The four-story, dome-shaped structure was originally envisaged as a hotel, but it has sat half-finished and abandoned (save for the odd vandal) for nearly 40 years.
Dubbed “Igloo City” by locals, the building has fascinated passersby, but was never completed because of problems with the original construction and a lack of funds.So what’s the price for this rare piece of real estate? The owner says he’ll hear out any serious offers, just as long as the buyer is willing to put in the hard yards to get the igloo up and running as a hotel.
However, getting the building into shape is probably only the first part of the challenge for its new owner. Finding guests for the hotel might be quite the task too – the igloo is located along a remote highway 180 miles north of Anchorage, and the nearest town is home to a little over 200 residents.
Here at Gadling, our inboxes are full of pitches on the fabulous skiing conditions in Colorado and Utah, but news about the latest lifts and bases rarely sparks our interest. You know what does? Setting up an obstacle course in an abandoned building. That does.
To create the video above, Logan Imlach and Matt Wild spent six days constructing and skiing a line through the infamous Buckner Building in Whittier, Alaska. Once Alaska’s largest building, during its heyday in the 1950s the Buckner Building was called a “city under one roof.” It housed 1,000 apartments, plus a movie theater, bowling alley, pool, gym and shops. The building was seriously damaged in the 1964 Alaska earthquake, which rang a 9.2 on the Richter magnitude scale. Today, it’s just a large, abandoned government building, ripe for some creative folks like Imlach and Wild to make their snowy playground.
Although there is a potentially dangerous amount of asbestos in the five-story building – not to mention its questionable structural integrity – the Buckner Building has become somewhat of a landmark for local kids and tourists in Whittier. We’re not saying we recommend building an obstacle course of your own inside the building, but we sure are glad someone did.
Sustainable Travel International (STI) is a global non-profit charged to help destinations, businesses and travelers protect the environment, adapt to climate change, preserve cultural heritage and more. This week, STI awarded their first-ever, Gold-Level Eco-Certification to a cruise line, honoring Royal Caribbean International for attractions and tour operations at their island in the Bahamas, CocoCay.
Encouraging green travel, STI awards certification for businesses that are engaged in responsible travel practices that focus on economic, socio-cultural and environmental sustainability.
CocoCay is the first operation of its kind to receive the certification, which rates on-island tours, island operations, workplace practices, guest communications and environmental management policies. Rated by an expert third-party, independent of Sustainable Travel International and Royal Caribbean, the CocoCay operation demonstrated an ability to successfully apply its at-sea sustainability initiatives to its on-shore operations.But Royal Caribbean did not just get lucky. Winning the award took a global focus, much like we saw when sailing to their private destination of Labadee in Haiti, just after the major earthquake of a few years ago. Then, Royal Caribbean was self-charged to deliver thousands of pounds of food and supplies to the devastated island, which was also home to resident Royal Caribbean employees who work at Labadee when ships come calling.
“Royal Caribbean developed a very thorough, attainable action plan, designed to implement higher levels of sustainability over time,” said Robert Chappell, Sustainable Travel International’s Senior Director of Standards and Certification in a press release.
Will more cruise lines follow Royal Caribbean and work to get their own private islands certified green and sustainable? Probably. Other cruise lines as well have been working to make a green impact. By recycling cooking oil used on ships as fuel for vehicles on Castaway Cay, Disney Cruise Line is making a difference.
Princess Cruises shore power program made history debuting in environmentally sensitive Juneau, Alaska, in 2001, expanding to Seattle in 2005, and then to Vancouver in 2009. Currently nine of the line’s ships have the capability to “plug in” to a shore-side power source, representing an investment for Princess of nearly $7 million in equipment.
“I’m excited to see them expand their action plan while developing innovative new solutions that are leading the way in the cruise industry,” added Chappell.
STEP is among the first global standards to be formally recognized by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council and Royal Caribbean’s CocoCay is the first cruise line private island to receive the certification.
Want to know more about Sustainable Travel International? Check this video:
“Dancing with the Stars” is one of the most popular television shows on the air right now, teaming celebrity and pro dancers to compete for the coveted mirror ball trophy. Week after week, viewers watch competitions in Tango, Quickstep, Paso Doble and more from the comfort of their own living rooms. Now, Holland America Line is bringing “Dancing with the Stars” to sea on board six theme cruises in 2013 and early 2014.
Featured “Dancing with the Stars” events include dance lessons; a chance to meet the dancers, ask questions and take photos; and a dazzling at-sea production starring celebrities and some of the famed dance pros, complete with glamorous costumes and routines from the TV show.
Cruise travelers on board any one of a series of six sailings will see two-time champion pro dancers Mark Ballas and Kym Johnson. Also along for the ride will be pros Tristan MacManus and Lacey Schwimmer with more dance pros and celebrities to be announced.
Choose from an Eastern Caribbean sailing February 16, 2013, on Holland America’s ms Eurodam, a Canada and New England sailing on June 22 aboard ms Veendam, either June 30 or July 7, 2013, in Alaska on ms Oosterdam or January 5 or 12, 2014, on ms Niew Amsterdam; all are seven-day sailings.Not just on these scheduled theme cruises, every sailing on all 15 ships in the Holland America Line fleet will feature an exclusive Dancing with the Stars program. Included are dance lessons and an opportunity for some lucky guests to dance center stage in an exciting dance-off performance, right on the ship. These special fleet wide activities will feature the ships’ professional dancers and the program will be developed in collaboration with the show’s dancers and choreographers.
Holland America does not have a total lock on dance stars though, Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas this month hosted one themed cruise where guests could Dance With The Stars too. Stacked on top of the regular cruise experience, those on board also got to see a private dance finale performance by star dancers Tony & Chelsie, had dance parties with their fellow guests, Q&A sessions with Tony & Chelsie, photo and autograph sessions, welcome and farewell receptions and a bunch of Cruise with the Dance Stars’ goodies.
Not a big fan of dancing? Here’s more on Dancing With The Stars-
There are two things you can say with certainty about polar explorer Lonnie Dupre. The man is certainly persistent in his pursuits and he has an undeniable affinity for the cold places of our planet. For the third straight year, Dupre has ventured to Denali (also known as Mt. McKinley) in Alaska to attempt a solo summit of the mountain in January – the coldest, darkest and harshest time of year on that unforgiving peak.
With a height of 20,320 feet, Denali is the tallest mountain in North America and a difficult climb under the best of conditions. Only 16 climbers have ever managed to reach its summit during the winter and none were able to accomplish that feat in January when temperatures routinely fall below -60°F and high winds pummel the mountain’s upper slopes. As if those conditions weren’t difficult enough, blizzards can rage for days, depositing heavy snow across the mountain and creating potentially deadly avalanches as well. In short, it is pretty much one of the most inhospitable places on the planet at the moment.
Dupre, who has visited the North Pole on two separate occasions and navigated the length of the Northwest Passage by dogsled, is clearly unphased by these challenges. As in years past, he is climbing with just the bare essential gear and supplies in an attempt to move as fast as possible. He hasn’t even bothered to bring a tent on the expedition choosing instead to dig a series of snow caves that he can use for shelter at various altitudes.Thus far the weather has been less than cooperative once again this season and Dupre spent the better part of the month waiting in the small town of Talkeetna for the skies to clear. Eventually conditions improved just enough for him to catch a flight out to the Kahiltna Glacier. From there, he was able to organize his gear and start the two-day trek to Base Camp, but so far he hasn’t been able to climb any higher than 8800 feet. A heavy storm has fallen across the region and according to Dupre’s support team at home, more than 7 feet of snow has fallen on his position in the past few days. That has made it impossible for him to climb any higher, as visibility as been reduced to almost nothing.
For now, our intrepid climber sits and waits for conditions to improve to see if he can actually make a serious attempt at the summit. In 2011 he was able to get as high as 17,200 feet and last year he reached 15,400 feet before being forced to turn back. Perhaps this time he is getting the bad weather out of the way early and it will clear up later in the month. Temperatures haven’t been nearly as bad as they were on his previous attempts either, so that is a promising sign for possible success should the snow ever stop falling.
Dupre is documenting his climb with the hopes of making a film about his adventure. But rather than wait for that film to be released down the line, you can follow his progress on his website now.