george crosland photo blog

When told I was going to Seattle for a snowboard trip, a colleague of mine said “there is no snowboarding in Seattle!” At that point it seemed that it may good to do a spot check on Seattle’s closest ski area – Summit at Snowqualmie. Seattle is famous for rain, right? Well what do you think happens when that rains hits the Cascades, just east of Seattle, it turns into snow. Summit is the closest resort to downtown which also means it has the lowest base elevations which also means you could in fact be riding in…the rain. However, you could be riding in the sun or better yet in a huge dumping storm. No matter what, you can hit some jumps because the Summit has made a huge commitment to terrain parks, including a top to bottom park at Central east, two smaller parks and one superpipe. This being the Northwest and all, there are a few banked slalom’s thrown in as well. Probably the best terrain parks in all of Washington.

www.summitatsnoqualmie.com

Here is looking up at Summit West, the family spot

One of the beginner parks at Summit Central

Looking south east from Summit Central

Central Park at Summit Central, this is a good top to bottom park

Summit committed to it’s parks, can you commit to this rainbow

Looking up Alpental, somehow there are runs on the right side of that cliff band

Washington, or Europe?

Edelweiss chair, if you are here on a powder day you are very lucky. If you are not an expert and here on an icy day, you are crying, if you ride off a cliff, you are dead!

no bullshit here – steepness at Alpental

like mini AK

the sign lies or tells the truth?

Jeff Brushie at Hyak

Gus Engle

Only in the NW would guys called “The White Jesus” do airs like this on a 28’ foot tall quarter pipe, ok well maybe New Hampshire

Seattle is dive bar heaven

if you ever watch the show on Discovery about the crab fishing boats in Alaska. Their home port is Ballard (my favorite part of Seattle) and you can buy some really good seafood in Seattle

Told you!

Look at my friend Kevin and look at the roof of the bridge and tell me they do not get snow at Summit at Snowqualmie

What can you expect there? How about good parks, insanely steep runs and some good times. Do not expect long, empty cruising runs. The runs are short and steep or, long and really fucking steep. All levels are acommodated here with easier runs, but the hills are steep. Originally, there were several different mountains here that have all been combines under single ownership. On the west or south side of I-90, you have Summit West, Summit Central and Hyak, all linked together by trails. This is where the bulk of the traffic goes since the parks are here and the mellower runs. The vertical drop on the South side runs about 1000’. On the North side of I-90 is Alpental, which is maybe the beastliest small resort in the USA. It is STEEP, STEEP, STEEP. Sure there are intermediate runs but there are gnarly double blacks. In fact you drive up and see nothing but cliffs. How someone thought to put lifts up there is beyond me. You will be glad the did on a powder day because Alpental is as fun as anywhere in the world. Just don’t ride off a cliff. The vertical drop at Alpental is about 2,200’.

Not a glamorous spot but a good spot to hit while in Seattle. The riders, riding and terrain are all real and very cool. I even did a trip up the NW once and hit Whistler, Crystal and Alpental, so if you combine it all, it could be a great trip. Not too mention Seattle has a big city feel, not a little ghost town in the mountains feel. If you want to mix your trip with business, skateboarding or partying, this could be the spot. For lodging, you can stay at Summit but Downtown Seattle may be more fun. See you up there!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 at 2:18 pm and is filed under Snow & Skate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.