Skiland
| Skiland (aka Mt. Aurora) | |
|---|---|
  Skiland (aka Mt. Aurora) Location of the Skiland ski area in Alaska | |
| Coordinates: 65°02′56″N 147°24′33″W / 65.04889°N 147.40917°WCoordinates: 65°02′56″N 147°24′33″W / 65.04889°N 147.40917°W | |
| Countries | United States |
| State | Alaska |
| Borough | Fairbanks North Star |
| Area code(s) | 907 |
Skiland is a lift-served ski and snowboard area at Cleary Summit on the Steese Highway, 20 miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska. The area has one chairlift, North America's most-northern; it is 3300 feet long and serves 1057 feet of vertical rise. Road access and the lodge are on a barren ridgecrest at an elevation of 2470 feet, overlooking a wooded, north-facing bowl. Skiland is a mom-and-pop style ski area.[1][2]
The ski season typically runs from November into late April, on weekends only. There is no snow-making, and a limited amount of grooming on many runs. Tree and glade skiing opportunities abound. On a least one occasion slopes were re-opened in May after a heavy snowfall. The slopes are patrolled by the National Ski Patrol.
For many years a pair of towropes (upper and lower) serving 900 vertical feet total, and generally operated by volunteers, were the only lift at Skiland. Another lift served ski area, named Cleary Summit, operated less than a mile away with three surface lifts. In the early 1990s the Cleary Summit ski area was closed and abandoned; near the same time the surface tows at Skiland were replaced with the current lift, a double chairlift originally installed at the Silver Star ski area in British Columbia.[3][4]