@Matthew39 Wow, where in Alaska? What you should do is search for listings in your area to see how many there are, what nightly prices they are asking and, more importantly, how many reviews they've had as this will be a good indicator of how many reservations they've had. You should also consider how your place could compete with the other listings. Another thing to consider is the availability of vacation rental insurance in your area.
Sounds like you would be an absentee host during the winter months, correct? Who would be there to greet guests, clean and otherwise supervise / manage the listing? Also, would you be renting to guests for short stays or are you looking for monthly rentals?
I've been to Alaska, but only during the summer months so I don't know what the visitor stats are during the winter. One source of information is Airdna.co which lists reservation stats and the number of listing in specific cities.
If you have more questions, feel free to ask. I feel like I've just skimmed the surface of your question!
