The 7 wonders of Alaska

The 7 wonders of Alaska

Earlier this year we gave our ideas for the Seven Wonders of Anchorage and invited readers to make their own nominations.The rules were that it had to be man-made and somewhere in the Anchorage Bowl Here now are our picks, in no particular order, for The Seven Wonders of Alaska - that is to say, everywhere except the Anchorage Bowl.

1. Trans-Alaska oil Pipeline

Location: All the way from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, in more or less a straight line
Eight hundred miles of insulated stainless steel slinking across the wilderness, it's said to be the biggest construction project since the Great Wall of China. Some find it pretty, others consider it an eyesore. Who cares? The caribou like it. And it's made us all rich!

2. The Hotel at Alyeska

Location: Girdwood
Without a doubt the Pacific Coast's poshest accommodations north of Vancouver, British Columbia, this handsome chateau features stunning views, luxury spa and meeting facilities, good restaurants - one tethered to the main building by a breathtaking gondola ride - and elegantly maintained grounds. Oh, and there's skiing nearby. While its name has shifted through various incarnations, periodic difficulties in filling all 304 luxury guest rooms have led some staff members to bestow on it the nickname "Gormenghast" after a fictional sprawling and mostly vacant castle.

3. Colossal Claus

Location: North Pole, Mile 349.5 Richardson Highway
This looming fiberglass statue, list in hand, has greeted good boys and girls as they arrive at Santa Claus House in (where else?) North Pole, just south of Fairbanks since 1983. At 900 pounds, 42 feet tall, with a 33-foot waist, it's billed as "The World's Largest Santa." Three were made in the 1960s. This one stood for a while in Seattle and Anchorage before settling in North Pole, and appears to be the last one standing.

4. The Tomb of Captain America

Location: Red Dog Mine port facility
This quarter-mile-long building hoards tons of ore from Cominco's Red Dog Mine near Kotzebue, until breakup makes it possible for ships to ­carry out the treasure of lead and zinc. The paint job gave it the entertaining nickname

5. Kennecott Mine

Location: Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve
The looming structures of a once-booming mine, abandoned since 1938, are not only a monument to the time when mills, miners and engineers worked around the clock, digging and sorting the copper that helped America win World War I. They're also a testament to the enduring quality of lead-based paint.

6. Igloo City

Location: Mile 188.5 Parks Highway
Wouldn't it be fun to spend the night in a multistory concrete igloo? That was the idea behind this resort and gas station. Alas, the builders ran out of money before it was complete; some say state regs demanded an exterior fire escape which offended the owner's sense of design. So there it sits.