Editorial Update, July 6, 2026

In correspondence sent to Turnagain News since initial publication of this story, a Monarch representative indicated that the specific site of the proposed hotel and spa would be outside of the avalanche hazard zone. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. Below is the article originally published.

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By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor

A "global hospitality group" is eyeing land in Girdwood to build an estimated $150 million luxury hotel next to Alyeska Resort, a developer announced Monday at a Land Use Committee meeting.

The group's point person, Nathan Braun, 32, told local residents the "boutique" hotel would have 80 rooms with another 60 for its workers, and that an "alpine coaster"—a type of mountain rollercoaster—could supplement the new resort.

Though he has yet to speak with Pomeroy Lodging, Alyeska's owner, Braun said, "let me make it clear this is not a competition" with the Resort. 

Braun, who is from Brooklyn, said he is working with "Monarch Hospitality Group". The company's website has few details and, though Braun said he has a team of nine people, he would not disclose with whom the group is planning to partner, the names of investors or his company's net worth. He said his group has not developed any hotels and is based out of New York.

As its sole agent, Braun registered Monarch Hospitality Group with the State in late February.

The "Glacier Creek Resort" has a single-page website but is little more than an idea at this point, Braun said, and the area he is targeting, a bench just up-valley of the Alyeska Hotel, is unsurveyed. He said he's only been to Alaska once as a child.

When asked how he chose Girdwood for a hotel, Braun said he is "passionate about travel". "I'm good at geography," he said. "This is what I do."

"I don't know what grabbed me to look at it," he said. "I don't have the right answer. I just thought of it. Is that a good answer for you? 

Read the entire story at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/developer-presents-idea-for-new-boutique-resort-in-girdwood

By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor

A group of 30 teenagers and three adults added 20 tons of gravel to sections of the Iditarod Trail this week—all by the bucketful.

Passing orange buckets in a 600-foot bucket brigade, the city-run "Youth Employment in Parks" team had completed by Thursday much of the middle portion of the Iditarod trail that runs adjacent to Crow Creek Road.

The group added 100-feet of turnpike—gravel beds enclosed by logs—over four days, according to Kyle Kelley, Girdwood's service area manager. 

Kenny Loggins "Danger Zone" riffed from a speaker as the team worked. Seventies and 80s rock is the preferred work music genre, the teen with the speaker said.

Another teen, Annika Linstead, ran with her buckets back and forth along the trail. She'd accrued 12 miles on Wednesday, all of it on climbs and descents from the Middle Iditarod trailhead to the entrance to Anne's Meadow. 

As she paused on the trail Thursday, Linstead examined her watch. "That was 178 flights of stairs yesterday," the Eagle River cross-country runner said. "That was our big day."

The teens are paid for their work, which takes them to parks all over Anchorage. 

Once their project in Girdwood is through, Alaska Trails takes over trail work in Girdwood. 

Local volunteers, meanwhile, completed extensive work this spring maintaining area trails, building bridges, turnpikes and shoveling for drainage. 

See more photos at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/local-trails-get-love-by-the-buckets

By: John Gallup

Girdwood Resident

I’d like to address a neighborhood problem that is getting worse, at least here on Timberline.

We are seeing and unfortunately hearing an increasing number of unlicensed dirt bikes traveling up and down the street. Recently a smaller kid went by with no helmet, and that kind of pushed the issue over the edge for me.

The problem is worse on the weekends, but happens throughout the week as well, especially now that school is out.

I’m conflicted on this issue because growing up in suburban LA we did this kind of thing all the time in our neighborhood, and managed to survive the encounters with curbs, cars, and each other.

Part of the problem is that there isn’t anywhere in Girdwood for off-road motorized recreation, so the roads are the only venue that’s left.

I’ve contacted WPD on this issue and they have suggested that I contact the individuals myself, but at this point I really feel that it is a public safety issue.

Another complication is the arrival of very fast electric bikes, which are quiet but equally unsafe the way some riders use them. Without enforcement the 20 mph speed limit is a joke.

I’d be happy to discuss the establishment of some kind of off-road site in Girdwood for these kids, maybe at the industrial park, but the traffic on Timberline is crazy enough already without adding dirt bikes to the mix.