle buses and the park’s four largest campgrounds on Saturday, December 1, 2007. Reservations will be available by phone, online, mail, and fax at that time. Reservations in previous years were not available by phone until February 15.

Approximately 65% of the shuttle bus seats and 100% of the campsites in the Riley Creek, Savage River, Teklanika River, and Wonder Lake campgrounds can be reserved in advance. The remaining tickets are made available for advance reservations or walk-in two days before the travel date. The Teklanika River Campground is now open to tents and RVs, but there is no RV camping at Wonder Lake.

Phone reservations can be made by calling (800) 622-7275, nationwide or (907) 272-7275 for international callers between 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (Alaska time). The web address for online reservations is www.reservedenali.com. Fax forms for advance reservations are posted on the National Park Service website at www.nps.gov/dena. Faxes should be sent to Doyon/ARAMARK Joint Venture at (907) 264-4684. Faxes must be received no less than two days before travel. Faxed reservation requests received before December 1 will not be honored.

A maximum of eight seats may be requested with each reservation, and number of passengers and ages are required as age discounts may apply. Please include alternate dates and times when possible. When making reservations by credit card, include the credit card number and expiration date. Checks are only accepted with mail-in reservation requests.

Mail-in requests must be received 30 days prior to the scheduled departure. Mail these reservation requests to:

Please include an entrance fee of $10.00 per individual or $20.00 per family when mailing or faxing reservation requests.

The shuttle buses are designed to provide transportation along the park road for visitors who wish to view the park’s scenery and wildlife, access campgrounds, go hiking for the day or take an overnight trip into the park’s backcountry. Drivers will answer questions and help visitors spot wildlife. The shuttle bus system will operate from Tuesday, May 20 through Thursday, September 11, 2008, weather permitting.

2008 SHUTTLE BUS PRICES for an Adult Single Trip Fare

• Toklat & Polychrome: $22.75
• Fish Creek (Eielson): $29.25
• Wonder Lake: $40.00
• Kantishna: $43.75

The camper bus fare (for backcountry campers and campgrounds only accessible by bus) is $29.25. Children 14 and under ride free, and young adults age 15-17 ride for half price.

The Kantishna Experience, the 12-hour round-trip journey to the “end of the road” will be offered once a day from June 8 through August 31. The interpretive narration is provided jointly by the driver-guide and a National Park Service ranger that joins the trip at Wonder Lake. The cost is $139.00, plus the park entrance fee.

Additional park information is available on the park website at www.nps.gov/dena or by calling (907) 683-2294 from 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. daily.

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Since the release of Sean Penn's movie "Into the Wild," there have been many more inquiries about the infamous bus on the Stampede Trail. In the past, there have been perhaps a dozen or so visitors to our area every year that attempt to visit the final resting place of Mr. McCandless. While it is not our place or purpose to tell folks what they can or cannot do, the Chamber would like to caution potential visitors who may attemp to visit the Stampede Bus via the Stampede Trail:

• Communications. There is no cell phone service (or any other services for that matter) past Eight Mile Lake on Stampede Road. The bus is at least another 15 miles past this point.
• Rescue. The Alaska State Troopers will be the ones to respond to any emergency or problem, and you may be held liable for the entire cost of your rescue ($2,000 +)
• Rivers. The Teklanika River can be deceptively friendly to look at, but has a very fast-moving main channel. Three feet of water is enough to take you down stream, even on a 4-wheeler. Rain in Denali National Park can make the river triple in size in no time at all.
• Weather. Being anywhere in the Alaska bush can be a wet and cold experience, even in July.
• Bugs. The mosquitos can be fierce and seem to run in herds. Have lots of DEET with you. Nothing else will work as well.
• Poaching. You need a valid hunting license to hunt. It is illegal to shoot moose, caribou, or bear without the appropriate licenses and tags. Anyone caught poaching game will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
• Guided tours. The Stampede Trail is under the management of the Alaska Department of Natural Resouces (ADNR) and requires a permit for any commercial guiding or tours. There have been no such permits issued, and anyone engaing in this activity is breaking the law. The only exception to this would be accessing the area via helicopter.

Please use caution if you are planning to travel to the the bus and dress appropriately. Some of the windows in the bus are broken and there is no way to use the bus to stay warm. Remember, you will be in a backcountry situation. If you do not know what kind of gear you need or have this equipment to travel safely into the Bush, then you probably have no business trying to do so. For example: If you had decided to carry 10 pounds of food with you, a 10 pound bag of rice is probably the wrong choice.

The Alaska bush IS NOT the Cascades or Rockies.

Death is always a possibility.

There are no provisions or supplies at the bus.

Please feel free to visit the Chamber Building in Healy or contact us if you have any questions. We wish you to have only the finest quality visit in our beautiful area, and we certainly want you to have the opportunity to tell your friends and family about it, too.

A map is now available in the download section of this website: Stampede map

It is made from USGS quads and DOES NOT show the location of the bus. It has only been provided as an illustration of how big an area you might be dealing with(400+ square miles). There are no USGS 1:63360 quad maps available online, so this document has been provided as a courtesy. The board recommends that you visit the USGS map store website and order the official paper maps rather than use the document available on this website.

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Denali Borough Mayor Dave Talerico announced Wednesday, June 11 at the Denali Borough Assembly Meeting in Anderson that the Alaska Municipal Leauge (AML) will be holding their annual meeting from August 9-11 in Healy at the Tri-Valley School.

From the AML website:

MEETING INFORMATION
The AML Legislative Committee & Alaska Conference of Mayors will be meeting August 9-11, 2007 in Healy, Alaska. The meeting will begin Thursday, August 9 at 12:00 pm and end Saturday, August 11 at 12:00 pm.

The Policy Statement is used as the framework for all advocacy activities throughout the year. All Legislative Committee members will receive a copy of the working DRAFT 2008 Policy Statement in the mail by mid-July. This is the document the Legislative Committee will work from at the Summer Legislative Meeting.

A block of rooms at the McKinley Chalet Resort has been reserved for the attending members. Aramark will also be providing the transportation to and from the event. A copy of the schedule has been uploaded to this website for your convenience. The schedule may also be found on AML's website.

While it had been known since last year this meeting would be in Healy, there was no prior announcement made to business owners in the borough or to the Chamber of Commerce. This topic will be on the agenda of the Board of Directors meeting on Wednesday, July 18th at 6:30 pm.

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The Chamber board meet briefly to take care of some pre-season business before the official Chamber Building opening date of June 1st.

The main topic of discussion was an agreement with the Aurora Club, the Healy senior's group, and the Chamber, to operate the Chamber building four days a week from June through August. This equitable arrangement for both parties was thought up by the previous Chamber board (Barb Claspill, President) and the Aurora Club, in which the Chamber would make a donation to the Aurora Club every month, as a gratitude for their assistance in helping the walk-in tourists with their questions and answering the phone. The agreement was drawn up by Chamber President Neal Laugman, and with one amendment, was unanimously passed and then sent to the Aurora Club for their signatures.

Another urgent matter to be dealt with was that of a resolusion of support (passed unanimously) from the Chamber regarding an "application for technical assistance'" to the USDA's Community Transporation Association of America (CTAA) that would provide paid technical assistance for the on-going Healy/Denali community bus system concept. This has been a collaborative effort between the National Park Service, Denali Borough, and other interested tourist-realted business in the Nenana Canyon that has been ongoing for several years. It would one day provide a limited community transit system between McKinely Village, Denali Park, and Healy. It's hoped that this assistance will take the project closer to a feasible business plan. A non-governmental, non-profit organization was needed to submit the application for the technical assistance required for the next phase of the project. While the Greater Healy/Denali Chamber of Commerce's name is now being used, the Chamber is under no obligation, financial or otherwise, to commit resources to the project, although the board was very enthusiastic to participate. Denali National Park Assistant Superindendant Elwood Lynn was in attendance and spoke on the project. NPS planner Charlie Loeb is the point person and the requester of the Chamber's assistence.

Other topics discussed were building security, office equipment needs, and building maintenance.

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I apologise for not getting the news out sooner, but it has just been a tempest getting things ready for the 2007 tourist season. The following is a quick summary of the occasion.

The Black Diamond Grill offered up a delicious dinner, which included: hot wings appetizers, ceasar salad, potato salad, barbequed short ribs, Sockeye salmon, steak, and a tasty bery pie for dessert.

During and after the meal, several speakers were heard, including Craig Pester of Aramark. He spoke of Aramark's continuing commitment to be a part of the Healy/Denali community and that Aramark is contantly looking for new ways to further integrate themselves in a positive way throughout Denali Borough.

After the dinner, and the General Membership vote for board members, the results were announced: Neal Laugman (McKinley Media), Cathey Peterson (former board member), Julia Potter (Denali Citizens Council), Arlie Swett (Denali Coffee Co.), and Josh Wilhour (Healy Cool Zone). The new board then convened and elected officers for the 2007-2008 year:

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The 2007 Greater Healy/Denali Chamber of commerce annual banquet and general membership meeting will be held tonight, Tuesday, May 15, 2007 at the Black Diamond Grill with drinks and hors d'oeuvres at 5pm and dinner at  6pm. RSVP to marilyn@usibelli.com. Business membership rates are based on the number of employees. Membership dues for the 2007 year are as follows:

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The Chamber's Dreamweaver HTML website built and maintained by Terry and Ann Miller ( denalidomehome.com ) for so many years is soon to be retired. The Millers tirelessly chased after new memberships and maintained the current ones for many, many years and faithfully kept the Chamber's website up-to-date and running.

But with time and technology being what they are, they never stand still. The days of non-database driven websites are quickly coming to an end as the Internet world moves faster and faster - and expects more and more from itself every day. Today's world of technology in which we live is a world where everything requires the specialist - even in Alaska. Just as you could not become a dog musher or B & B operator by accident, neither could you accidently learn the complexities of Information Technology.

I've written this article for the Greater Healy/Denali Chamber of Commerce membership to help them understand what has changed and why the change is necessary.

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At its March 18, 2007 board meeting, The Chamber board voted unanimously to hold the annual Chamber Banquet May 15th or 16th at the Black Diamond Grill. It has not been decided whether it shall be a buffet-style or sit-down dinner.

The banquet announcement will be sent out by both e-mail and letters to Chamber members in the near future.

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