Heading back home

After a long storm that dumped over 5 feet of snow on his camp site nearly covering his igloo, Norio is heading back to Japan.

Lets go Ice skating !

The only thing good about rain in January is that eventually it will freeze and then it is time to break out the skates.

Telluride Mountain Film Tour hits Anchorage

Congratulation! on a job well done at the Telluride Mountain film tour at the Beartooth Theater in Anchorage

over the weekend. We all left there planing our next bike trip across Mongolia,China, Tibet & India.

No Trip would be complete with out stopping at the Fred Myer store to watch a little TV on the way Back to Talkeetna.

Snow report

Beautiful day today so we jumped into the planes to check out how the snow pack weathered the last Storm in the talkeetna mountains on the east side of the valley. surprised to see even at 4200 feet the Snow had been rained on. there was about a four inch crust and when you broke threw it you would be up to your knees.

Busting out of the Hanger

TAT mechanic Sean Rice getting ready to jump into his Stinson to survey the valley

warmed up quite a bit from last week. currently 35 degrees and rain-snow mix.

Yes I said Rain.

winter time project

...2 years after starting to build her experimental airplane ,Danial (TAT pilot/mechanic)was able to sit in the RV-4 for the first time. so far she has spent over 1900 hours working on this plane.

Look out Red Baron!

The intrepid "Sir Wil" is not oft recognized while undercover during secret summer missions... TAT pilots make the best operatives, they fly, they climb, they dress up and glaciers aren't all they know...

Tatum & India's Great Adventures

Tatum & India jumped into the the trusted Cessna 185 known as mighty mouse last summer and headed down to the peninsula in search of the lost key to the gates of Shangri-La which was rumored to be hidden where the ice covered mountains of the Alaska Range meet the Ocean.

Norio's Camp at 5,500' by Mt. McKinley

Keith Nix who did a flightseeing trip on January 5th with Talkeetna Air Taxi sent this message & picture the other day:
"Hello Norio… hope you are warm today :-)
I had the priviledge of flying with Paul (Talkeetna Air) shortly after Noon on 01/05/09 and wanted to share the attached photo I took as we flew over your camp.
While I captured some very nice images of the mountains, this photo will be a favorite to share with friends and family. For me, the photo speaks volumes about a man making his dream become reality, demonstrates bravery and makes a tremendous statement about what a person can accomplish with the right preparation and outdoor skills. Working with Boy Scouts in my home town, I Iook forward to sharing the photo with the Scouts and encourage them to pursue their dreams for adventure.
Great photographs on your website.Thank you for making them available for others to see.
Best wishes for many more beautiful days (and nights) enjoying our Maker's Creation."

Broken tooth

Crimes of the Heart

Thanks to everybody who braved the cold and came out to support Randi last night at the Dramatic Reading and Art Auction .

Small Town with a Big Heart!

seeing double

Putting in a strip up on a river in the Talkeetna mountains last March. 

110 degrees warmer than here

TAT pilot Tyler Westhoff Climbing somewhere obviously way warmer than Talkeetna.

Current temp -28 Fahrenheit

What happened to Steve House's postcard.......

Steve House sent the postcard to ME!!!

NO!! he sent it to ME!!!!!!

Sandra and Lisa's cabin fever exposed!

East side of Moose's Tooth

Bill Billmeiers Trip to the Buckskin Glacier

HydroMonster

TAT pilot Cameron Lawson on route outside of Cookie City, Montana.

Once a month whether you want to or Not!

Rub a dub who the heck is in that tub?

Norio is IN !!

After weeks of waiting for the perfect condition for some aerial work, Norio was inserted into the Alaska range to a secret location only known to a few Americans and a couple thousand Japanese.

He will dig in and live there for the next month waiting for the perfect picture of the northern lights with McKinley in the background.

That is one little bad ass dude!!!!!! :)

coldest day of the year so far

-30 today on the bike ride into work. clear cold@ Dark !

new years 2009

14 Camp Mt. McKinley

To see more of Norio's photos of Northern Lights & Whales: http://www.noriomatsumoto.com/

Name that mountain

Memories of Warmer Days

Check out our Alaska flightseeing trips at http://www.talkeetnaair.com/flightseeing.html

Hold on to your hats!!

strong winds out of the north for the next few days. 50 mile an hour winds threw broad pass today!!

Too Cute

what else can you say?

Book of the month

Talkeetna's choice for best book of the month!!

Thoughts of warmer days.

N8190y hanging out at high lake lodge this past fall.

talkeetnas parade of lights

Sandra and Loomy congratulating each other on a job well done on decorating the plow truck for this years parade

Down but not out !!

Randi making a run for the phone.

who knew an ice climbing trip to the matanuska glacier would end up in over 40,000 dollars in medical bills.

Fundraiser for Randi ,January 9Th, 6:00 pm at the Sheldon Community arts hangar.

sunny and warm ?

lined up and ready to go

Cabin fever

Beaver the cat is all ready climbing the walls and it is not even winter solstice yet !

Mrs. Santa Claus visits TAT

Rebecca, Alaskan pilot, brought fresh home-baked cookies to us today! YAY!

Norio Matsumoto is Here!

Northern Lights Photographer extraordinaire (his photo on the screen behind him) is waiting for clear weather for some McKinley aerials, then he'll head out to build his ice cave in the Alaska Range. This year he plans to stay through mid-February, brrr... Norio has flown with TAT for 10 years, wow. See his photo's at http://www.noriomatsumoto.com/

Next... Cover of the Rolling Stones!

What could be more important than working on Planes?

Answer: Fixing the broken plow truck - in Alaska - mid-winter....

How far can you reach to buck a rivet?

Danial hard at work building an RV-4 - (A sleek - speedy aerobatic experimental aircraft... ooooh...)
She's been working hard since Paul is holding her passport as ransom for completion, ha! As if.

morning sunrise

Warmed up today, 9 above! This is what it looked liked at 9:30 this morning at the Talkeetna Airport. :)

Otter N510PR in bits...

This is what an Otter looks like when it is packed in a "high cube container" to be shipped across the Pacific Ocean! We'll be putting this "Sheila" back together again in Seattle and flying her home~

the S.S. Grizzly

first adventure with the new machine up to the top of Baldy. not bad for a 25 year old snow machine.

TAT's new baby imported from Australia!

Meet our new Otter - N510PR.. Did you know that 510 is the police code for "speeding vehicles"? We are looking for suggestions for a name, anyone that has an idea can e-mail us at: info@talkeetnaair.com

Forced Air Therapy

Our pilots on a fall afternoon paragliding from Mt. Baldy, due East of Talkeetna...

Oh, the life of a pilot.

April 18th flew in to the root canal. Brilliant weather! Climbed Ham and Eggs to the main summit on the 20th. Mostly snice, but overall great conditions. There was a good boot track all the way to the summit. We then climbed Shaken not Stirred on the 22nd. Totally classic route! The conditions could not have been better. We traversed in from the side into a really fun mixed pitch that gained the lower snow field. We beefed up and equalized all the single pin raps so it is all good to go. We were alone on both routes. Don't think that will happen for the rest of the season as it seems there are quite a few more parties coming in every day. Shaken is not the greatest route to be stuck behind another party as this is a real funnel for all the debris. Start very early for both routes, especially Ham and Eggs. there was alot of wet snow avalanches coming down the route in the late afternoon, so climb fast and get off the route early. TAT is the shit! They picked us up early so we could enjoy beer and pizza in town. Will surely fly with ya all next year. Paul is the man!

Cheers,
Matt Horner and Marc Waite

Buckskin Glacier 4/08

Just skied out of the Buckskin (4/15/08). The south fork (Broken Tooth, Bear Tooth, Moose's Tooth) is much drier than last year. We climbed two pitches up a west-facing spindrift gash, what looked like ice was less-than-styrofoam snow and wouldn't take screws. The East Face of the Moose's Tooth looked like it had lots of powder over slabs and didn't inspire confidence. We skied up and down peak 8300 in beautiful snow conditions and weather.
Bill Billmeier and Jared Vilhauer

2008 Climbing Season

Hello all!!
Climbing season has been kicked off. With a few groups in the range we are getting reports of good snow conditions. Much more snow than last year.
We will get updates posted as the groups come out of the range.
We look forward to another great season!
TAT