Girdwood is a small valley with a deep bench. In winter, the lifts at Alyeska Resort run from November to April with some of the heaviest snowfall in Alaska. In summer, the same mountain becomes a hiking and downhill-biking park, the rainforest trails at Winner Creek and Virgin Creek Falls fill up with day-trippers from Anchorage, and Crow Pass climbs over the Chugach to Eagle River. The drive-up Portage Glacier and the bore tides on the Turnagain Arm are fifteen minutes further along the highway.