Whittier, Alaska has 22 hours of sunlight in summer and accommodates 700,000 tourists annually. Its 218 residents live in the Begich Towers, a 14-story building with amenities. Whittier is a seasonal city accessible by boat or a single-lane tunnel. It was once part of the transportation route of the Chugach natives.
In the summer, the residents of Whittier, Alaska bask in the sun 22 hours a day. And in the summer months, there’s always something going on to accommodate the 700,000 tourists who visit the town of Prince William Sound each year, about 58 miles (93km) southeast of Anchorage. But during the cold, wet winter, in America’s wettest city (with an average annual precipitation of 197.8 inches or 502.4 cm), Whittier’s approximately 218 permanent residents stay mostly indoors. Almost everyone in the city lives in a single apartment building: the Begich Towers. Along with the residents’ condominiums, the high-rise has everything they could possibly need, including a children’s play area, Methodist church, post office, clinic, two convenience stores, police station, video rental store , city offices and a laundry.
For the most part, a fair-weather city:
The 14-story building, named for Nick Begich, a US congressman presumed to have died in a 1972 plane crash, was originally home to military personnel.
Whittier is a seasonal city, popular with cruise lines. It is accessible by boat or via a single-lane tunnel (traffic direction changes every 30 minutes) through Maynard Mountain, a route connecting Whittier to Anchorage.
The region was once part of the transportation route of the Chugach natives, and the pass was later used by Russian and American explorers and gold prospectors.
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