The Summit At Snoqualmie - Alpental

The Summit at Snoqualmie was once four separate ski areas that were gradually combined into one "resort" with four separate named base areas.  Three of these areas - now called Summit West, Central and East - sit on the north slope of Roaring Ridge on the south side of interstate 90.  The remaining area - Alpental - is on the steep, cliff studded north slope of Denny Mountain on the north side of I-90.  This review - and the ratings - only apply to the Alpental area.

Alpental is a small ski area with only four lifts - one modern high speed quad and three older two seaters.  However, these lifts access a lot of terrain.  There is over 2200 feet of vertical from the top of Denny Mountain to the base, and a large diversity of terrain.  You can ski alpine bowls, old growth trees, ice waterfalls, chutes, steeps and bumps.  A majority of the trails on the lower mountain are hard blues through moderately difficult blacks, while all of the terrain accessed from the upper Edelweiss chair is for advanced skiers.  Some of the named runs from the upper chair are extremely steep - Adrenalin has a slope over 50 degrees. 

There is a large backcountry which is officially accessible through three gates, and in reality accessible in many other locations.  It is at least three times as large as the skiable area inbounds.  The easiest way out to the backcountry is on the Great Scott Traverse - a long path under a menacing cornice of snow.  The traverse  leads to a series of open bowls that funnel down to tight runs and chutes carved into a series of cliff bands.  It's quite easy to work your way into a sticky situation where you need to re-trace your route back up the mountain, so be careful and find a local guide if you can. 

Alpental is not for everyone.  It has no terrain park, and the base area is limited to a serviceable bar and a cafeteria style restaurant.  The grooming on the hill is sporadic.  It isn't the sort of ski area you visit while on vacation, but for a local ski hill it has a lot to offer.

Realtivly small does not always mean bad. Alpental is usually considered the pick of the litter for advanced intermediate and expert skiers, but try the other resorts there (all managed by Boyne Mnt who have to there credit have consistanly improved the 4 areas here since taking over a few years ago). Silver Fir Chair at Central, and Summit East (Hyak) are second thought gems when conditions are good which can vary quite a bit by the week if not by the day. Not the Rockies but it's turned out some medalists and is only 50 minutes from Seattle via a nice multilane highway that occasionally requires chains or is closed for avalanches. Combining all the 4 resorts, there is a fair amount of varied terrain, some good pitch in places, but no super long cruising runs. After ski entertainment in the area is there, but generally the nightlife and mostly the lodging is a weakness, only one almost average hotel, but a few people actually like the laid back ambiance. Look on the bright side,not much to spend money on. There's a few OK slope side bar's. A central, planned ski village would help a lot, and they finally did a recent press release (2013)of a planned village finally going in after 70 years.One caution, when the right front combos come off the Pacific, it can really dump huge piles of snow fast, which can be 50/50 in quality - either some remarkably good stuff by Cascade Mountain standards, or the infamous "Cascade concrete"..... . "The Pass" is basically a fine, relatively close in ski resort, don't let the sno-snobs make your mind up. Alpental is supposed to be one of Shawn White's 3 favorite place to board at. Watch for frequent avalanches in Alpental area too when conditions are right. And, don't buy in that the snow is "always bad" there, that's BS - there's good snow more than not and even great snow once in a while, but ya, sometimes it gets thick.