Girdwood, Anchorage, Alaska

Girdwood is an unincorporated year-round ski resort community within the Municipality of Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska. It lies in a valley in the Chugach Mountains near the end of the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet, 38 miles (61 km) southeast of Anchorage proper.

It is surrounded by seven permanent glaciers. Summer activities include hiking, fishing and rafting, but Girdwood is best known for winter skiing and snowboarding at Alyeska Resort on Mount Alyeska. Girdwood also hosts the Girdwood Forest Fair every summer. Girdwood has the northernmost rain forest in the world.

History

Originally called "Glacier City", Girdwood was founded as a supply camp for placer gold miners with claims along the creeks feeding Turnagain Arm. It was renamed for Colonel James Girdwood, a Belfast-born, Scots-Irish entrepreneur and linen merchant who staked the first four gold claims along Crow Creek in 1896.

Ted Steven's Girdwood home is a fairly typical example of a home in Girdwood

The town was moved 2.5 miles (4 km) up the valley after the devastating Good Friday Earthquake of 1964, when the land under the original townsite subsided into Turnagain Arm, putting much of the town below high tide. The land has not all since been reclaimed, as one can still see 'drowned' cabins in the marshy areas where the city formerly extended.

Girdwood was incorporated as a city in 1970 and became part of the Municipality of Anchorage when the Greater Anchorage Area Borough unified with the city of Anchorage in 1975. The town has served as a backdrop for at least two films: The Chechahcos, a 1924 silent film about the Klondike Gold Rush, and Warren Miller's 1997 Snowriders II. Girdwood was the home of Alaska's former senior U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, and Girdwood found itself in the media spotlight when the construction projects on Stevens' home became the subject of a federal investigation. Olympic gold and silver medal-winning skier Tommy Moe also hails from Girdwood.

Girdwood was shown on CBS on January 20, 2008, as the Finish Line for The Amazing Race 12.

In July 2009, Hosteling USA (part of Hostelling International) opened a 35 bed youth hostel in Girdwood.

External links

• Girdwood Information and Pictures
• Social Community - Member submitted Girdwood Images