Winged Boots Interviews: Ryan Sheldon

It’s a distinctly grey Thursday evening in London as I sit down for my interview with Ryan Sheldon, who took the time to chat with me across the pond via the magical medium of Microsoft Teams. Though the wonders of Transatlantic video chat and the busy café in which he is sitting seem distinctly at odds with our subject matter: the secluded and spectacular Sheldon Chalet.

Ryan is friendly, open, and passionate about discussing the unique property that is his family’s legacy. Located in the expansive wilds of Denali National Park, it is perhaps the most remote luxury hotel in the world and takes the idea of a mountain lodge to a new level entirely, being described on the website as: “an exclusive all-inclusive experience like nothing else in Alaska or the world.”

To say the location is incredible is to do it a disservice. Not only is it mind-bogglingly beautiful, but it is an escape in the truest sense of the word: a place where ‘switching off’ isn’t just a buzzy phrase, it’s a necessity. No Wi-Fi, no mobile phone service. This makes it inherently unsuitable for influencers or those unprepared to give themselves over to the wonderful world of the Alaskan wilderness.

Thank you so much for taking the time talk with me today, I know you must be busy.

"No problem, and yeah I have a busy day ahead," he laughs.

I don’t doubt it: he’s a man much in demand both within his role as the hotel’s Experience Director and with nosy interviewers (like me) who want to understand more about one of the world’s most unique accommodation options.

We start at the beginning, because it is the Chalet’s beginning that continues to shape its identity in very real and tangible ways today.

I believe it was your grandfather, Don Sheldon, who pioneered the Sheldon in its first iteration. How would you describe the inspiration behind Sheldon Chalet? What was the vision for it?

"It all starts back in the 1930s when my grandfather, Don Sheldon, was flying around Denali. He came to Alaska in the ‘30s to be a glacier pilot and to survey the Alaska Range in the ‘40s and ‘50s. Alaska wasn’t actually a state yet, and the National Park as we know it today didn’t exist. But flying around, surveying all these landscapes from the air, he felt there was just something so special about this part of the world – and about the Ruth Glacier in particular.

"In those days, you could stake and lay claim to land up to five acres for commercial use. No one can do that anymore, and it means that we have the unique distinction of being the only outright owned land (holding) in the National Park, which was only named as such after my grandfather had already procured the land.

"Initially, it was a place where people could come and enjoy and is now called the Sheldon Nunatak. But the first step that he took in forming what we now consider to be ‘Sheldon Chalet’ wasn’t actually until 1966, when he built what's called the Sheldon Mountain House: A prototype, if you will, to what was later to be built.

"Really, it was a rugged sort of mountain house that attracted adventurers. A place for Mountaineers and whatnot to go and explore the area – and that is still true today. The Sheldon Mountain House serves as a base for explorers in the area and retains its wild spirit.

"Now, there is an important distinction here, because the Chalet (as the kind of luxury exclusive-use hotel we understand it to be today) wasn’t completed until 2018, and sadly my grandfather passed away prematurely back in 1975, so he never got to see his full vision realised."

There’s a sincere dedication, evidenced in Ryan’s comments and throughout the family’s descriptions of the Chalet and its history, to honouring the man who started it all and a genuine commitment to seeing Don Sheldon's vision realised in a way that would make him proud.
 

"With the help of my brothers and I, it was my parents who brought the Chalet to life and made it a viable place to stay for more luxury-seeking guests. They based their designs on the Mountain House and my grandparents’ original plans from the late 1960s – and they got amazingly close to what my grandfather had originally envisioned!"

Invigorated by Ryan’s heartfelt telling and grateful for Teams’ auto transcribe function, as I would not want to miss out any of what is clearly a fascinating, deeply personal history, I ask him:

How would you define Sheldon Chalet?

"It’s a place where you can disconnect from technology and all these things (holding up his phone) that seem to take up space in our lives, so that you can reconnect with those that you're there with. We’re in a unique spot; a place where people can come to seek solitude from the outside world."

What makes someone choose that kind of accommodation option over something more conventional and more accessible?

"Well, it’s that wish to escape the day-to-day, right? Get away from the noise, the pressure, whatever it may be. Spend time with whoever you’re there with, or with yourself, without distraction. We have everybody from business executives, owners of sports teams, and families, all come to do just that.

"You know you can always go find a beach, right? And that's fine and dandy if you wanna go get a tan. At the end of the day, we offer something different. It’s luxury, it’s solitude, it’s wilderness."

Why do you think your grandfather chose a remote location in Alaska? What drove him to such a unique place?

"While being US Alaskans, we don't typically do things that are that easy. We always look for the adventure, which usually means taking the ‘path less travelled’, and maybe making things more difficult for ourselves."

He smiles knowingly at the last comment.

"It's less about it being a remote area. I mean, that's part of it, don't get me wrong, but it's one of those things where there is - quite literally - a different gravity up there and it is indescribable…You're not just looking with your eyes, you're feeling it in your soul."

I, rather ineloquently, reply with a ‘wow’.

What do you look for when you travel?

"I always look for character. You know, you can always go into a Four Seasons – and that's fine, you know what you're going to get. But, for example, one of my favourite hotels in the world is the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, DC. It’s part of a building that used to be a postal service area and a bell tower, so they have this magnificent hotel that's rooted in history right in our nation’s capital. You can go get a drink downstairs in the lobby which has this beautiful glass ceiling, and you can still take the elevator up to the top of the bell tower. You really feel the history here, and stuff like that makes the world go round, in my opinion."

What outdoor activities can guests expect to do while staying at Sheldon Chalet?

"Each season brings its unique challenges and opportunities. In the winter months the glacier is stable enough for us to actually venture into it, so we do this thing called glacial spelunking, which is quite cool. We go into the glaciers, where you can look at these incredible formations of ice. I often think of it like an ‘ice library’ because you can see different layers of ice that have been formed and compressed over 1000 years or more, kind of like books on a shelf. So that's a really, really fun thing to do.

"We can also go out into the Don Sheldon Amphitheater, which was renamed by Congress after my grandfather's passing. We take guests hiking or skiing out there and then the chef comes out and prepares a gourmet picnic, which seems to go down pretty well. There’s also rock climbing in the summer, it just depends how active our clients want to be.

"I come back to the word gravity, but the gravity of that area is just something else. Even just hanging out on the observation deck and having a beverage feels really special. Of course, at the right time of year, you may even see the Northern Lights. That’s probably one of the biggest activities that people come to do, and very moving – albeit not physically!"

So, it's not like you have to be a huge adrenaline seeker to enjoy your time here?

"No, definitely not, we like to think that there is something for every level of activity."

You have a pretty impressive roster of celebrity guests. Are the celebrity endorsements something that is important to you?        

"I get that question a lot. No doubt it’s fun to have celebrities up there, that's totally cool. We're happy to have them as clients, but that is not our main goal. And to be totally honest, when higher profile individuals do come up here, they generally just want to be looked at as people.

"They get people going ‘goo-goo ga-ga’ over them the whole time. That's not what we're about. We're really about a place where people can come to relax and be themselves, without expectation. Lots of NDAs have been signed for that reason, too."

Given the level of privacy you offer, have you ever had any really outlandish requests? 

"It's fascinating that there haven't been any audacious requests. We’ve had some people ask for specific wines or expensive bottles of tequila, but that’s about it. I’m happy to report back, that these people are in fact, normal human beings."

Do you have a favourite spot, either within the Chalet itself or in the immediate surroundings?

"Yeah, absolutely. One of our chief pilots of the company we work with always likes to say “You can fly around and see all these mountains from the air, but when you come inside the Chalet or sit on the observations deck, the magnitude of everything changes and the mountains become so much bigger and larger than life."

"So, my favourite spot to sit would be just inside the door. There’s a little library nook where we have beautiful Eames chairs and you can just sit and look around at all of the cool historical artefacts inside the chalet, and then look out, past the walls of the Chalet at the beautiful, mountainous and glacial terrain. It's two very distinct feelings and themes at the same time and just a really lovely vantage point from which to take it all in."

How would you describe the dining at Sheldon Chalet? 

"We curate a menu prior to each guest’s arrival. We send them a preference sheet that includes everything from dietary restrictions to dietary habits, likes and dislikes, then our chef works from that. There’s never a set menu, we tailor it specifically to each client that sets foot on the glacier. Because we're in the business of ‘exceptional’, and that means a non-preset, ultra-tailored experience."

Sustainability and social responsibility – are these things that are important to you? 

"We prioritise sustainability and environmental responsibility out of necessity. We need to conserve everything that we have up there, while also respecting where we are. We are in a very special place, and even simple things like making water here is a logistical challenge. So, we try to remind people to be conscious of that."

Do you think the way people travel has changed over the last few years?

"Absolutely. People are looking for something special, not just a trip or a vacation in the way we used to think about it, it’s about experiencing something different – something unforgettable."

How do you envisage that 'special something' evolving over the next 10 years?

"We're not going to build anything like a new Chalet, but we are going to continue the family legacy and share it with people for years to come."

And finally, if you had to characterise a stay at Sheldon Chalet in one word, what would it be?

"Extraordinary."

On a drizzly February afternoon in London, I feel like we could all do with a little bit of ‘extraordinary’.