Alaska Mountaineering & Hiking

I am personally done with buying from AMH. Id rather wait a few days and buy online from websites then deal with the elitist nobs that work here. Ive spent $ 1500 on a new AT setup, buying a set of new DPS Wailer Carbon Skis (1199) and g3 ion bindings over the course of the sales from AMH. I went in to get them mounted and the first guy refused to mount them because I didnt have the «exact» boot, (I purchased mine via Pro-​deal and had not arrived yet) but they sold the exact boot. It wasn’t that he just politely refused. He was completely rude, disrespectful although i just spend $ 450 on bindings. Then a couple weeks past, and i finally get my boots in, I rolled in there on Saturday to get them mounted, everything was fine. Today, they were suppose to be ready after 5pm, unfortunately i had to work at 2:30, so I figured id give them a call and see if they would be ready early, so I could leave the house a little early and get them. If not no big deal, id grab them tomorrow. Well Alfred answer, pops and attitude on the phone. Saying I wrote the ticket up, and told you after 5pm. I tried to de-​escalate the rude situation, and he continues to interrupt me, doesn’t care and just says after 5pm. A little customer service would have gone along way. There was no need for being rude on both occasions, i frankly didn’t care if they were or were not gonna be ready, I just wanted to know what time to leave to head in to work. There is no reason to treat customers like this, especially in a small nitch market that AMH provides. I was going to spend another $ 150 in the store for a new pair of skins but screw that ill take my money elsewhere.
Edit:
So, I work with a certain rescue squadron as maintainer, and we discussed AMH history. There is a general consensus, that AMH consistently produces terrible customer service. Many of them have gone in uniform, multiple times to never to be acknowledged. Which makes multiple people feel, they dislike military (AKA give you that dirty look when u walk in the door)… Honestly, they should be a little friendlier to us, as we are the same organization that spends thousands of dollars in the store to keep the lights on, save your customers when they get into trouble, and just trying to support local business.

I want to like this store but never feel comfortable going in. I always get eyes from the staff suggesting I’m not outdoorsy or cool or whatever enough to be in there. That and they never seem to have what I’m looking for…

I have to confess, I did not buy anything here.
I’m new to town and I’ve been going everywhere looking for local climbs (rock gym, REI, local mountaineering club, etc) and all roads seemed to point to AHM.
These folks were really nice to me and pointed me in the right direction.
I did browse their selection of clothes, and while not a MASSIVE selection, what they did have was quality. I’m picky/​cocky about my gear and much of the clothing that I personally use while climbing in the mountains, was in stock here. They also had some primo brands that I cannot afford and have never before seen in person (Feathered Friends!)
If you’re looking for some serious mountain gear and/​or local knowledge, hit these guys up! If you’re looking to spend $ 60 on a camp chair or looking for a cool jacket to wear to pub, you should probably hit up REI.

Great employees! Nice selection and fair prices.

I’ve been trying to hit all the outdoors stores in town to compare products and prices… by golly it’s hard to do because they’re all different! They all have their specialties and AM&H is no exception. Their strength is their extremely knowledgable staff… these people are HARDCORE hikers and climbers. AM&H is expensive because they sell the best of the best equipment for sure. Not really a place for novices to shop, enless you plan on wasting $ 1000 on a sleeping bag because you have no better way to spend your money. (will you be my friend?)
I was most impressed by their selection of water purification items, which is one of the items I’ve been having a hard time nailing down really legit products. I’m glad to know that once I’ve decided on what I want, a product that WORKS is available right around the corner. Hot diggity I won’t die of dehydration in the wilderness!

Awesome local haunt for outdoor activities. I have heard about this store since moving here. I was told it is «the place to go» to be fitted for equipment. This proved to be exactly the case. I am new to skate skiing and a gentleman coined «boss» spent an hour fitting me and even recommended trails throughout Anchorage to ski for beginners. I am even signed up for a class through the Park system thanks to this gentleman. He was highly informative explaining multiple options thoroughly as he went along. He did not push for the high end items. In addition, the attire they carry is fun and diverse especially in the women’s department. They carry items that I haven’t seen in any other similar store and better prices. They are well staffed and each salesperson seems to be patient, kind and highly informative. Definitely «the place to go»!

I second Colin’s review of «Experts + not crap gear = awesomeness». We were going on a long-​ish backpacking trip and needed some things we forgot/couldn’t bring on a plane (eg: Bear Mace). We have pretty good packs and gear, so what we needed more than anything was insight and advice as we didn’t know if/​how Alaska trekking might be different from WA/​Vancouver BC area/​OR. We received a wealth of information from the experts at Alaska Mountaineering, who never acted salesman-​y by trying to talk us into buying things we wouldn’t actually need. They evaluated our gear and determined that we were all set, answered our questions about Grizzlies (we’re only used to black bears down here!), sent us off with bear mace, a map, and excited smiles on our faces.
Our trip was more amazing than descriptions and photographs can convey, and it began with a stop at AK Mountaineering, which is going to be the ONLY place we recommend to others and go to the next time we are hiking in the area — and there will definitely be a next time!

I really like coming to this store. If I need skis mounted or new socks I usually come here over REI because I like to support local business over chains any day. The staff is always really friendly and knowledgeable on their gear. I like the discount items. Also, the stock doesn’t seem any more expensive than REI.

Experts + not crap gear = awesomeness.
The best thing is these dudes (and Gals) know their shit. They use the lingo. They actually do the sports that you’re researching when you visit them. They will tell you how they use the equipment to help you match your need for certain pieces of equipment. If they don’t know they know the specifics about the equipment they will refer you to some one who does. They wont sell you something you wouldn’t use. I’m actually looking forward to spending more money on ski gear this coming season.

I went in looking for rain-​gear for an outback hiking trip. I asked a few questions and soon realized I was actually getting knowledgeable answers. The sales guy had good questions about what I was going to use the gear for, what my expectations were about features, etc. He showed me a range of about 4 jackets of various brands, had me try them on, and wasn’t at all pushy. I ended up buying a nice coat and rainpants and they performed very well in the über rainy conditions of Denali. As I was getting drenched up in the mountains, I had good thoughts about the sales guy who steered me well back in Anchorage. I would definitely recommend this store for excellent service and good products. This was a refreshing change from the larger stores. If I were back in Anchorage again, I would definitely go back to this store again.

I was looking for a backpack a few years ago. Naturally, I started at REI. The sales guy at REI was great and told me that I should compare backpacks at AMH across the street, too. So I went over. what a great feeling of customer service. AMH salespeople did the same thing asking, «have you checked at REI?» and «which products did you look at?» they recommended similar ones at their store and the pricing was comparable.
Maybe its just in the outdoor-​enthusiast community that hard core products can be bought and sold without competition, without mind games. I bought my backpack at AMH because they were not only very interested in getting me the best product, their store just seems to live in the back country, where corporations and money dont matter. I liked it.

I had a great experience here. The inventory seems to be based on what the staff actually use themselves. So while it’s not a huge selection, you can be sure you’re not going to end up with anything that doesn’t pass the real-​world test.
The second floor is devoted to tents. Staff actually set up the tents with customers so that customers can climb inside to get a feel for them and more importantly so that customers learn how to set the tent up. It’s a lot better than cursing at the instruction booklet when you get it home or, god forbid, when you set up camp the first night of your trip.
I was impressed when I asked about tents specific to bike touring and one of the staff mentioned REI had one where you could wheel your bike into the tent. How often can you remember being told by a small store about a product available at the competing huge chain store within walking distance? (It turned out the REI store only had the tent available online – as I learned after expending no small amount of energy flagging down a salesperson – but my trip was to start early the next morning.)
I had never used a portable stove and the saleslady was extremely helpful, giving me the pros and cons of all my options. I got a demonstration of the stove I was considering when she saw I wasn’t clear how it worked.
If you just want sporty food and non-​mountaineering athletic apparel, well, a larger store like REI has a bigger selection. If you want a helpful staff with a lot of experience and if you want high-​quality gear, this is the place to go.