I visited Valdez on a cruise ship stop once. It was a tiny town in very desolate country. The only real landmark we could find for pictures was the post office. The people there were wonderful.
I flew in from Anchorage for work a few times. A few times we flew near, circled around trying for a break in the clouds, gave up and flew back.
The amount of snow fall they get is simply amazing, average annual snowfall of 360 inches. And just a little north of that in Thompson Pass gets 551.5 inches of snow per year on average.
I lived in Valdez for 3 years during the building of the pipeline and terminal. You’re right about desolate, but my oh my, it is so beautiful! The snow in winter was so high Alyeska sent cherry pickers (?) to pull it off the roofs. We couldn’t see out the windows after a snowstorm until the heat of the house melted it away...then we could stand right at the window and look up and see the sky. The darkness in winter was a drag, but the long hours of sunlight in summer were wonderful for doing things with the kids after work. I loved living there...except for the extreme cold!