Welcome! You picked a good one. The 35Whelen is, I think, one of the best choices available for hunting anything in the lower 48, and will make do nicely in Alaska as well.
Currently, I think Remington is the only major manufacturer chambering rifles for this
cartridge - a shame. Ruger did chamber some model 77 for it, and if you search the
gun auction websites you can find one now & then, sometimes even NIB (new in box). It was not a "custom" order - just weren't many made. One that is available, on a custom order basis, is a Winchester model 70, but it's costly. Check it out on Winchester website (link: http://www.winchester-guns.com/homepage/homepage.htm ).

Edit: Here's link for the custom rifle by Winchester, and appears to still be available in 35Whelen: http://www.winchesterguns.com/prodin...d=900&cat=013C


There isn't a whole lot of ammo to choose from. Remington makes two loads, one with
a 200gr. bullet, and another with 250gr. Federal makes one load, but it's a good one.
It uses a 225gr. Trophy Bonded bullet. That's all there is unless you go with a custom
ammo supplier or roll your own.
As to holding value, the pump is a good gun, but I think the Rem.700 bolt action will be worth more as time goes on. There's two reasons for this. First, pumps are not all that
popular. Second, the Rem. is the CDL version, and chambered for 35Whelen - there won't be that many around, and scarcity makes for greater value in time.
Heck, look at the Ruger now. It was about $400-450 when I had a chance at one years ago in my local gunshop. Now, I see them going for as much as $800-1,000 on the
Internet.
Following are some gun auction links, and links for ammo. Good luck.

GunBroker.com: http://www.gunbroker.com/

AuctionArms: http://www.auctionarms.com/

GunsAmerica: www.gunsamerica.com

Ammo: http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/ctd/default.asp

http://www.cpcartridge.com/index.htm