The Tordrillo Mountain Lodge Experience

Imagine this — you wake up in a lodge 60 miles from the nearest city, way out in the Alaskan wilderness. You walk downstairs to a hot pot of coffee waiting for you and a chef ready to take your breakfast order. It’s 7 a.m., and the first light starts hitting the peaks of the Tordrillo Mountains, perfectly framed in the windows of the lodge. With Mount Spurr, a tremoring volcano dominating the skyline, this remote lodge is nestled on its own lake at the foothills of some of the best skiing in the world.

As you sip your coffee, staring out at this surreal view, Nicole — the lodge manager — lets you know your breakfast is ready. After a morning at your own pace, your guide shows up to share the plan for the day with the group and gives you a 9:30 a.m. launch time.

There are two ways to get into the mountains: either a 1946 Turbine Otter, retrofitted to be one of the most powerful pound-for-pound airplanes in the world, or an A-Star helicopter with a similar resume. Outfitted with all your ski gear, the guide loads you and three others into the helicopter while the rest of the group loads into the Otter. Lifting off from in front of the lodge, you fly over the other group as they take off from the frozen lake below. Then the plane pulls up beside you, flying in tandem toward the mountains.

As you get closer, the mountains get bigger. What started as the horizon is now your entire view—360 degrees of rugged terrain. You fly over the Triumvirate Glacier, a 22-mile conveyor belt of ice that leads you deeper into the heart of the range. As the guide starts window shopping for different runs, the helicopter pilot finds a saddle between two sharp peaks. Without hesitation, he nudges the nose into the snow, which swallows up the belly of the helicopter.

Your guide gets out and pulls the skis and avalanche bags from the basket, then gives you the okay to unload. As you step out, the beating of the blades is deafening. You look up at the guide as he points to the bags and yells for you to keep low. Your heart starts to race. With everyone crouched around the gear, the guide gives a thumbs-up to the pilot, who then pulls up and peels away, disappearing over the edge.

Just like that, it’s dead quiet—but the adrenaline is rushing, and you’re standing on top of the most perfect, untouched ski run.

As the helicopter comes back into view below, it heads toward a pair of airplane tracks leading to the Otter, now parked on the glacier at the bottom of the run. As the other group begins to unload, the helicopter settles next to them, ready to move them to their first drop. You try to organize your thoughts—and that’s when you have your first “Where the F$CK am I?” moment.

Alaska isn’t like other places—it’s in a league of its own. The surrounding million acres are nothing but a giant playground. The vastness, the jagged peaks decorated in snow, the surreal shapes and geometry—it all feels like something only an artist could dream up. You feel like you’re on the edge of the world, staring into the abyss.

As you move through the day, skiing 1,000–3,000-foot runs, you find yourself navigating a maze of new mountains and fresh lines, each one better than the last. There’s no going back to a resort after this.

After lunch in the mountains and a full day of skiing, the Otter returns to the glacier, ready to take you back to the lodge. You arrive to appetizers, a cold beer, and a hot sauna waiting for you. This can’t be real—but it is. The perfect product, tucked away in the Alaskan wilderness.

I spent five years working here at Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, surrounded by amazing people whose sole desire is to make you smile and enjoy the place they’re lucky to call home for the season.