NW SnowSports: What’s new at the Northwest ski areas?
By Peter Schroeder
Northwest skiers and boarders, get ready! The weather service predicts a bonanza snowfall again this winter. Check out what’s new at ski areas in western Canada and the five Northwest states.
Washington
49 Degrees North
The new Angel Peak lift, Washington’s newest chairlift, rises 1,144 vertical feet to the summit of Angel Peak and accesses nine new runs. The boarder course will be open for the first time to the public. Expanded ski packages are offered by several motels in Chewelah. www.ski49n.com
Crystal Mountain
At the new on-mountain RDL (Rossignol Dynastar Lange) Test Center people can rent or purchase skis, boots or snowboards and swap them out as often as they like. Crystal has its own in-house custom boot fitter who can tweak gear for optimum fit. www.crystalmountainresort.com
Mission Ridge
New management has renovated Hampton Lodge, expanded the terrain park, upgraded food services, improved the beginner area and revamped the ski school. New ski-and-stay packages are offered at Wenatchee motels. www.missionridge.com
Mount Baker
The new $3.5 million mid-mountain Raven Hut Lodge, designed in classic 1920s Cascadian style, features a food court that seats 300 guests. www.mtbaker.us
Mt. Spokane
Construction has begun on an 80-acre backside expansion with a lift and ski runs. Improvements to the Main Lodge include a 1,200-square-foot addition, upgrades to the rental shop and an outdoor deck. www.mtspokane.com
Stevens Pass
Three beginner/intermediate terrain parks have been added. Grooming will be even better with the arrival of four new snowcats. Stevens offers numerous safety awareness classes including avalanche awareness, tree well and deep snow accident prevention, avalanche forecasting, snow science and more. www.stevenspass.com
Summit at Snoqualmie
Construction has begun on the new lodge at Silver Fir at Summit Central. A new conveyor system has been installed for the loading ramp on Pacific Crest quad chair, and the unload zone at the top has been redesigned and improved. At Alpental, the David Pettigrew Mountain Safety and Education building has been completed. New jibs have been added to Central Park. www.summitatsnoqualmie.com
White Pass
General Manager Kevin McCarthy is inviting you to lunch! Join Kevin this season on the second Wednesday of the month at the High Camp Lodge in Paradise Basin where he will pick up $10 of your tab and then show you terrain you probably wouldn’t see otherwise. The ski area has put the finishing touches on its recent Paradise Expansion, which included two new lifts, the High Camp mid-mountain lodge, the doubling of skiable terrain and an overall upgrade of skier amenities. www.skiwhitepass.com
Oregon
Anthony Lakes
Lift tickets are half price on Thursdays except during holiday weeks. Rent equipment from the rental shop and you’ll receive a free group lesson (7 years and older). www.anthonylakes.com
Hoodoo
Autobahn Tubing Park, the largest of its kind in the country, has been expanded to 800 acres with 32 runs and five lifts. www.hoodoo.com
Mount Ashland
Ashland is embarking upon a major expansion that will include additional lifts, a renovated lodge and added terrain. www.mtashland.com
Mount Bachelor
Included in its $3.5 million improvements are renovations to all four on-mountain lodges, consolidation of all guest services in the Mountain Gateway Building, construction of the new Bachelor Butte building, a new smartphone app and purchase of three grooming snowcats. Upon completing the “Ski or Ride in 5” program, which includes 5-day lift tickets, lessons and rentals, guests receive either a 12-day adult pass or a youth season pass plus season pass discounts for the following two seasons. www.mtbachelor.com
Mount Hood Skibowl
America’s largest night ski area just got larger with expanded top to bottom lighting on 34 runs and two terrain parks. New lights and an improved audio system have been added on the tubing slopes, and the summer zip lines will now operate through the winter. Next door the A-frame lodge has been converted into the Mt. Hood Tribal Heritage Center showcasing the culture of the Warm Springs Tribes. Snowmaking has been increased with five new fan guns, and guests can now purchase lift tickets and season passes online. www.skibowl.com
Mount Hood Meadows
No more lift tickets. This season guests will carry RFID (radio frequency identification) passes that automatically open all chairlift entry gates. New chairs have been added to the Shooting Star Express high speed quad increasing uphill capacity by 30 percent. Meadows has stepped up its sustainability program with 100 percent clean energy powering all chairlifts.
Meadows continues its environmental journey. The area has protected wetlands at its newest chairlift, installed low-flow toilets, put in on-mountain water bottle filling stations, implemented re-vegetation with native seeds, sourced locally produced foods, switched to biodegradable and compostable eating utensils and tableware, and targeted 100 percent recycling. www.skihood.com
Idaho
Brundage
The snowcat skiing program, already one of the largest in the country, is being expanded to 18,000 acres. The recent addition of two new lifts, improved grooming with two more snowcats and new on-mountain food services mark major steps in transforming this family ski area into a full-service resort. www.brundage.com
Lookout Pass
A new triple chairlift installed in the beginner area replaces the old rope tow. A new terrain-based teaching program is one of only a few in the country. Lookout will begin offering freestyle lessons this season. www.skilookout.com
Schweitzer
The Ski and Ride center has been remodeled, chairs on the Musical Chairs lift have been replaced and all rooms in the Selkirk and White Pine Lodge have been renovated. New snowbikes are available in the rental shop, and a new 700-foot, dual zip line allows two people to fly side-by-side. www.schweitzer.com
Silver Mountain
A new intermediate run has been cut off Chair 4 between Ridge and Moonshine. www.silvermt.com
Sun Valley
A new 22-foot super half pipe, built to Olympic standards, replaces the previous 18-foot half pipe. Two new kids’ adventure trails have been added for a total of eight. Guests can sign up for the new “So You Want to be a Ski Patroller” program. They accompany ski patrollers in the “Early Up” session to open the mountain and “Sweep the Mountain” session at closing time. Guests can become amateur groomers on the “Ride the Beast” program by riding with professional groomers on two of the world’s biggest grooming snowcats. www.sunvalley.com
Montana
Big Sky Resort
Big Sky Replay, a new smartphone app, lets skiers track stats including number of runs and vertical feet skied, speed, calories burned and air time. New features include five gladed ski runs on Andesite Mountain. www.bigskyresort.com
Montana Snowbowl
Snowmaking has been upgraded with the addition of automatic snow guns. With final Forest Service approval imminent, the ski area will double its skiable terrain by expanding to TV Mountain. www.montanasnowbowl.com
Moonlight Basin
Moonlight resumes normal operations this winter after emerging from four years in bankruptcy; new owners purchased the resort last January. In celebration of its 10th anniversary, the “10 Years of Turns” package includes discounted lodging, dining offerings, spa treatments and lift tickets. www.moonlightbasin.com
Whitefish Mountain
The US Forest Service has approved the resort’s request to extend Chair 4 on Inspiration and move Chair 5 to the East Rim. www.skiwhitefish.com
Alaska Ski Areas
Alyeska
Honoring Senator Ted Stevens, a new high-speed quad, Ted’s Express, replaces the old fixed grip Chair 4 quad. A new bypass trail relieves congestion at the base of Chair 6. To remedy the frequent loss of power at the resort and lifts, two new turbines now ensure continuity when the grid power fails. With the lowest elevation base area in the U.S., you’ll be able to ski the longest continuous double black diamond ski run in North America without feeling breathless. An unusual mix of winter sports includes heli-skiing, dog sledding, ice climbing, glacier flight seeing, wildlife tracking and aurora borealis viewing. www.alyeskaresort.com
Eaglecrest Ski Area
Located in Juneau, Eaglecrest is building a new Learning Center to house the Snowsports School, the Adaptive program and the rental, repair and retail departments. New chairs have been added to the Black Bear lift, and a new double lift has been constructed in the beginner area. For the first time, there’s food service at the top of the mountain. The Nordic trail system has been increased with a new dog-friendly loop. The rental fleet has been upgraded with all-new Volkl skis, and rental Nordic skis are now available. www.skijuneau.com
Arctic Valley
Anchorage’s Kincaid Park, site of the 2009 and 2010 cross country national championships, is home to a new, state-of-the-art biathlon range, an Olympic training center built to World Cup standards. www.skiarctic.net
British Columbia
Apex
A new skier boardercross course has been built in Spruce Hollow with 12-foot berms and fun bump features. www.apexresort.com
Big White
Two new webcams at the top of the Bullet Chair and the Gem Lake Express Chair show mountain conditions. Alaska Airlines has added multiple daily flights from Seattle and other Northwest cities to nearby Kelowna. www.bigwhitepark.com
Fernie
The new Polar Peak lift takes skiers and boarders above the tree-line toa ccess 22 new runs. Kids will enjoy a new on-mountain adventure wilderness trail. www.skifernie.com
Kimberley
In addition to run enhancements, glade widening, and the new Montana Cookhouse restaurant, the big news is the completion of the 24,000 square foot Conference & Athletic Training Centre. www.skikimberley.com
Red Resort
New trails have been cut on Grey Mountain, adding 1,000 skiable acres, and a new lift is scheduled for 2013/14. www.redresort.com
Revelstoke
New this season are the Turtle Creek Beginner Area with a Magic Carpet surface lift, snowmaking in the base area, a kids outdoor center, a tubing park, a day care center and a village wine bar. www.revelstokemountainresort.com
Silver Star
Neighboring Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre and Silver Star now provide a dual-area cross-country trail pass and co-host early-season cross country camps. Sixteen kilometers of new snowshoe trails weave in and around the village forest. Ladies-only heli-skiing and Nordic retreat packages have been added this season. www.skisilverstar.com
Sun Peaks
They’ve got the second largest area of skiable terrain in B.C., at 3,678 acres. There’s everything from glades to bowls to long cruisers, plus a kicking terrain park. Other highlights include their women-only “Ski Sisters” program and First Tracks Breakfasts on Tuesday mornings. Two new groomers have been added to the snowcat fleet this year, and shuttle service to Vancouver has increased to twice weekly. www.sunpeaksresort.com
Whistler-Blackcomb
The new Dave Murray National Training Centre in the Ptarmigan area on Whistler Mountain is part of the 2010 Olympic Legacy. Six new Wonder Routes have been developed to help people explore all that Whistler-Blackcomb has to offer, and new Family Certified areas help guests discover family-friendly sections of the mountains. New backcountry clinics are being offered, and the MAX4 program now offers four days of lessons and four après sessions with a maximum of four students per instructor. Seven new snowcats and three new park cats will assure even better grooming. The new ski/board rental fleet features top brands and a new boot-fitter lab. www.whistlerblackcomb.com
Whitewater
New runs have been cut on the backside served by the new Glory Ridge triple chairlift. Whitewater and Idaho’s Schweitzer Mountain Resort have become sister resorts, so pass holders receive reciprocal discounts. www.skiwhitewater.com
Based in Seattle, Peter Schroeder is a long-time contributor to Outdoors NW and Western Snow Sports. Last season he skied in Turkey, and this winter he plans to return to the Italian Dolomites and then continue to Sochi in Russia, site of the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics.
