With a name like Alaska, one would expect the Season 5 top three performer to be prepared for a Canadian winter. When the Battle of the Seasons comes to Calgary and Edmonton this week she aims to be dressed for the weather – whatever that may be.

"It is going to be cold!" she says. "I am going to bring so many fur coats; that is just what I am going to have to do. I pack for every possible [type of] weather. My suitcase is a joke – it’s like a Carrot Top sketch. There will be a speedo and a parka and fur hat. You never know what you are going to get, so I bring it all"

Alaska has been to Calgary before, in 2013 for a PurePride event, and is excited to return.

"I get to do different stuff. I like revisiting places because I usually just do the greatest hits when I go to a city for the first time. Once you get to go a couple of times, you can get a little weirder and more esoteric, which I like since I am really weird and esoteric. I like to try and stop and see places but it depends. Usually it is right in and right out, but whenever I get the chance to hang out and eat some vegetarian food, that is a nice treat for me. If Calgary has some good [vegetarian restaurants] I would like to check them out."

As a fan of the show herself, Alaska is thrilled to be working with – and watching some of – the best drag queens on the planet.

"These are really cool people and really good performers. Any chance I get to see them perform, or be a part of their performances, I am totally down. I am a huge fan of the show, and all these queens, and still fan-girl out. Touring together is fun. Sometimes the bus breaks down and we end up on the interstate for a few hours. There is a terrible video of me, when the bus broke down, and I was freaking out. I had pinkeye and was not in a good mind space. It is a video of me crying in the middle of the interstate. Look it up! Sometimes unexpected things like that happen. We get to room with each other in hotels. I got to room with Phi Phi O’Hara one time and it was really nice. She is a really good roommate."

Alaska and Sharon Needles are one of Drag Race’s most popular couples. Although their romantic relationship has ended they have remained friends, and both will appear at the Calgary and Edmonton performances.

"The show is still airing in reruns and, at the time of the show, we were together. I still get emails from new fans saying you and Sharon are the best couple ever. We haven’t been together for some time now so that is a little weird. People get together and break up. We are still friends and colleagues, and I think it is an interesting story. Everyone has been through a break up and heartache and come out the other side, so I think it is a good story for people going through a hard time that we are both ok and doing well. It is really nice to have so much support from people. Everyone was super nice about it. I never felt like I was alone going through that process. [Working with Sharon] is cool. She is so fun and funny and one of the funniest people I have met in my whole life. We are friends and have a good time."

It is remarkable how drag has changed: from being outcasts performing in bars to legitimate stars doing theatre tours.

"There is certainly a lot more drag queens than there used to be. When I first started it was sort of taboo to be a drag queen, and you were an outcast in the gay community. It was hard to get a date or get laid because you were a drag queen and ‘weird’ and people didn’t get it. Now everybody wants to do drag... That is different and cool. I think the more the merrier. If you feel compelled to put on a wig and heels by all means do it. As for this theatre tour, don’t get me wrong – I started my career in bars and am a total bar queen in my heart. But I love getting to do these bigger venues because the light and sound is on point, and you can make the picture bigger for a bigger audience. I feel like Madonna. It is really cool."

RuPaul’s Drag Race has opened the doors for nearly 100 queens to reach for the brass ring. Many continue to tour the world, but others have disappeared, in some cases due to battles with addiction. Alaska understands the perils of fame, as her own battle with alcohol use affected her early career. Having been sober for a year now, she reflected on the early challenge of fame.

"Right after Drag Race hit, and I was touring, I was taking that money and drinking it away, and not remembering these experiences. It is a once in a lifetime experience and I was using it as a way to feed something I was addicted too. I think it is better to really enjoy it, and live in each moment, and be present. That is what I am doing now, and I am really happy to have had a wake up call. Michelle Visage actually really helped with that. I am really grateful to be going at it from a work perspective. I enjoy going to work, and put a lot into it."

On March 2nd RuPaul’s Drag Race returns to OutTV for its seventh season. Like the other queens GayCalgary has spoken too, Alaska is looking forward to the next set of queens battling for the crown.

"It’s so exciting! I don’t really know any of them. I have worked with Trixie Mattel on New Years. It was nice to get to meet her, and she read me to filth, so we are sisters in the making, and I did a show with Jasmine Masters in Long Beach several months ago. That’s it. I am excited to go into it not knowing what happens or who is in the top, because I don’t know shit so I am very happy. I knew so many of the queens last year – I had either worked with them or was really familiar – so it is cool that it is a fresh season and I am really excited to watch it."

There are just a few days left to get tickets to the Battle of The Seasons. Alaska urges everyone not to miss out, and if you have VIP tickets she looks forward to meeting you.

"It is totally worth it to get the VIP package for Battle of the Seasons. You do get to actually walk up to the painting and touch it, and engage with it, which I think is really cool. And we can take pictures too. I am always down to talk about stuff. People think I am sick of talking about drag but it’s my life. I love talking about it. I love talking with fans and I check my fan page messages. I really like hearing peoples’ stories. Drag Race really touches a lot of people in ways you wouldn’t think it would. A lot of the tickets are gone; if you can still get at ticket you better. It is like Drag Race in concert: your favourite queens in one place in a great venue in a solid, well-produced show. If you like to see men in dresses come on out."