A fantastic experience — wild Alaska at its best.

Noeleen F.
Root Glacier Hike
2014

Having never spent a full night in a tent before, you’d imagine it a big task for me to flawlessly enjoy my first experience, particularly in such a remote place. Such was the level of service and comprehensive provision of equipment that I traveled with only hand luggage. Our trip was tailored before and during the trip as we wanted to encompass all in the trip description, as well as mushrooming, hiking a rockslide, an extended period of time on the glacier, time to do our own walking, and dressing up as pirates. It really was a lifetime experience, and if I never find myself returning to the area, I can rest content having seen as much as I could in a week and in the best possible way.

Kyle S.
Grand Alaska Adventure
2010

Copper Oar and St. Elias Alpine Guides exceeded my expectations. They helped me fulfill my dream of plein air painting on an extended wilderness trip. Their high level of professionalism, knowledge, and skill coupled with the right equipment led to a safe, comfortable trip.

I enjoyed my guides’ and fellow travelers good cheer, humor, companionship, not to mention the tasty meals. I am planning on returning for more adventures with St. Elias and Copper Oar.

Jackie B.
Copper River
2012

Both Dale and Allison was absolutely fantastic from start to finish. They made us feel very safe in the rafts, their cooking and organizational skills were amazing, they were extremely hard working and great hosts and were lot of fun. 10 out of 10.

Nick & Tanya H..
Alaska River Journey
2012

The Food Was GREAT! It was well prepared, plenty of variety, very filling. I’d say we were well taken care of! Day time snacks and lunches were well timed and filling. Breakfast was a treat and dinners were always a surprise and a great affair.

Bill G.
Copper River
2012

We wanted to tell you straight away how much we have enjoyed the Source to the Sea trip. The trip was a tremendous success for us due to the skill, professionalism, knowledge, commitment and humor of Kevin and Carleton. We had a really fantastic time and learnt a great deal about the wilderness we travelled through from them both. We will remember them and the rest of the crew for a very long time. There were moments of seriousness and quietness which we enjoyed of course but it feels as if we laughed and sang our way down those marvelous rivers. Many many thanks.

John K.
Source to Sea
2007

Our family of 4 (kids aged 8 and 11) did a 3day/2night wilderness rafting trip with Copper Oar that was fantastic. Top notch all the way. We’ve done multiday rafting trips in Utah and Idaho before and the trip we took in Alaska compared very well to those trips and had a completely diffferent feel to it.

Well worth the money. We started by flying in a bush plane from Chitina to McCarthy and an overnight in McCarthy (which was a great experience in itself! Loved the amazing tasting menu restaurant there!) We put in in McCarthy just down river from the Kennicott glacier and ended up in Chitina after 3 days on the river. We didn’t see a single person the whole time, just a bear, a couple of moose and lots of bald eagles. Great bouncy water the first day then smooth floats the second and third day and the water volume increased and the river bed spread out.

We camped at two different spots on the river and were fed great meals by our guides Jules and Dale. Oddly enough, the camping was one of the highlights. It was so serene to be out in the middle of nowhere watching the sun set (sort of) and the rise (again, sort of) with craggy mountains and huge vistas all around us. We had fun spotting bear tracks (black and brown) and moose tracks. The gear provided to us was great and handled the cold nights well — I never felt cold.

Our kids LOVED the whole experience and we’d all go back in a heartbeat and do another trip with Copper Oar. The rafting was a wonderful way to get away from everybody else and experience Alaska in a very intimate and awe inspiring way.

Nicola W.
Alaska River Journey
2010

The tour was outstanding by any/all measures – story telling, knowledge of the facts and information, attention to safety, etc. I was really impressed by [the guide’s] level of knowledge of the site, the overall operations, the specific functions of the buildings we toured, and the equipment we looked at.

Rebecca T.
Kennecott Mill Tour
2014

Thank you so much for the Copper river trip. It was fabulous. The guides were the best I have ever been with. I’ve done a lot of river trips and this was the best!

N. Magee
Copper River
2004

Copper Oar gave us an unforgettable experience exploring the incredible Wrangell St Elias NP – a trip which I would have no hesitation flying halfway around the world for again. I can’t recommend them highly enough.

Nicole G.
Alaska River Journey
2012