Lies They Told Me About Alaska

When I said I was moving to Alaska, there were a lot of things I heard over and over.  While everyone thought it sounded really cool, the same things kept coming up.  The cold.  The dark.  How ridiculously expensive it is.  "It's not going to be that bad," I said.  "Anchorage is coastal, like Vancouver but just further north, so it's actually warmer than the prairies in winter.  And those inflated prices might be for the more remote places like Prudhoe Bay, but not where I am going."  Many times I discerned a sideways glance after saying this...I could almost hear the inside voices saying "Mmmmmmhmmmm, you'll see."  To be fair, I did go into this a little blind, and am probably in a small minority of people who have never seen a single episode of any of the Alaska Reality TV shows...not even Deadliest Catch, which even the people up here watch and talk about.  I did pull up the anuual max and min temperatures for Anchorage before accepting the job...warmer than Edmonton was all I figured I really needed to know (that, however, did not turn out to be the case).

2 months in, I think I have been vindicated on a few of these issues.

The cold.  I expected some pretty miserable days arriving in February.  Not so.  I have yet to see a snowbank (although I have spied a few glaciers, but that's a different thing entirely).  The temperature is rarely below 0C.  I haven't seen my mittens since the day I spent outdoors watching the Iditarod start.  To be fair, Alaska has been shockingly short on snow this year...but even if there was more snow, Anchorage does not get -30C with wind chill as part of their normal winter temperatures.  -20C is just another  yukky winter day in Western or Northern Canada, but it would be an unusually cold in Anchorage, where the average cold winter day is -1 to -15C.  It really isn't that cold in Anchorage.  And if you go to Juneau, the average winter low is no more than -5C.  Alaska is really big, and I think people forget that.  Yes, the northern edge of Alaska where Prudhoe Bay sits has winter temperatures averages that range from -30 to -10C.  But the difference comparing the climate of Anchorage to the climate of Prudhoe Bay is like comparing the climate of Calgary to the climate of Whitehorse.  Alaska is a really big place.  And...the part I went to is really not that cold.  Really.

The dark.  Granted I arrived in February and the shortest day of the year for daylight hours in December 21.  However, for those of you pitying me on those terrible winter days to come where I never see the sun, fear not.  Even in Anchorage, they shortest day of the year has 5 hrs and 28 minutes of daylight, 1 hr and 10 minutes less than Edmonton.  It is Barrow, Alaska, located 330 miles north of the Arctic Circle which descends into long winter darkness...67 days without the sun.  It is the northernmost community in the world, and rather surprisingly, has a population of 4,373 people.  I guess they like the quiet.  After December 21st, Anchorage gains almost 6 minutes a day.  So today, April 11th, we have 14 hours and 19 minutes of daylight.  On June 21st, we will have 19 hours and 22 minutes of daylight.  That may sound like a lot, but it's just 2 hours more than Edmonton.  So the light and dark are not a drastic change.

The expense.  I actually earn less $/hr in Alaska than in Canada or Bermuda.  But income tax is lower than Canada, and, there is no sales tax in Alaska.  That's a nice treat when you are buying a coffee, or Nick knacks, it's a decent perk when you are looking at fuel and groceries, and it's just phenomenal when you consider the difference on large items, like furniture or a new vehicle.  Items are NOT more expensive just because you are in Alaska.  Anchorage is within a 9 hour flight of 90% of the industrial world.   FedEx has a major outpost here.  I ordered a part for a machine at work and it arrived the next day.  Sending a parcel is less than a third of the cost the Canada Post charges.  Starbucks is a universal constant for prices it seems.  But in the grocery stores, I am smiling with glee at the prices.  Asparagus for $1.99 a pound, $1 for a fresh baked loaf of French Bread.  $2.99 for an average block of cheese.  Bananas $0.89/lb.  Some things are the same.  But overall, it has been pleasantly surprising on the wallet so far.

So, those three myths are officially debunked.  Here are some other neat things I have learned so far.  For example, Vitamin D comes in the 5000 IU size.  I was De-Lighted (pardon the pun).  There are a lot of airplanes.  Statistics are that 1 in every 5 Alaskans has a pilots license.  There is always a plane or helicopter going by, and quite often flying very low over your car coming in for landing.  This was a first for me though.  At a stop sign and yielding to the airplane on the right.

 There is goes...

Alaska has some interesting tourist products.  The Ulu knife, muskox wool apparel, and salmon everything as evidenced by this below.  Alaska...beyond the myths...wacky and wonderful thus far.