Just an hour's drive east of Seattle via I-90 lies The Summit at Snoqualmie, or “The Pass,” as locals call it. At 3,000 feet, Snoqualmie is far from the state's highest mountain crossing, but very close to the big city, with plenty of winter recreation for all. One ticket gives you access to four downhill resorts inter-linked by shuttle bus offering a combined 23 chairlifts serving 65 runs across 4,500 acres of mountain-side! Many runs are lighted for night skiing,
www.summit-at-snoqualmie.com. A handful of cozy day lodges serve up food, rentals, and instruction.
Best Western Summit Inn (800-557-7829) offers overnight rooms and packages.
The Summit at Snoqualmie/Hyak Cross Country Center at “The Pass” grooms 55 kilometers of machine-set track for striding and skating; other terrain is open to telemarking. An alpine trails network is served by chairlift, where groomed tracks wind through fir groves into open bowls and up to meadows and views. The center has all the rentals, lessons, food, and gear visitors need.
Near the pass, nearly a dozen state-managed Sno-Parks offer miles of groomed and ungroomed cross-country skiing, and access to snowmobile trails. Snowshoeing is also available. For a guide to Sno-Parks throughout the state, send $4 to Washington State Parks Winter Recreation Office, P.O. Box 42662, Olympia, WA 98504-2662; (360-902-8552),
www.parks.wa.gov.
Snowflake Tubing & Snow Play Center at “The Pass” offers another dimension in snow fun for families, tubing down gentle, snow-covered hills (rentals available). For general information on “The Pass,” call (206-236-PASS).
LOCALS SUGGEST:
- RV skiing? Crystal Mountain offers 42 hook-ups. White Pass grooms 15 kilometers of cross-country trail. Ask about telemarking and snowshoeing at Hogback Mountain in the neighboring Goat Rocks Wilderness.
- More Skiing options: Stevens Pass’ “Seventh Heaven” run for its awesome combination of steep and deep snow.
- Leavenworth is most beautiful under a blanket of snow in December and January.
- Leave the car in Wenatchee and take a free shuttle bus to Mission Ridge.
