 Poster: A snowHead
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I’m in Seattle for work in late February and have the option of extending my stay for a few days. Any advice or recommendations on local(ish) places for a few days of skiing fun? I want to minimise my own cost as much as possible so preferably avoid internal flights although willing to be a bit flexible on that.
Thanks!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Alpental and Snoqualmie are fairly close, Stevens Pass a little further
Mt Baker is worth the extra drive
You could reasonably make it to the north shore areas in Vancouver or even up to Whistler without much hassle, I've known people use SeaTac for trips to Whistler rather than Vancouver
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Alpental - easyish drive and true small big mtn terrain. Baker - a must for anyone who claims to be a skier or snowboarder.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Easy as ABC
Alpental, Baker, Crystal
Done all three as day trips from Ballard, Seattle.
The three are very different from each other and all offer excellent skiing.
A real treat to spend the day skiing and then come back to a city for great food, drink and live music.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I went for a day's skiing at Snoqualmie a few years ago while in Seattle with work. Packed my boots in my luggage as I knew I had a spare day. Lovely little ski area. Busy on the nursery slopes, but very quiet beyond those. There was three little areas, and I was quite entertained on the middle one all day. Took about 50 mins from Downtown Seattle on the way and the same on the way back to Kirkland.
One thing, it's all very self contained. There is one ski hire place, this is the same hut as the lift pass office, and they have zero choice of skis other than what length. As always in the states, they were all very friendly and eager to talk to me about the Alps when on lifts and in the lift pass/ski hire room.
To be honest if I had had a couple of days I would have made the 4hr drive to Whistler in a heartbeat. But Snoqualmie was a nice and very different experience to anywhere else I've been.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Here's the low down from a Seattleite now living in Bend, OR.
Close - Alpental/Snoqualmie Pass - http://www.summitatsnoqualmie.com/mountains/alpental Easy drive if it's not snowing from Seattle on I-90. If it's snowing the pass can be a challenge. Have snow tires/chains. Alpy as the locals call it has some serious terrain off the top. Take the Great Scott traverse to the Nash gate into pillow lines and general fun off steep little chutes and drops. Cat track it back to the base and repeat. You can head across the I-90 road to the South side, and make your way East to Hyack. Normally closed mid-week, you can find powder on the weekends. Then start working your way back to Summit West. It's not a big mtn, and skis more like a New England hill. Locals tips - You can knock on the patrol shack at the top of the Edelweiss chair and see if any of the patrollers are willing to take you for a tour. Usually if they aren't too busy, you can get a lap with one of them, and they will show you some of the goods.
Go South toward that big volcano, Mt Rainier, and ski Crystal. https://www.crystalmountainresort.com/ Do a search in the PNW threads, and you will find many of my pics, and snow reports. It's an awesome ski resort. Some of the best lift accessed side country skiing you will ever find in the USA. If it's a mid-week, you won't have too much traffic. If it's a weekend powder day, you will have some major lift lines. Which is when you watch the Chair 2 board at Campbell Basin, and hike up the ridge to access Silver Basin and the King for some epic steep chutes and steep lines. Hit the Snorting Elk for a local brew before heading back to Seattle. It's about 1:45 minutes to 2 hour drive from Seattle.
Go North toward that other volcano, Mt Baker. Known for epic dumpage and ridiculous snow accumulation that just can't be real, until you are looking at 20' walls of snow on the drive up. Again, great off-piste terrain, but hook up with a local and be avy savy and equipped. It's a must! It's a drive from Seattle. And some would argue that just keep going North, and don't stop until you get to Whistler. But depending on when you cross the border, you can be in for a long drive. Can easily be a 6 hour affair to get there.
Go further East. - You can go to Stevens Pass, which is just about 2 hours NE of Seattle. https://www.stevenspass.com/site Will be crowded on weekends. Especially when there's fresh snow. Lots of ski race schools, and kids. But when it's got fresh snow. SP is a great mountain to ski. You have the backside, and you have Cowboy Mtn off of 7th Heaven for some steeps. Or if that's not your thing, you can hit the backside into Mill Valley off the Double Diamond chair and ski some nice intermediate runs, with lots of well spaced out trees under Southern Cross chair.
Skiing in Washington state is definitely a different feel than say, Colorado, or Utah with the big ski resorts. That's not Washington. It's almost a retro vibe. But the locals will be friendly, and if you are skiing solo, you might just ask to tag along, and not be surprised if they show you some of their favorite runs!
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I've been to Mt Baker for a weekend. It's cheap with limited facilities. Usually loads of snow. Piste skiing is limited and some of the lifts are (or at least were in 2013!) old - they don't slow down and don't have safety bars! However, if you want Backcountry skiing - then that's another matter!
Whistler is expensive but with more going on - on and off the slopes.
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All good ideas above. I did Stevens for a few days a few years ago. Stayed in Seattle and drove back and forth. I will avoid doing that again, at least on weekends. The traffic is/was horrendous. Not sure about the other mountains, but that was worse than expected. I was actually there for some back country training, and have a good recommendation if you want to get off the beaten bath. A lot of good BC options from Stevens.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I did this a few years back, I had 2 weeks working in Seattle. I ended up driving up to Whistler for 3 days skiing and it was absolutely the right decision. The drive up there itself is incredible, I think it was 4-5 hours with a few stops to take some pictures. Then 3 days on the slopes of quite possibly the best ski area I've ever been to.
Don't be put off by the length of journey; that part (there and back) absolutely made the trip for me, simply stunning scenery.
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