 Poster: A snowHead
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I may have the opportunity to visit Seattle in March 09 and wondered if anyone has any recommendations for weekend skiing nearby.
I have skied a fair bit on piste in the 3V.
Is the skiing near Seattle damp like Whistler or drier like Lake Louise?
Any advice welcomed.
Many 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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MT Baker
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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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i'll watch this with interest as we have relatives in Seattle who we keep on promising to visit... maybe next year!
a quick search brought up this list
http://skicentral.com/washington.html
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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You have several options. They are all relatively small resorts, and almost exclusively day use areas rather that destination resorts. Don’t let that put you off, though, because there is some fantastic skiing to be had. Your options (I have not been to all) from north to south:
Mt. Baker: I’ve never been here, so I’ll keep it brief. It holds the world record for snowfall in a year. The piste skiing may be limited, or maybe that’s just a false impression I have because the focus is obviously on skiing the deep stuff. It’s about a 3.5 hour drive from Seattle.
Stevens Pass: There’s actually some really nice terrain here, just not loads of it. The snow is also often a little dryer than the other resorts thanks to being a tad bit farther east and a little higher. I’d say it’s a little over a 2 hour drive from Seattle.
Snoqualmie Pass: Broken up into four pretty small areas, all of which you can forget other than Alpental. The elevation is quite low, and in the ten years or so that I skied there regularly, I remember it raining more than ever snowing. Alpental is tiny, but has some great expert terrain, and the backcountry access is supposed to very good (never tried it myself). The night skiing operation is huge, though, so it’s a good option if you can get away for an evening. And it’s only about an hour from Seattle.
Crystal Mountain: In my experience by far the best resort in Washington (admitting that I have never been to Mt. Baker). It has the largest vertical and by far the most acreage. The ungroomed runs are excellent, but I think the groomers are also very good (and somewhat underrated because of the focus on the steep and deep). Crystal is also the only resort with on-mountain lodging. It’s about a 1.5 hour drive from Seattle.
White Pass and Mission Ridge are a little farther and probably not worth the effort given the other, closer options.
As for the snow, it’s not called Cascade Concrete for nothing. It can be very wet, but on the other hand there is usually a whole lot of it, and it sticks to literally everything in a way that drier snow does not. It is certainly more Whistler than Lake Louise.
The season has been pretty dry and warm, and so far all the resorts are still closed. This says nothing for how it will be in March, of course.
My personal advice, depending on how many days you have, would be to put Crystal at the top of your list, and consider Stevens Pass. If you can get away for an evening, there’s no reason not to hit up Snoqualmie. I’d venture to say that driving to Mt. Baker is not worth the effort for you, but I’m sure others will disagree.
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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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They also have some outstanding xc in the Methow valley www.mvsta.com if you fancy something different and getting away from it all in pristine, beautiful wilderness. I'm off there on Boxing day so parying for snow. Must be the only area in the Northern Hemisphere that doesn't have any !
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Fly to spokane (50 mins) rent a car and then drive up to red (2hrs) just over the Can border, you will not regret it!
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Mission Ridge sits inland of the Cascades and gets drier snow than the others but as ami says not an incredible ski area. Baker great for a day more with gear to hike. Major storm heading in hits my area Fri/Sat with 2' predicted for the Mtns.
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| JimSearle wrote: |
| Fly to spokane (50 mins) rent a car and then drive up to red (2hrs) just over the Can border, you will not regret it! |
Or on a similar theme, 50 min flight to Kelowna + 1 hour drive into the Monashees (Big White or Silver Star). Will be snow sure in March.
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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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Many thanks for the rapid and comprehensive responses to my question - you can always rely on the collective knowledge of the snowheads community!
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Mt Hood in Oregon is great. Either drive or fly/drive via Portland.
Mt Baker is probably the best bet though (but I've not been there in winter).
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Well at last a topic which I think I can answer!!!
I live in Seattle and we ski pretty much all season and have skiied all the main ski areas this side of the Cascades. We buy passes for Crystal and I personally LOVE Crystal however each area has something going for it.
Crystal - Steep and Deep, and if you know where to find it you can ski fresh deep powder all day on a powder day, however it also has excellent groomed runs with lots of challenges depending on what you are looking for. When we first arrived here 5 years ago and had only skiied groomed runs in Europe I found that Crystal was plenty challenging enough for me for a long while.
Snoqualmie, personally I like Alpental best BUT it really isn't much cop if you are into groomers, its really only the lower part of the mtn that is groomed, and that can get pretty boring after a while, but for an afternoon or one day it is fine. The other thing to do is to start at Summit west and ski all the way over to Summit East and back, Central has some great groomed runs through trees etc and again this could easily keep you entertained for a day.
Stevens, if you are staying in the North end of Seattle, or near Everett then you HAVE to go to Steven's, I really like it there and there groomers are great and there is plenty to ski for a few days, especially if the backside is open.
Baker - Well is in another world, if its dumping watch out because Baker gets SO much snow!!! it is mainly known for its backcountry and the inbounds can be really quiet as once everyone rides the lift up they all disappear out of bounds.... which makes for a nice quiet day on a very low key mountain, there is no glitz about Baker, its a locals mountain and definately has the feel of that about it, I love it there and have had many a GREAT day skiing there and also many a STORMY day there too.
Don't expect to see much sunshine if you come to ski here, (if its a normal season) but DO expect to see ALOT of snow (again if its a normal season). We had friends come over last year from the UK and it dumped so much while they were here they actually complained that there was too much snow  is that possible!!!! I guess so if your not used to it.
So enjoy it if you come - I am looking forward to our first big storm of the year tomorrow and will doing my snow dance for many more to follow. Roll on Saturday let get up an at'em!!!!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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So any recommendations to stay in/near Stevens? It seems that you can stay in Skykomish, but I don't even think there's a restaurant there, not to mind a bar -- is this true? We could stay at Leavenworth ("herzlich wilkommen" -- nice) but it's 40 miles away -- may as well stay in Seattle...
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If you want anything even remotely resembling nightlife, let alone a bar or two worth going to, stay in Leavenworth (or Wenatchee). Or stay in Seattle. Anything else will be dead quiet. The Leavenworth Bavarian theme is absurb, but it's actually a decent town to stay in.
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You know it makes sense.
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the trick with skiing in the Cascades is to decide where to go based on the weather/snow forecast. Bear in mind, the weather is wild in this part of the world, but there's some great skiing to be had, and a truly enormous amount of snow falls. Early march is when the crowds are starting to subside, so from that perspective, all options are open. Personally, I think Crystal is by far best the best ski hill in Washington - great terrain, extensive off-piste, and steep, so I'd keep my eye on it and go there if weather/snow looks good. There's plenty of basic accommodation at the base, which in early March you should be able to book a couple of days before easy. You won't even get close to exploring all in Crystal in 2 days ... and the Snorting Elk is an epic ski bar.
I'm at Mt Hood right now and my drinking buddy lives in Sultan near to Stevens Pass (his local hill). He says if you want to ski there, stay in Leavenworth. it's a very cute quitschy town. You could do a day at Stevens and day at Mission if conditions are decent. I like Mission a lot and go there frequently - some lovely terrain and always deserted ....
Some stuff on Mission - http://gortonator.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!AF2DD3CC35CC7ADF!836.entry
and Crystal from last spring - http://gortonator.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!AF2DD3CC35CC7ADF!1957.entry
have fun
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Quick followup in case anyone ever re-reads this thread. You can stay in Skykomish. But don't.
+ Cascadia inn is reasonably characterful if basic
- Sky motel has scary shiny damp nylon sheets.
- Train comes in at midnight and 5AM, blows horn for long 1-minute blasts.
- The Whistling Post bar has somewhat unusual locals, not too keen on our "east coast" accents. (i.e. english/irish accents are assumed to be US east coast)..
- You still need to drive to the skiing, 15 mins rather than 30.
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Poster: A snowHead
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awf, warned ya! Leavenworth is well worth the extra drive 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Skykomish: Cool name for a town, but definately not a cool town.
At least you didn't run in to the Hell's Angels.
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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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Another vote for Leavenworth if staying for a couple days.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Another advantage of Leavenworth, as gortonator says, is that you can also get easily to Mission Ridge from there. And if you want to do a day of cross country skiing, there's plenty right in Leavenworth (I believe several of the current nordic national team members are from Leavenworth).
The faux Bavarian thing is a little trying, in my opinion, but it's better than getting skinned by rednecks or bikers.
I've read they're planning on re-opening train service to Leavenworth. The next step to making it a real functional ski base would be to run regular buses up to Steven's Pass. If people from Seattle could take an evening train on Friday and one back early evening on Sunday, it could become a viable weekend destination for people. I hope they do it.
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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 have been to Mt Baker in march, but in 2005 which was the worst year they've had since anybody started bothering to measure such things so didn't see it at it's best, but could certainally see the potential for it to be great - would love to go back sometime to try again.
Mt Baker is drivable from Seattle in a half-day, though if you're doing it in a weekend then you may not have too much time for skiing/riding.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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marmotte farcie, I was in Seattle last year with work and tacked on a 3 day skiing weekend to the end of the trip. After consulting others on here I decided to drive up to Whistler and had an amazing time. Not sure how that will fit in with the Olympics being there in 2010, I guess it depends exactly when in March you'll be there.
The drive up to resort on the Sea to Sky highway is one of the most beautiful settings I've ever seen. And the skiing in resort probablythe best I've experienced anywhere. Its a long drive, for sure, but well, well worth it.
Edit; must learn to read threads properly, just looked at the date of the original post. I'm an idiot.
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Dav, Seattle to Whistler, long drive? you Brits, you ....
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gortonator, I know! When I was there I met some people who had driven up from San Francisco. And one of their friends had joined them by driving to SF from Texas. Crazy.
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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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Dav, helps when gas is cheap, and most roads are empty ...
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