About us
The great Saint - Our Namesake
In the heart of Alaska’s mountain kingdom one peak reigns supreme: Mount Saint Elias
Our name honors this land of giants and the sentinel among them who rises 18,000 feet directly from the Pacific Ocean. This is a place where superlatives run out, where glaciers wind for 100’s of miles and millions of peaks remain nameless. This is a place far off the beaten path and this is the home and setting of the Great St. Elias Station.
Soft opening in 2026,
The Great St. Elias Station has deep roots in the Wrangells, operating collectively with the legendary Ultima Thule Lodge.
St. Elias Station was conceived, created and is operated by three friends, turned business partners whose paths converged here in Alaska’s wild country: Korin Matter, Ellie Gray, and Zeke Markshausen. Each played a role in shaping Ultima Thule Lodge and other hospitality ventures, and saw a chance to build something of their own—grounded in the same place, but accessible in a new way.
From this passion for sharing this special place comes a wilderness immersion lodge, built by people who live and work here—not by corporate design, but by experience and a long familiarity with this landscape.
A Passion for Wild Places
This place begins with our roots at Ultima Thule Lodge, where our team and family helped build something rare in the world of experiential travel. It set the standard for how we think about time in the wild—intimate, personal, and deeply connected to place. That legacy carries forward here.
Ultima Thule remains small by design, hosting only a handful of guests each week. Over time, we have seen the demand for wilderness exposure grow within the experiential travel industry and recognize a genuine need for more people to experience this landscape in a meaningful way. When the opportunity came to acquire over 30 acres of private land beyond the end of the road, in the small community of McCarthy, we took it, and The Great St. Elias Station was born.
We chose this location for its remoteness, but also for its access. It allows us to build something more robust—modern systems, detailed infrastructure, and a level of comfort that supports longer stays and a wider range of guests, without losing the feeling of being out in it.
Because people who experience a place firsthand are the ones who come to understand it—and the ones most likely to care about what happens to it next.
We believe that people need wild places to connect deeper with themselves and with their fellow man.
The wild exposes you and helps give you a sense of aliveness and with that self assurance you live a fuller life. There are many ways to access wilderness, but this is a uniquely wild place that has a harsh side. We built this lodge to enhance the human experience within the grandeur of extreme wilderness.
We look forward to welcoming you!
Special thanks to our dear friends for the photos you see on this site.
Arturo Polo-Ena - Chasing Alaska
Paul Claus - Ultima Thule
Scott Sporleder
Grace Adams - The Adams Co.
