# Why would anyone voluntarily live in Alaska? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 22, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-voluntarily-live-in-alaska/478358 "2008-12-22T20:17:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jenny\_Linsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Jenny\_Linsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenny_Linsky)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-voluntarily-live-in-alaska/478358/41 "2008-12-28T21:00:04Z")
Weather Underground also predicts ice fog for Monday and Tuesday. Joy. ---
**Author:** ![JackofHearts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8c91f0/32.png) [@JackofHearts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackofHearts)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-voluntarily-live-in-alaska/478358/42 "2008-12-28T23:27:48Z")
I’ve been in Anchorage for almost 3 years. I moved here because the Air Force told me to, but I definitely don’t want to leave anytime soon. I can get to some of the best backcountry skiing in the world in less than an hour. YEah, we sacrifice some of the entertainment options that exist in most large cities, and we are captive to some of the worst, most gouging internet service I’ve ever seen, but the skiing more than makes up for it…as does the abundance of small planes for me to fly or have others fly me in 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-voluntarily-live-in-alaska/478358/43 "2008-12-29T01:28:21Z")
> [@JackofHearts](#): > > I’ve been in Anchorage for almost 3 years. I moved here because the Air Force told me to, but I definitely don’t want to leave anytime soon. I can get to some of the best backcountry skiing in the world in less than an hour. YEah, we sacrifice some of the entertainment options that exist in most large cities, and we are captive to some of the worst, most gouging internet service I’ve ever seen, but the skiing more than makes up for it…as does the abundance of small planes for me to fly or have others fly me in 🙂 Slowest internet speed of all 50 states, I read recently. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-voluntarily-live-in-alaska/478358/44 "2008-12-29T02:29:14Z")
Well you can get [plane-delivered pizza](http://www.boingboing.net/2006/01/08/free-pizza-delivery-.html) (is that still going?). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-voluntarily-live-in-alaska/478358/45 "2008-12-29T16:55:34Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Well you can get [plane-delivered pizza](http://www.boingboing.net/2006/01/08/free-pizza-delivery-.html) (is that still going?). As far as I know, they’re still in business. This is probably the only state where the train will drop you and your gear off in the middle of nowhere and then stop to pick you up when you flag them down. Oh, it’s -8F this morning. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-voluntarily-live-in-alaska/478358/46 "2008-12-29T17:06:18Z")
Did Sno-mobiles make things better? I was up in Canada and they locals told me they sno-mobiled to work and back . ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-voluntarily-live-in-alaska/478358/47 "2008-12-29T17:30:08Z")
Flagging down the train also works in northern Ontario, Canada, for the Polar Bear and Little Bear north of Cochrane, the Bud Car north of Sudbury, and the Algoma Central north of the Soo. The Transcontinental will stop with advanced notice at pre-arranged places north of Sudbury. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-voluntarily-live-in-alaska/478358/48 "2008-12-29T22:01:15Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Did Sno-mobiles make things better? I was up in Canada and they locals told me they sno-mobiled to work and back . _ahem_ We call them “snowmachines” here. Anything else tags you as a Cheechako. Snowmachines to work is not an option in Anchorage, Fairbanks or Juneau. These are functional cities with actual streets and stuff. In the Bush, they are commonly used in winter, and 4-wheelers are commonly used in summer. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-voluntarily-live-in-alaska/478358/49 "2008-12-30T14:58:48Z")
Snowmachines? Not skidoos? Weird. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-voluntarily-live-in-alaska/478358/50 "2008-12-30T15:10:27Z")
My ancestors called em fire breathing snow dragons 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2009, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-voluntarily-live-in-alaska/478358/51 "2009-01-05T22:57:08Z")
Here’s the kind of [people who live in Alaska](http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/stories/010509/new_281024561.shtml): > [@](#): > > After fighting through 50 mph wind gusts with temperatures hanging between 30 and 50 below zero, local musher Colleen Robertia is pretty happy with her recent placement at the Gin Gin 200. > > Robertia, of Kasilof, placed second in the women’s division and third overall, completing the 200-mile course in 38 hours, 28 minutes. > > “It was really good experience,” Robertia said Thursday from Kasilof. “I did well. It was certainly tough and certainly an adrenaline pumper, I never actually slept the entire 200 miles.” Now that’s tough. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-voluntarily-live-in-alaska/478358.md?page=2)