What pass to get?

Sir_SkrillALot

Sir_SkrillALot

Active member
Im moving to Seattle from Boulder for work and living in colorado the past 5 years was a really easy decision for what pass to get but I have no idea for Seattle area. I'm not too picky but Im not so interested in park right now as I just blew out my knee in Feb and still trying to recover on that.
 
also if anyone has a room im still desperately trying to find something in seattle and am going to be driving up and arriving on Sunday so need to find something by then!
 
You don't have a place to live and you are worried about your skiing pass? I hear living under the I-5 bridge is nice this time of year~
 
13144960:Scott29~ said:
You don't have a place to live and you are worried about your skiing pass? I hear living under the I-5 bridge is nice this time of year~
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where did i say i was worried about my ski pass?
 
Also new to Seattle, and with similar questions. Should I go for a season pass at Snoqualmie, or Crystal?
 
13161941:Watts said:
Also new to Seattle, and with similar questions. Should I go for a season pass at Snoqualmie, or Crystal?
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Depends on a number of things including; how much you want to spend, how far you live from the mountain/how far you want to drive, what kind of terrain you are looking to ride, if you give a shit about a park.
 
13162071:division.bell said:
Depends on a number of things including; how much you want to spend, how far you live from the mountain/how far you want to drive, what kind of terrain you are looking to ride, if you give a shit about a park.
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Prefer cheaper over more expensive (obviously), but money isn't too much of an issue. Google maps says Snoqualmie is about an hour from my place, while Crystal is closer to two, both are doable for me, but I think I'd prefer the shorter drive, looking for sidecountry/backcountryish terrain, and, coming from the east coast where we don't have terrain like out here, I don't give a shit about a park
 
13162199:Watts said:
Prefer cheaper over more expensive (obviously), but money isn't too much of an issue. Google maps says Snoqualmie is about an hour from my place, while Crystal is closer to two, both are doable for me, but I think I'd prefer the shorter drive, looking for sidecountry/backcountryish terrain, and, coming from the east coast where we don't have terrain like out here, I don't give a shit about a park
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An hour to Snoqualmie? Why are you not considering Stevens then?

I have a pass to Snoqualmie only because I live 20 minutes away, otherwise I'd much rather ride anywhere else. (I'm not a park rat)
 
13162556:division.bell said:
An hour to Snoqualmie? Why are you not considering Stevens then?

I have a pass to Snoqualmie only because I live 20 minutes away, otherwise I'd much rather ride anywhere else. (I'm not a park rat)
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Stevens is also in the picture. I have a friend from Seattle who always talks about how great Alpental and Snoqualmie in general us in terms of the combination of price, crowdedness, and terrain, which is why I put it high on the list. He's pretty much the only person I know who has skied in WA frequently, so I'm taking his word for it more than anything else.
 
13163640:Watts said:
Stevens is also in the picture. I have a friend from Seattle who always talks about how great Alpental and Snoqualmie in general us in terms of the combination of price, crowdedness, and terrain, which is why I put it high on the list. He's pretty much the only person I know who has skied in WA frequently, so I'm taking his word for it more than anything else.
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Alpental is definitely a very fun place with easy access (lift accessed even) to some damn good BC. But the lines for that chair can be unbearable on good days, or any weekend pretty much. It's not uncommon to wait 30 minutes or more for chair 2; I've waited an hour on a ridiculously deep day. I'd rather ski than stand in line.

The rest of the terrain at Snoqualmie is mellow with not much vertical drop. Max is just under 1100 feet I believe (Alpental is around 2200 or so). Yes, fun times can definitely be had on their terrain, as they have 4 total base areas to keep the variety going, but it still doesn't compare to what you can get at Stevens or Crystal.

I'm 20 minutes to Snoqualmie/Alpental parking lots from my house and 1.5 hours or so to Stevens depending on weather and traffic. On deep days, I prefer the longer drive to Stevens for more varied terrain and more vert vs. how long I'm going to wait in line for each run by going to Alpental.

Another thing to seriously consider is the elevation differences. Snoqualmie is 1000 feet closer to sea level than Stevens, which can make all of the difference in what falls to the ground.

Your money.
 
13163640:Watts said:
Stevens is also in the picture. I have a friend from Seattle who always talks about how great Alpental and Snoqualmie in general us in terms of the combination of price, crowdedness, and terrain, which is why I put it high on the list. He's pretty much the only person I know who has skied in WA frequently, so I'm taking his word for it more than anything else.
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I suggest summit west, maybe when you are a big boy you can graduate to summit east
 
what days of the week you're skiing is pretty important i think. I've had a blast skiing alpy during the week but i won't go on the weekend. if you work a day job and your emphasis is on pow, I would stick with stevens or crystal to avoid the collosal clusterfuck that is chair 2. or even mission ridge. but hour long lift lines will never be worth it to me
 
13164616:papermache said:
what days of the week you're skiing is pretty important i think.
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Agreed for the most part.

I've posted some screenshots of the Armstrong and chair 2 lift lines from a fat (43"+) Tuesday at Alpental a while back. If you weren't riding single, it was an hour or more for chair 2, and Armstrong was the longest I've ever waited until I started lapping the singles line.

Their plan to add a quad from the lower gun tower to the summit will kill Alpental in my opinion. That is if they ever move forward. I know they talked about a gondola at one point but the master development plan now shows a quad.
 
13164002:vandersteeze said:
I suggest summit west, maybe when you are a big boy you can graduate to summit east
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This is totally unnecessary and seems pretty uncalled for, but if it makes you feel like a big enough man to fall asleep at night without having to beat off to pictures of your female family members, I'll play along: you're so right, bro, I better make sure I can handle your small Washington mountains with an excessive amount of snow before moving onto the real thing, even though I've skied similar sized mountains with no problems, and the only people I know who ski WA regularly are pretty bad and say they can handle all of Snoqualmie just fine. If I end up buying the pass, I'll be sure to wear a diaper the first time I go to the mountain to make sure I don't piss myself with fear.

13164616:papermache said:
what days of the week you're skiing is pretty important i think. I've had a blast skiing alpy during the week but i won't go on the weekend. if you work a day job and your emphasis is on pow, I would stick with stevens or crystal to avoid the collosal clusterfuck that is chair 2. or even mission ridge. but hour long lift lines will never be worth it to me
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Yeah, I'm working 50+ hours a week so definitely going to only be going on weekends. I'm exactly the same way, nothing is more frustrating than paying good money to spend more time waiting in line than skiing. Thanks for the advice, it's much appreciated.

13164743:division.bell said:
Agreed for the most part.

I've posted some screenshots of the Armstrong and chair 2 lift lines from a fat (43"+) Tuesday at Alpental a while back. If you weren't riding single, it was an hour or more for chair 2, and Armstrong was the longest I've ever waited until I started lapping the singles line.

Their plan to add a quad from the lower gun tower to the summit will kill Alpental in my opinion. That is if they ever move forward. I know they talked about a gondola at one point but the master development plan now shows a quad.
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This is also really good to know. Really all I'm looking for is a mountain with decent terrain that's not too crowded. You think Stevens is my best bet if that's what I'm after?
 
13165424:Watts said:
This is also really good to know. Really all I'm looking for is a mountain with decent terrain that's not too crowded. You think Stevens is my best bet if that's what I'm after?
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Every area in Washington is crowded on the weekends, it's a shitty fact of life for the area. All of the "outdoorsy" folk out here love their mountains.

For weekend skiing, I go to Snoqualmie. Again, it's the closest for me so if it sucks, I don't have far to drive back home.

You can have fun at Snoqualmie no problem. Just be aware of the lift lines at Alpental and the lower elevation and it's effects on the snow quality and you'll be fine. To be honest, I typically ride a powder weekend at Summit East instead of Alpental. More laps, more powder to go around, and far less lift lines filled with "hardcore" soul bros and their wannabe followers.

Stevens is a shitshow on the weekends as well, probably worse than Snoqualmie (Alpental excluded for this point). Lifts open at 9, but if you aren't in the lot by a little after 8 some days are you parking at their overflow lot a few miles down the road, or are shit out of luck and have a 2 hour drive back home with no skiing.
 
13165424:Watts said:
This is totally unnecessary and seems pretty uncalled for, but if it makes you feel like a big enough man to fall asleep at night without having to beat off to pictures of your female family members, I'll play along: you're so right, bro, I better make sure I can handle your small Washington mountains with an excessive amount of snow before moving onto the real thing, even though I've skied similar sized mountains with no problems, and the only people I know who ski WA regularly are pretty bad and say they can handle all of Snoqualmie just fine. If I end up buying the pass, I'll be sure to wear a diaper the first time I go to the mountain to make sure I don't piss myself with fear.
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Shaddaup ya slosh twat
 
13165545:division.bell said:
Every area in Washington is crowded on the weekends, it's a shitty fact of life for the area. All of the "outdoorsy" folk out here love their mountains.

For weekend skiing, I go to Snoqualmie. Again, it's the closest for me so if it sucks, I don't have far to drive back home.

You can have fun at Snoqualmie no problem. Just be aware of the lift lines at Alpental and the lower elevation and it's effects on the snow quality and you'll be fine. To be honest, I typically ride a powder weekend at Summit East instead of Alpental. More laps, more powder to go around, and far less lift lines filled with "hardcore" soul bros and their wannabe followers.

Stevens is a shitshow on the weekends as well, probably worse than Snoqualmie (Alpental excluded for this point). Lifts open at 9, but if you aren't in the lot by a little after 8 some days are you parking at their overflow lot a few miles down the road, or are shit out of luck and have a 2 hour drive back home with no skiing.
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Yeah, I mean I've been expecting the snow to be pretty heavy since I moved out here, so I don't think that'll be a surprise for me at Snoqualmie. Really the most important factor is crowds, so if Snoqualmie gets less crowded on weekends than Crystal or Stevens, then maybe that's still the way to go

13165648:cobra_commander said:
Shaddaup ya slosh twat
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Sorry :(
 
mission ridge? are you guys serious?

6 hours of driving for one day of skiing? (and don't give me that shit that it's 2.5 hours each way, it's not. it's more like 7 hours of driving honestly) oh, and you'll pass either stevens or snoqualmie ski areas on the way there and back? that's just a slap on the face.

get a pass to stevens and leave your place no later than 5:45 on weekends, pass everybody lined up and park on the north side of the highway where there is NO line to get it...you're welcome.
 
waiting longer than an hour to ski a run is a slap in the face imo. you could leave seattle at the exact same time you'd leave for alpy, but continue to mission instead, and you'll still get more riding in at mission on a lot of days. i'm not advocating for getting your pass there so calm down, just saying its worth the trip
 
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