Whetting appetites for winter wonders.

• Author: Hill, Robein Mackey
• Position: Know Alaska - Cover Story

Tour operators and visitor industry promoters see untapped potential in the Interior's cold-season attractions.

Eleven German visitors, including a secretary and an electrician, spent a day in Fort Yukon running dogs and snow-machines along the frozen Yukon River, meeting local residents and learning a bit about the Interior village's Athabascan history. So taken were they with the village and its residents that they told tour operator Pat Walsh they wished the trip had included an overnight stay.

"Our charm in Alaska is winter," says Walsh, owner of Van Go Custom Tours of Fairbanks. "With winter tourism, there's so much you can do with a little preparation."

A closer look at the Germans' February itinerary proves her right. With a hunger for the unusual, a little planning and the right clothes, there's plenty to do in Interior Alaska come winter. In addition to visiting Fort Yukon, a 50-minute flight from Fairbanks, the group of German visitors spent much of its time following the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.

The visitors attended the prerace banquet and mushers' drawing and were at the starting line when the teams and their drivers set off for Whitehorse. The group then followed the race and visited several check points along the road system. At one stop, the tourists met Iditarod champion Rick Swenson. They also had lunch with longtime musher Mary Shields and dinner with a third musher who graciously answered their questions.

The visitors spent a night at Circle Hot Springs and, rounding out the trip's mushing theme, visited a sprint-dog kennel. All in seven days.

Walsh, who has lived in Fairbanks since 1980 and has run tours since 1990, is convinced that there is a viable market for off-season tourism in the Interior. Agreeing with her are officials with the state Division of Tourism and the Tanana Chiefs Conference, an organization representing remote Native villages, as well as other businesses that cater to visitors.

"Business is up. It's better. There's no question about it," says Cliff Rousell, executive director of the Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau. "Things are really taking off here."

Fairbanks economic consultant Renee Patten concurs: "I think the potential's there, in terms of activities and events and facilities. The small-tour providers are here and very viable."

Bill Elander is chairman of the Alaska Tourism Marketing Council's Fall/Winter/Spring Committee, a group that has for several years looked at...