#7 seems exceptionally appropriate

I think the Bridge to Nowhere would be a nice monument.

Was so hoping that link was going to be full of hot Eskimo...

Sounds like a bunch of ugly industrial crap.

A partially completed hotel shaped like an igloo, and some ugly big ass pipe that's used to ship our oil overseas?

Yeah, sure, excuse me while I make reservations.

Strangely off the list.

They left off the Hogger contests at the Red Dog Saloon in Juneau.

Their list is worthless.

*bob_ross: Was so hoping that link was going to be full of hot Eskimo...

thats because hot 'skimos don't exist, hence, hogger contests instead

#7 Huffing gas

7. We're out of ideas.

Submit your comments below on a 7th Wonder.

I wonder why anybody chooses to live there.

Meatzilla

thats because hot 'skimos don't exist, hence, hogger contests instead


Sad but true. On the other hand, there are some smoking HAWT! half-native gals.

Meatzilla: They left off the Hogger contests at the Red Dog Saloon in Juneau.

Please. The Red Dog is a tourist trap shiathole.

Believe it or not, the pipeline is kinda awesome looking.

//lived in Alaska for 21 years
///not native alaskan
////definatly not " hawt half-native" either

Alaska is a place with natural wonders, not man-made ones.

Wow those pictures were amazing!

I'm going to ahve to go with the 100% full nudity strip clubs in Anchorage. (where all the hottest lower states girls go up to work to make bank off the fisherman returning home from sea)

I'm the ghost of William Seward, so I'm really getting a kick out of these replies...

Hey...I'm suing! I was promised a 7th wonder & adn.com failed to live up to their promise.

..ah actually subby I have (no jk) thank you.

this may just be niave youthful wanderlust but the more I learn about alaska the more I want to move there...libertarian leaning government, you get paid to live there (although I hear it averages from 1-2k a year depending on certain situations), no state income tax (like my current crazy state) massive beautiful wilderness, volcanoes, grizzly's, very loose concealed carrying laws, the auroa borealis (sp? too lazy to look it up), certain parts have the crazy..month of daylight and the reverse no (full) sunlight.

...all cool stuff in my book. It keeps looking more and more like the promised land. So is it worth it? any alaskan farkers who moved there or live there care to chime in? I'm seriously asking because I know several people who dreamed of moving there did so and haven't looked back...as far as I can tell I may want to follow their example.

macker: I'm going to ahve to go with the 100% full nudity strip clubs in Anchorage. (where all the hottest lower states girls go up to work to make bank off the fisherman returning home from sea)

this

WDFark think for a second: certain parts have the crazy..month of daylight and the reverse no (full) sunlight.

Not as cool as it sounds. Trust me.

puffy999: Alaska is a place with natural wonders, not man-made ones.

This.

I've been there a few times and my sister lives there. The cities/towns are generally awful (Anchorage is a pretty dismal place), but the forests and mountains are amazing.

/couldn't access the list anyway because I blocked cookies

WDFark think for a second: .So is it worth it? any alaskan farkers who moved there or live there care to chime in?

Is it worth it? Depends. You like snow, rain, cold and long nights? Alaska isn't a promised land by any means. That check we get every year (which is not paid for by taxes, thank you very much) ranges from $700.00 to $1,600.00 per person. Not enough to live on. Alaska is very conservative, very pro privacy, and very religious. (Not as bad as the Bible Belt, but still...) The job market isn't the best.

I lived here as a kid and moved back as an adult because I couldn't stand California any more. Between the sheer number of people and my allergies I had had it. I like it here. But I like trees and wild animals and the fact that you can breathe the air.

It's a good idea to have a place to crash and a job prospect before you come. And make sure you have enough money to go back home. You might not like it here.

WDFark think for a second

I don't live there any more, but I was born there, and I've probably spent more time in the state than almost anyone else here. 26 years.

Don't believe the hype. Libertarian gov't? Nope. Unless your definition of Libertarian is just "I don't want to pay taxes" (and you wouldn't be the first) then the whole "last frontier" days are long gone. It's not big brother, not compared to places like NYC or LA, but the idea that you can just do anything you want and no one's going to blink are over. It used to be like that, but progess comes with it's own price.

The ccw stuff is true though - a $140 class, and you're good.

The "pay" is directly related to the overall economy. When the economy is going good, the checks can go up to $1700 (like in the late 90s). When things are bad, it can be as low as $400 (like in the 80s). You have to live there for a few years before you're eligible too.

And watch out for the moose. Everyone thinks bears are dangerous, but I've never had a problem with them. Moose, on the other hand, will dart through traffic, jump a fence, and circle around a building to get at you if the mood strikes them. When I was a kid they used to kill a tourist or two every few years, because tourists didn't know enough to play dead. If you keep moving, the moose keeps stomping. I've had ribs cracked, and gotten some pretty good concussions from those bastards.


But it IS really damn beautiful. There isn't anything that looks quite like AK. But those winters can be miserable. They're not that cold, plenty of places in the lower 48 get colder. But the winter is LONG. Six months of winter is pretty common, and I've seen snow on the ground for as long as almost eight months straight, and that was in Anchorage.

The light thing is cool sometimes, but I (and the rest of my friends who left with me) are all lifelong insomniacs. Get used to drinking yourself to sleep, because your circadians will take a beating out there.

bargled
Not as cool as it sounds. Trust me.

that was something that had concerned me. I am a bit of a night owl but I do know the whole day/night rythum is pretty much built into us as human beings and i was talking to an ex about this few days ago in fact and we both want to move out of Fl eventually to a more rural state and I mentioned alaska and she thought the whole messing with normal daylight hours would suck. Does it effect sleep? how accurate are the potrayls in films such as Insomnia? I've heard that it doesn't stay completely dark..again depending upon where one is near the arctic circle, but it might get near twilight around noon for a month or so then slowly go back to normal then the reverse. I know because of Melatonin in the body we react to light physically and that can effect sleep, mood, mental abilities etc. I do want to experience it at least once before I die, although I suspect I'll end up thinking it sucks after a few days.

The next day, Fark overwhelmingly nominated Chilkoot Charlie's for number 7.

Chit, they can't write a better list of great things about their own gaddam state?!?

I've been there only twice and I can think of dozens of better wonders there.
None of them man made...

/Rafted 3 weeks on the Alsek river this past August. Drove home to Denver from Haines.
//The pipeline is a booger compared to icebergs.

the_cnidarian: 7. We're out of ideas.

Submit your comments below on a 7th Wonder.

I wonder why anybody chooses to live there.

Well it's like any state. You are THERE. The lower 48 is rather easy to move around, by comparison. AK and HI present their own issues when you want to get the fark out. Lots of people where already there. But you knew about the Inuits and Polynesians right?

Ed Grubermann

You like snow, rain, cold and long nights?


The funny thing is, I miss the rain. You go out to beluga point in late August, just when things are starting to get really cold, and with the wind roaring and the rain beating the hell out of you and everything is a varying shade of gray, and it almost feels like you're standing in front of the abyss.

There's a pretty awesome forest up in Nome that could be nominated for 7th.

/don't live up there
//actually really, really want to

WDFarkAs a lifelong Alaskan, my opinion, and that of almost every Alaska of your planned move is thus:Stay in your own goddamn state.  We don't have a tax base, and all the PFD mooches coming in to live here are just a drain on our infrastructure.  Come and visit in the summertime, sure.  Just please, for the love of God, don't move.  We don't want more people here.    Item #2.      For all the biatching about the amount of taxes we "get" from the feds - 1) you don't have an extremely large (20% of the population) native population living in a permanent welfare state (thanks to the federal goverment) and third world living conditions in the middle of rotting permafrost, 2) you probably don't have as large military presence, especially per capita, 3) and you definitely do not have the amount of federally owned land (50% of the state) "requiring" continual preservation, and 4) you've had a lot more time to develop infrastucture (roads, bridges, etc) for a comparitively minute amount of land.  We've had about 50.  We have two friggin highways in the whole state.  Since the only large town has 0 developable land left (parks do not count), asking for a one mile bridge to a thousand square mile chunk of developable real estate when all other large tracts of developable land are over 50 miles away isn't a lot to ask, is it?  Especially when people like WDFark want to come live here, and start biatching that the only place they can afford to live in a state with all this land is a crappy condo in a slum. 

w..t..f?

This is satire, right? If not:




They got this little thing called Denali.

2. The Hotel at Alyeska

Location: Girdwood

I've stayed at this hotel...actually it's a farking castle. Breathtaking is an understatement. The gondola takes you to the top of a mountain right next to the hotel. The hiking and scenery are amazing. I went through a dozen rolls of film in those two days.

/Oh, the rooms, atmosphere and service are top of the line too. Well worth the money.

What dumb list. Alaska is one of the most beautiful natural places on the Earth, and they made a list of man-made CRAP? Screw you.

I nominate Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn south of Fairbanks. Just because it's fun to say...

gayb: What dumb list. Alaska is one of the most beautiful natural places on the Earth, and they made a list of man-made CRAP? Screw you.

Uh. When listing 7 wonders of the *world*, do they list the natural ones or man-made?

/Sorry if I made you think about it.

#7: Eskimo Pussy.

The links to the pics provided by the article pretty much prove it.

Dawson’s Sour Toe Cocktail.

Well since the bridge to nowhere has already been nominated I'll have to choose something else...

The elephant cage on Elmendorf AFB

Cat F Cat F

That's Canada, not Alaska.

The prime rib at the Turtle Club in Fairbanks.

WDFark think for a second: Does it effect sleep? how accurate are the potrayls in films such as Insomnia?

I loved that movie. Ticked me off to find out that most of it was filmed in British Columbia, but I thought they caught the feel of a small southcentral town really well (reminded me of Valdez, or some parts of Seward). The daylight thing is dead on. In Fairbanks, it basically doesn't get dark from early June to late August. When you're a kid and off school, it's a blast, but when you have to work in the morning it can be a drag. Winter is dark, very dark. You either adapt to it or it messes you up. I grew up in Alaska, and it never bothered me, but a lot of folks get Seasonal Affective Disorder because of it.

They left out the fact that you're allowed to grow pot in your home.

Tom-Servo: #7: Eskimo Pussy.

I don't know but I've been told, that that's mighty cold.

Also, #7 should be Chicagof Island. I watched a PBS special about bears on it a few days ago and it's real purdy.

If only there were some sort of media-rich global platform for sharing pictures of such wonders with the world. Alas, perhaps someday.

WDFark think for a second,

I gotta respond since I was in a similar position once. It was a lifelong dream to come to Alaska and I finally made it happen in 2005. I moved from LA, so consider that when you read the following:

First: Alaska has a big (big!) chip on its shoulder. I don't know why or where it comes from, but every single farking conversation will involve a pissing contest to see who has lived here longest. Of course, "born & raised" trumps anthything else. Sorry! Couldn't force me mum to move here when i was in the womb!

Second: There is no way to prepare yourself for what Alaska is except for an extended visit prior to moving here. I've lived in quite a few places, traveled to many countries, and yet was still amazed at the remoteness of Alaska. I lived in Glennallen for my first two years here. It is on the road system, yet the infrastructure in Alaska is so poor and undeveloped that it is hard to find a place to rent or buy with what you would consider "standard" down south (such as water, power, electricity, plumbing, etc). I found a place but it was not easy.

Third: The Alaska economy is like nothing you will have experienced before. Things are expensive here, but there is also a desperate need for technical/skilled people. If you have some sort of skill, you will do alright. If not, you will be struggling mightily. I guess that could be said of anywhere but it just seems more extreme of a divide up here.

The permanet fund is no reason to move to Alaska.If are the
outdoor type it is glorious.My vote for #7 would be the
Copper River salmon run an awesome thing to see.Loved the
Northern lights and the daylight darkness thing is cool a
full round of golf after 7pm go home and mow the lawn at
midnight.Panning for gold and finding some.The Great Alaskan
Bush Company if youve been there you know what I am saying.
Alaska is a great place.

I noticed Senator Ted Stevens is not on the list.

/that's because he an asshat.../

noneoftheabove: Meatzilla
thats because hot 'skimos don't exist, hence, hogger contests instead
Sad but true. On the other hand, there are some smoking HAWT! half-native gals.

fanbladesaresharp: the_cnidarian: 7. We're out of ideas.

Submit your comments below on a 7th Wonder.

I wonder why anybody chooses to live there.

Well it's like any state. You are THERE. The lower 48 is rather easy to move around, by comparison. AK and HI present their own issues when you want to get the fark out. Lots of people where already there. But you knew about the Inuits and Polynesians right?

Yeah, I knew about the Inuits. Try looking for them in Nunavut. Inupiaq are who live on the north coast of Alaska, Yup'ik on the west coast, Aleut in the southwest, and various Athabascan are the poor bastards that got pushed inland. Din'eh are close relatives of Denaina who had the sense to keep moving.