Private Group Aurora Viewing Experience

Alaska Bucket List For months we scoured the internet for when, where, which companies to use and what activities to do. We feel very fortunate in the companies we chose. For seeing the Aurora lights we chose Face the Outdoors. Michael, owner, is fabulous! He had the night scheduled out as much as possible. What I really appreciate about Michael is that he knows the State, he knows how to read the space maps, how to find the best areas to attempt a view and doesn’t quit!!! We first went out to his house that overlooks snow covered fields and quite a ways away from city lights. As he followed the weather calculations the decision was made to hit the road for clearer skies. It took a bit of driving, but we found a site where we had success in seeing the Auroras. Mother Nature wasn’t playing as nice as we had hoped. We did see the formation and some lights. We were excited to see how it all comes into being. Michael’s knowledge of the Aurora’s and Alaska is amazing. Face the Outdoors is not your typical Aurora lights company. Instead of just going to one location and hoping for the best Michael was willing to follow the weather to get us the best experience he could. Michael is quite the artist with his lens, as well. He has some beautiful prints for sale. I am the proud owner of one of his original, beautiful prints. We were in AK for 5 days in January. Was it cold? Oh yeah! But so worth it!!!!

We had booked the Aurora tour with Michael for our first 2nts in Fairbanks. Caught a few glimpses of the lights the first night and nothing to speak of the second night due to cloud cover both nights. Michael was constantly monitoring weather conditions to see if moving to a different location would give a better chance to see the lights, which we tried late into the 2nd night with unfortunate results. While waiting for the lights your are surrounded with the comforts of Michaels home. Multiple sofas, snacks, coffee, tea ,cold beverages, warmth and most importantly the bathroom. I couldnt imagine chasing the lights in a van and standing roadside for 8 hrs with 3 women and no restrooms around. Michael was great helping me set up my camera settings and had camera’s to rent as well. Very friendly and informative on the lights and all things Alaska. We had such an enjoyable experience with Michael on those 2nts lights or not, we decided after talking with him and checking weather forecasts to give it a 3rd try on our last night in fairbanks. Started out quiet as we sat and talked and waited for clouds to clear around 1am ,and at 1:20 am the skies opened up and JACKPOT! The lights were dancing in the skies above us for a couple of hrs as we got a show of a lifetime and thanks to Michael some outstanding pictures to back up our story. Lol A great trip to Fairbanks, topped off with our Aurora experience with Michel. I highly recommend Michael and facetheoutdoors Aurora tour and look forward to having the opportunity to visit Fairbanks and Michael again.

This was my first trip to Alaska, and the one thing I had on my bucket list was being able to see the Northern Lights. Michael was great with communication the day of and arrived for pickup promptly at the hotel. On the way to our location, he even stopped for us to get a scenic photo op. Michael made us all feel welcome in his home, and as a fellow photographer, we were able to create a bond immediately. He took special care to make sure that we got the best possible viewing of the Northern Lights, and keepsake pictures as well. 5 out of 5 stars. Trust me, you're in great hands!