Possible Winter Visit - Want Opinions (Bethel, Barrow: where to buy, Walmart, money)

[warptman]

Alaska DOT has gps equipped plow truck as of 2007, very interesting.

Alaska Department of Transportation&Public Facilities - ITS Report

[ShipOfFools42]

Originally Posted by blueflames50

welllllll there are people on the forum who have plowed for a living in AK and I sure hope they jump in here....lets see...when you spend hours trying to find the truck then shovel out the driver who got swept off the road by an avalanche, plow with a road-grader/truck and have no idea where the road is due to the blinding snow and dark with headlights only illuminating about 6ft in front of you, some idjit has abandoned their car in the snow drifted road and you can't go forward and have to back the plow rig up for miles as there is no place to turn around....I've heard some of the stories an watch the color drain from their faces as they tell it years later....takes a certain type of person, maybe you are one of them!

Hahaha, you're killing me here. I know it's hazardous; I worked first shift for snow removal crew when I lived in Mass. First of all, yes, the conditions under which you work as a plow driver are terrible. I practically LIVE for terrible snowstorm conditions, despite the potential risks. If you get hung up on risks all the damn time it could make for quite a miserable existence. Also, I've never seen a plow truck that didn't have AT LEAST one set of high-intensity lights so that they could see farther than 6 feet in front of them. Of course, during a whiteout it's a different story, but whiteouts are generally the exception, not the rule. There are potential risks and hazards no matter what your job may be, unless you want to work some boring desk jockey job. I love driving vehicles and operating heavy machinery.

Basically, put it this way: I would much rather be driving a snow plow in Thompson Pass than closing a loan at a desk any day of the week.

Hey Warpt, just checking out prices here, is $300 a normal price for a round-trip flight from ANC to BET? Or is that high? Also, can anyone tell me if $900 is a decent airfare from Charlotte, NC to ANC? It's the best I've been able to find with Alaska Airlines. There seem to be some slightly cheaper fares with other airlines, but I've heard good things about Alaska Air, and I'd rather use them than Delta.

[blueflames50]

Originally Posted by ShipOfFools42

Hahaha, you're killing me here. I know it's hazardous; I worked first shift for snow removal crew when I lived in Mass. First of all, yes, the conditions under which you work as a plow driver are terrible. I practically LIVE for terrible snowstorm conditions, despite the potential risks. If you get hung up on risks all the damn time it could make for quite a miserable existence. Also, I've never seen a plow truck that didn't have AT LEAST one set of high-intensity lights so that they could see farther than 6 feet in front of them. Of course, during a whiteout it's a different story, but whiteouts are generally the exception, not the rule. There are potential risks and hazards no matter what your job may be, unless you want to work some boring desk jockey job. I love driving vehicles and operating heavy machinery.

Basically, put it this way: I would much rather be driving a snow plow in Thompson Pass than closing a loan at a desk any day of the week.

Hey Warpt, just checking out prices here, is $300 a normal price for a round-trip flight from ANC to BET? Or is that high? Also, can anyone tell me if $900 is a decent airfare from Charlotte, NC to ANC? It's the best I've been able to find with Alaska Airlines. There seem to be some slightly cheaper fares with other airlines, but I've heard good things about Alaska Air, and I'd rather use them than Delta.

Mass isn't anything like AK snow plowing...not even close!...but if your a plow jockey go for it....now as for the ticket price...hummm..will do some checking for you as that does seem a bit high but I have never flown out of the south...from MA I've paid $700 an less...

[tigre79]

Originally Posted by ShipOfFools42

Of course, during a whiteout it's a different story, but whiteouts are generally the exception, not the rule.

LOL, not in a place that gets 50+ feet of snow every year and frequent high winds. There are snow poles to help the plow drivers figure out where the road is though, if they can see them. Hell, even in summer there are times when you can barely see past the hood of your vehicle up there.

I'd keep shopping for your ticket. I got as low as $750 from Tampa in March two years ago on American. The summer before that I paid nearly $900 in June and then found the fare about $100 cheaper a few weeks later when I needed to change the departure date.

[ShipOfFools42]

Originally Posted by tigre79

LOL, not in a place that gets 50+ feet of snow every year and frequent high winds. There are snow poles to help the plow drivers figure out where the road is though, if they can see them. Hell, even in summer there are times when you can barely see past the hood of your vehicle up there.

Haha, yeah I should have specified that I was talking in general, and not specifically about Thompson Pass. I've read that it's the snowiest place in the country, and I believe it. I could see some places in the Rockies getting more, but probably not by much. In any case, even though I have never driven an Alaskan mountain pass, I have driven more than enough mountain passes to know to respect them. It can get pretty nasty in the high elevations here in the winter.

[Dakster]

I found a few $590 flights from Charlotte,nc to ANC. but I need your travel dates. I used around 12-24-11 to Jan 7th, 2012....

[tigre79]

Originally Posted by ShipOfFools42

Haha, yeah I should have specified that I was talking in general, and not specifically about Thompson Pass.

Well, you did just get through saying you'd love to plow snow in the pass. You've really got to let go of the idea that you know what it's like here because you spent a little time in the Northeast.

[ShipOfFools42]

EDITED: You know what, forget it. Not worth getting into an argument. Still, I will say one thing: Tigre, you have been very encouraging to me for the most part, and you have showed me how cool Valdez is. I appreciate your help. Still, it's not like you're a life-long Alaskan yourself, and it's not like I have never seen snow before. In fact, I lived in New England for longer than you have lived in Alaska so far. Also, as has been said many times, it snows a good bit more in the snowy parts of the lower 48 than it does in much of AK (obviously not including VDZ). And if I got the job offer to plow snow in the Pass right now, I would go, sight unseen. I'm sure I would figure out in short order "what it's like there". Not like I'm going to on this trip, since everyone's telling me how I shouldn't drive the damn Pass.

And Dakster, thanks so much for your help man; I've actually found flights for the same price, so I'm going to try to book that soon before the price goes up. Man, I was expecting to pay at least $800 if not more. This should open up some money to do more cool stuff once I'm there. The only thing that's cut and dry "on my itinerary" is a snowmachine trip out of southcentral that MIGHT take us out to a glacier if the weather permits. Got it from one of the links Warpt posted. That should be fun. God this better not fall through. The only consolation is that if it does, I'm 100% going next year. But let's not talk about that, let's think positive. I'm going to make it, I'm going to make it.

[warptman]

Cheap flights from Anchorage to Chicago, Houston, Montana, LA and California | Alaska Dispatch

[blueflames50]

Originally Posted by ShipOfFools42

Oh, and Blue, you said AK plow driving is nothing like Mass... what makes you say that, other than perhaps the wind and blowing snow? Serious question.

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