PNW season pass considerations

GILLSKI

GILLSKI

Active member
I don't know what to do. I live in Tacoma Washington and im looking to get a season pass to a mountain in the pnw. My choices are between Crystal, Baker and Stevens Pass. Ill take other recommendations too.

Most important to me:

-In bounds skiing radness

-Nightlife (very important)

-ease of getting out of bounds if I want too (see if my buddy is physically able to ski this year after a bad knee injury so not too important)

-being able to bum in my jeep after getting drunk

things that dont matter:

-terrain park

-price

-drive from Tacoma (as long as its in the PNW)

Any input is much appreciated im trying to buy my pass soon before the prices skyrocket.
 
I know you said the drive from Tacoma doesn't matter, but having gone to school in Tacoma, I personally think the drive to Baker and Stevens is pretty brutal from there.

In college I always went Crystal & Snoqualmie Pass. Now, living in Tacoma, I would probably go Crystal w/ 5 days at Alpy.

If I lived in Seattle, Stevens would get more consideration, but I just think it is too far from Tacoma to consistently ski.

My take anyway.
 
13077902:iggyskier said:
I know you said the drive from Tacoma doesn't matter, but having gone to school in Tacoma, I personally think the drive to Baker and Stevens is pretty brutal from there.

In college I always went Crystal & Snoqualmie Pass. Now, living in Tacoma, I would probably go Crystal w/ 5 days at Alpy.

If I lived in Seattle, Stevens would get more consideration, but I just think it is too far from Tacoma to consistently ski.

My take anyway.
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Well I lied a little, I actually live on JBLM not like that changes much tho. I love crystal but there is absolutely no nightlife if you were planning on just staying in the mountains a few week. unless im just blind
 
There's not much of that anywhere in Washington.

Crystal has the best skiing within reasonable driving distance of Tacoma. IMO Stevens is too far to do regularly, and Baker is definitely too far to do regularly.

Alpental/snoqualmie are dece and the closest. They're lower and get more rain though
 
13077912:GILLSKI said:
Well I lied a little, I actually live on JBLM not like that changes much tho. I love crystal but there is absolutely no nightlife if you were planning on just staying in the mountains a few week. unless im just blind
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Well, if you are on JBLM than it is even a further drive (albit 10 minutes) than Tacoma.

As for nightlife, none of the resorts in the PNW have nightlife at the resort. You are basically picking from a bar or two, or having to drive to a small town close with a bar or two. Nothing substantial.

Baker is basically nothing - so you are driving to Glacier (which is basically nothing) or back to Bellingham.

Alpy is close enough to Seattle you might as well just drive home.

Stevens has a few small towns close by with a bar or two, or you could go to Leavenworth, but again, nightlife isn't exactly going to be popping off in Leavenworth.

Crystal, again, has very little besides the Snorting Elk (which is legit, but I wouldn't want to drink there for weeks on end).

I think you would be fine with the local establishments for a few nights, but if you want to go somewhere that actually has a bit of nightlife, you are going to want to travel a bit.

Whistler, Breck, Jackson, even Bachelor. Basically a resort town, not just a ski resort. Coming from CO and growing up skiing Vail, coming to the PNW the biggest change was the resorts are just ski resorts, no towns, minimal places to stay and things to do besides ski. It is nice in that it is all about the skiing, but if you are going somewhere for a few weeks and want some good après-ski, you are going to have to probably travel out of WA state.

**This post was edited on Aug 1st 2014 at 2:25:58pm
 
13077921:Sklar said:
There's not much of that anywhere in Washington.

Crystal has the best skiing within reasonable driving distance of Tacoma. IMO Stevens is too far to do regularly, and Baker is definitely too far to do regularly.

Alpental/snoqualmie are dece and the closest. They're lower and get more rain though
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im from a place were the nearest decent skiing in is 7 hours away and thats for shitty ass lower vermont skiing. Im beyone willing to drive 5-7 hours every weekend. Unfortunately im stuck in Washington for now.
 
13077927:iggyskier said:
Well, if you are on JBLM than it is even a further drive (albit 10 minutes) than Tacoma.

As for nightlife, none of the resorts in the PNW have nightlife at the resort. You are basically picking from a bar or two, or having to drive to a small town close with a bar or two. Nothing substantial.

Baker is basically nothing - so you are driving to Glacier (which is basically nothing) or back to Bellingham.

Alpy is close enough to Seattle you might as well just drive home.

Stevens has a few small towns close by with a bar or two, or you could go to Leavenworth, but again, nightlife isn't exactly going to be popping off in Leavenworth.

Crystal, again, has very little besides the Snorting Elk (which is legit, but I wouldn't want to drink there for weeks on end).

I think you would be fine with the local establishments for a few nights, but if you want to go somewhere that actually has a bit of nightlife, you are going to want to travel a bit.

Whistler, Breck, Jackson, even Bachelor. Basically a resort town, not just a ski resort. Coming from CO and growing up skiing Vail, coming to the PNW the biggest change was the resorts are just ski resorts, no towns, minimal places to stay and things to do besides ski. It is nice in that it is all about the skiing, but if you are going somewhere for a few weeks and want some good après-ski, you are going to have to probably travel out of WA state.

**This post was edited on Aug 1st 2014 at 2:25:58pm
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Tell me about it even vermont had a killer nightlife. How is bacholeor? im more than willing to make the drive if its worth it
 
13077928:GILLSKI said:
im from a place were the nearest decent skiing in is 7 hours away and thats for shitty ass lower vermont skiing. Im beyone willing to drive 5-7 hours every weekend. Unfortunately im stuck in Washington for now.
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Well, the skiing in Washington is amazing. Crystal, Alpental, Stevens, and Baker are all awesome and if Crystal was 1.5 hours closer to Portland, I would still ski there as it is my favorite mountain ever.

If you want to drive 5-7 hours and have good skiing and good nightlife, the obvious choice is Whistler. That is going to give you the best balance and be reasonable to get to and from.

Bachelor might also be worth a look, as Bend is a cool town with a bit of nightlife and Bachelor isn't a bad mountain. That said, it cannot touch Whistler as far as terrain goes...still a fun mountain to ski though.

**This post was edited on Aug 1st 2014 at 2:30:36pm
 
You could always just ski Crystal and just rally in Tacoma. Bar scene has gotten pretty decent there. I spent basically all of 2007-2008 drunk on 6th Ave with occasional trips downtown. Besides someone deciding they should take a shot at someone else from time to time, it was a lot of fun.
 
13077936:iggyskier said:
Well, the skiing in Washington is amazing. Crystal, Alpental, Stevens, and Baker are all awesome and if Crystal was 1.5 hours closer to Portland, I would still ski there as it is my favorite mountain ever.

If you want to drive 5-7 hours and have good skiing and good nightlife, the obvious choice is Whistler. That is going to give you the best balance and be reasonable to get to and from.

Bachelor might also be worth a look, as Bend is a cool town with a bit of nightlife and Bachelor isn't a bad mountain. That said, it cannot touch Whistler as far as terrain goes...still a fun mountain to ski though.

**This post was edited on Aug 1st 2014 at 2:30:36pm
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I didn't even realize whistler was that close, that being said, I cant leave the country as easily as civilians I have to file paperwork with the army in advance and I can see my chain of command getting fed up.

Bachelor sounds like the way to go for a good mix of everything. I loved crystal and will def shred that on good days but it just has nothing besides skiing. I hate driving back and forth ever day.
 
13077941:iggyskier said:
You could always just ski Crystal and just rally in Tacoma. Bar scene has gotten pretty decent there. I spent basically all of 2007-2008 drunk on 6th Ave with occasional trips downtown. Besides someone deciding they should take a shot at someone else from time to time, it was a lot of fun.
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hah tell me about it, I just moved out hear from brooklyn new york and some parts of Tacoma can give Brooklyn a run for its money. puyallup isnt bad either. the nice thing about JBLM is its in the middle of a bunch of different places
 
13077943:GILLSKI said:
I didn't even realize whistler was that close, that being said, I cant leave the country as easily as civilians I have to file paperwork with the army in advance and I can see my chain of command getting fed up.

Bachelor sounds like the way to go for a good mix of everything. I loved crystal and will def shred that on good days but it just has nothing besides skiing. I hate driving back and forth ever day.
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13077947:GILLSKI said:
hah tell me about it, I just moved out hear from brooklyn new york and some parts of Tacoma can give Brooklyn a run for its money. puyallup isnt bad either. the nice thing about JBLM is its in the middle of a bunch of different places
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I would definitely give Bachelor a try if you want a balance between nightlife and skiing and you need to stay stateside. Bend doesn't have crazy nightlife, but definitely decent for a town of 80,000 people.

I agree driving back and forth for skiing everyday can be a bitch.

As for Tacoma, its gotten a lot better than it used to be. Even the change from when I arrived in 2004 to when I left in 2008 was noticeable.

Hope Bachelor works out! If not, bothering the chain of command to make it up to Whistler might be worth it!
 
If you want great sidecountry, Mount Baker. Requires avalanche gear and a friend to go with, but the Shuksan Arm is Alaska-tier terrain (steep spinewalls, cliffs, etc) and just a 20 minute skin from the top of a lift.
 
13077978:iggyskier said:
I would definitely give Bachelor a try if you want a balance between nightlife and skiing and you need to stay stateside. Bend doesn't have crazy nightlife, but definitely decent for a town of 80,000 people.

I agree driving back and forth for skiing everyday can be a bitch.

As for Tacoma, its gotten a lot better than it used to be. Even the change from when I arrived in 2004 to when I left in 2008 was noticeable.

Hope Bachelor works out! If not, bothering the chain of command to make it up to Whistler might be worth it!
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Thanks man I really appreciate the input
 
You might want to get a pass at a mountain that's on the Powder Alliance program.
http://www.powderalliance.com/

Buy a regular season pass at any participating resort, and you get three free days at all the other ski areas.

Here are the participating resorts:

Silverstar BC

Stevens Pass

Timberline

Mt. Hood Skibowl

Schweitzer

Bridger Bowl

Sierra-at-Tahoe

Snowbasin UT

China Peak CA

Mtn. High CA

Arizona Snowbowl

Angelfire NM

Crested Butte CO

Not a bad deal, especially if you're in the PNW.
 
topic:GILLSKI said:
I don't know what to do. I live in Tacoma Washington and im looking to get a season pass to a mountain in the pnw. My choices are between Crystal, Baker and Stevens Pass. Ill take other recommendations too.

Most important to me:

-In bounds skiing radness

-Nightlife (very important)

-ease of getting out of bounds if I want too (see if my buddy is physically able to ski this year after a bad knee injury so not too important)

-being able to bum in my jeep after getting drunk

things that dont matter:

-terrain park

-price

-drive from Tacoma (as long as its in the PNW)

Any input is much appreciated im trying to buy my pass soon before the prices skyrocket.
Click to expand...

If you don't mind driving 5-7 hours each way, Whistler is your only option if you want to maximize the "most important" stuff on your list. Nightlife at ski resorts doesn't exist anywhere else in the PNW. Look into the Edge Card options if you can't swing a full season's pass (although driving 5-7 hours each way every weekend means that you'll be spending way more money on gas than a pass).

A more realistic plan B would involve buying a pass to Crystal for the skiing and taking a side trips to Whistler to get your apres nightlife in.
 
The two mountains that are a closest to you are snowualmie and crystal, and they both have benefits. I'm pretty sure there is a pass that includes both isn't there? I ski stevens and love it, but it's only an hour drive from snohomish area. Nothing in WA has nightlife, but crystal has the snorting elk and hotel stuff I think. Crystal has good terrain too, north way lift has some good stuff. I'm moving to tacoma area (browns point) next year, and plan on getting a pass to snoqualmie (park) and crystal for real mountian terrain. Maybe crystal will improve there park but it's so shitty and they don't seem to care about it, so I don't have high hopes.
 
13089675:Espen519 said:
The two mountains that are a closest to you are snowualmie and crystal, and they both have benefits. I'm pretty sure there is a pass that includes both isn't there? I ski stevens and love it, but it's only an hour drive from snohomish area. Nothing in WA has nightlife, but crystal has the snorting elk and hotel stuff I think. Crystal has good terrain too, north way lift has some good stuff. I'm moving to tacoma area (browns point) next year, and plan on getting a pass to snoqualmie (park) and crystal for real mountian terrain. Maybe crystal will improve there park but it's so shitty and they don't seem to care about it, so I don't have high hopes.
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well you dont really go to crystal to ski park
 
You should buy a pass for skiing and just travel and buy lift tickets to party. Buy a crystal pass and sample bachelor, hood, whistler, Montana, Utah, Cali, etc throughout the year.
 
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