Skiing in Washington State

[gmcunni]

Just found out i need to be in Redmond WA for 2 days in Feb for meetings. I'd love to hang out for at least 1 day and ski. Looking at a map there doesn't seem to be much near Redmond. Can anyone recommend a place within driving distance of Seattle/Redmond?

This looks to be the closest.

and this place

I've never heard of either.

 

[WWF-VT]

I used to work for a company in Bellevue, WA. Both places are local day trip destinations for people in the area. In Seattle area they may get minimal snow but on the TV weather reports they always give info on snow at the mountain elevations and passes. Connect with a local and ask about which place they prefer. Other option is to extend your stay and head to Whistler....

 

[Beetlenut]

A longer day trip would be Crystal Mountain on the NE side of Mt. Rainer.

 

[ozzy]

After a week at Baker we had our return flight canceled from seatac to boston. We took the extra day and went to Alpental. It's close to Seattle (less than 2 hrs) pretty big and steep. I remember sleeping, if you can call it that, in a subcompact car in the parking lot for a few hrs more so than the skiing. I do remember it being pretty steep though

 

[cbcbd]

Define "close"? How far can you drive or are willing to drive to the area?
Sucky thing about Redmond is that it's not inline with the major highways out and 520 gets some good traffic. Buuut...

Snoqualmie/Alpental is only 1hour from Seattle.
Stevens is about 1h40m
Baker is about 2h30m

Although I haven't been back to ski yet I would guage it too depending on conditions. Snoqualmie/Alpental is the lowest elevation resort so it might get more rain. Stevens is 1K' higher and that makes a big different with the snow.
I'd put Crystal on top of the list though, if you could make it there. The terrain just looks to be so much better than the others.

If you're looking for reports go to Turns All Year to get an idea of conditions and such
http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?board=3.0

 

[cbcbd]

And what car are you going to have out there? The passes sometimes close depending on snow and some cars are required to have snow chains going up to the passes.
Keep an eye on road closures. Just recently Snoqualmie and Stevens Passes were closed and so was 410, the road to Crystal.

 

[gmcunni]

thanks for the info everyone.

Define "close"? How far can you drive or are willing to drive to the area?

my plans are still developing but i'd probably drive out somewhere Friday night, sleep in some cheap place, ski full day and need enough time to drive back to Seattle to grab a red-eye home on Saturday (or Sunday if i extend) night. 2.5 / 3 hours each way is OK with me. i'll probably never find my way back to WA for skiing so I'll suck it up for this trip.

 

[ozzy]

if you could possibly extend your free time and stay/ski two days then go to Baker. It's 3 hrs from seattle. trust me, you wont be dissapointed

 

[gmcunni]

if you could possibly extend your free time and stay/ski two days then go to Baker. It's 3 hrs from seattle. trust me, you wont be dissapointed

cool, i'll keep this in mind when i start booking. Would love to get 2 days in but need to balance time away from home and family.

 

[Danaxxmiller]

A longer day trip would be Crystal Mountain on the NE side of Mt. Rainer.

I use to work at Crystal Mtn one of the best winters of my life. Skiied five days a week. I recommend you go there. Maybe I can get you a free ticket there too you interested?

 

[Edd]

I used to ski at Stevens regularly. A good mountain with some decent tree runs. There's a back bowl section that you can spend alot of time on. Also, there's night skiing if your schedule demands it. Small by western standards it still has twice the acreage of Sunday River.

Baker, a farther drive, is a different animal. Back when I lived there I skied it once. I didn't know how to ski powder yet and there was too much of it there....had a miserable day. Thinking about it now kills me. If I could do that day over again...

I haven't skied Crystal but watching that Ski Patrol show gave me the impression it's got some legit terrain.

Good luck

 

[rocojerry]

if you could possibly extend your free time and stay/ski two days then go to Baker. It's 3 hrs from seattle. trust me, you wont be dissapointed

I can't speak for other mtns, my day trip to Mt Baker was one of the best I've ever done..

 

[Geoff]

I've skied Baker quite a few times. For such a little place, it skis very big. You're required to have the usual snow safety gear to ski the sidecountry. For one day, there's plenty to keep you occupied in-bounds if you're solo. You usually need a real snow car to get there. With a typical FWD rental car, chains are pretty much essential. Glacier is the closest lodging and you're still 30 minutes from the hill. It's probably the biggest snooze of a ski town I've ever seen.

 

[from_the_NEK]

Baker has a decent amount of terrain although the side country is where it is at there. I went there last year by myself. I don't have an avy gear so was stuck in bounds. However, I still had a very good time.
Crystal is amazing as well. I skied there two years ago. There is more variety of terrain in bounds. The setup of bowl after bowl after bowl of lift served terrain is amazing. They have gotten a ton of snow out there so everything should be open. Crystal is easier to get to than Baker. The road to both resorts can be hairy and may require chains. Baker's road is much hairier than Crystal's.
You can't go wrong with either one.

 

[nycskier]

GO TO BAKER!!!!!!!!! Trust me you won't be dissapointed! If you like tons of snow, insane steep drops and a laid back "anti-resort" feel ski Baker (no fancy lodges, no spas just a big mountain in the middle of nowhere and it is up to you to ski it if you can!).

I can not say enough good things about Mt Baker. It is without a doubt one of the best places I have ever skied. It is a real hidden gem.

I haven't skied Snoqualmie but a buddy of mine who is from Mass but lives out there now basically describes it as Seattle's Wachusett.

If you really can't drive the extra hour I would say go to Crystal. Some of the nicest skiing views I have ever seen have been from the top of Crystal. It is really a beautiful place and worth a try just for the view from the top. But Baker is awesome.

 

[from_the_NEK]

Crystal has a very large collection of advanced terrain as well (way more inbounds than what Baker has). Nothing against Baker but I don't think it was significantly better than Crystal and it is a lot long drive.

Here's a pic from one of the summits at Crystal:

 

[Danaxxmiller]

Crystal has a very large collection of advanced terrain as well (way more inbounds than what Baker has). Nothing against Baker but I don't think it was significantly better than Crystal and it is a lot long drive.

Here's a pic from one of the summits at Crystal:

I forgot about that bowl you have to take the main lift up the middle and hike over to that bowl it takes about thirthy minutes but well worth it. It you look to the right in the picture you can see where you ride over and where where you hike up at.

 

[gmcunni]

leaning toward Crystal. still will talk to a few locals and keep an eye on weather but distance and direction from where i need to be are both good. talked to the guy at hertz (tryign to persuade him to comp me an upgrade to an SUV for my ski trip but didn't work. got a subi imprezza though) and he recommended Crystal too.

that bowl looks cool but i ain't hiking up!

 

[cbcbd]

Pray for snow and lots of it. I was skiing at Alpental twice in the last few days.... it's still not even close to icy by Eastern standards but it's been basically a few inches over [PNW] hardpack. I was going to head to Crystal over the weekend but I'm waiting for conditions to improve to really take advantage. It's been an unusually dry winter and we're seriously starved for snow over here!!!... again, by PNW standards