A Railtrip to Anchorage with the World’s Best Female Jibbers – Part 2

"This is the end of the road." – Leanne Pelosi

About an hour outside Anchorage, Alaska, lies the completely random port town of Whittier. To get to it you have to drive through a 2km single lane, dirt exposed, tunnel that goes directly under a mountain. The hairs on the back of your neck stand straight up, as you sense an otherworldly presence, probably from the numerous lives that were likely lost in the tunnel’s creation.

Whittier is a surreal town, where the majority of its residents reside in a single dingy building. The few stores, ice cream parlors and the combined pub/general store/motel all look like they were transported from a 1970’s fishing town. It is here, in Wittier that lies the infamous Buckner building.

Danyale Patterson

The Buckner building was built in 1953, at the height of the Cold War. The sole building housed Whittier’s entire population along with the theatre, a bowling alley, and even the local jail. It was a safe house for hundreds of soldiers and their families, but because of a devastating tsunami the military did a full evacuation in 1964. The Buckner building, due to a potentially dangerous amount of asbestos, was then left to decay. Now, snowboarders, skiers, and even snowmobilers frequent the possibly haunted Buckner building as a ‘safe zone’ for jibbing, far away from the angry residents, cops and security guards of Anchorage.

Team work!

We rolled into Wittier and the Buckner building with grandiose ideas of vintage and historic backgrounds, popping against the contemporary riders and new-age photo angles. What we got was just that. Hana Beaman and Leanne Pelosi absolutely destroyed a massive double roof drop in peace. The only disturbance was from the town’s load speaker; an eerie alarm siren followed by a monotone voice, that at first we assumed was kicking us out, but in fact, was just informing the town that the siren was merely a test. This was definitely one of the creepiest locations I, and the girls, had ever been to, and it was such a nice change.

Leanne Pelosi boosting

But, no trip to any remote city, especially an Alaskan one, is complete without a visit to the local strip-club. And clearly, it is the first place that a crew of female snowboarders wanted to head after a couple long weeks scoping, riding and shooting. Not quite, but what better way to thank the sole male filmer on the trip, than with a truly memorable lap-dance courtesy of Candy Pole. It was an extremely classy way to end off a ridiculous and amazing trip, with such a rad and talented group of ladies.
 

That's a wrap!

Check out Part One of the story HERE