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Pacific NW/AK/BC 2021-2022 PNW Ski Resorts/Conditions/Meetups

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David Chaus

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It’s that time of the year where we (and I mean me) look ahead to the ski season.

Actually I’ve been doing that since last season, but we’re now only 3 months away from the time in November where Baker, Crystal and Stevens open. In a normal year, that is. This past season with Covid was interesting to say the least. I hope it will indeed be a “normal” season but who knows? We do know that the ski areas can operate with masking and distancing if needed, so we will have a season if the weather cooperates. Hopefully we won’t need to deal with reservations, but if we do, we know we can handle that.

Stevens announced in May they were not inviting the concession skis schools (Lyon, Olympic and Clancy’s) back. As you may be aware, they didn’t operate last year due to Covid as Stevens stated they needed to restrict the number of ski lessons and students on the slopes. Lyon is shifting to camps, including summer camps at Mt Hood. The other two appeared to have closed rather than try to relocate to Snoqualmie, which already has a handful of independent ski schools.

What other changes do people anticipate? What are you looking forward to?

Personally, I have my Ikon pass for Crystal, I plan to take clinics with Snow Performance again so will be at Alpental as well, and I finally decided to get a Stevens Select pass for mid-week skiing.
 

slowrider

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39°f on the high desert this am.:)
I will do some traveling if possible and make every turn count. Probably coach at the dew again too.
 

Tom Co.

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I again have season passes at both Crystal and Stevens. I really hope that Stevens pulls its head out of the sand.
The good news for this season is we have an almost 70% chance for La Niña. That would be two La Niña's in a row.
I already have plans for car trips to semi local areas, much like what I did last year. The Canadian border thing sure needs to get sorted out as returning to Sun Peaks and Apex are both on my shortlist.
It would also be nice if we can actually make a Pacific Northwest gathering happen.
 

Posaune

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I'll have a Select Pass at Stevens for weekdays only (hope to see you there David) and I'll be getting a Baker pass when they come on sale. No trips on the schedule but it may happen. I usually have to stay close to home because of music commitments, but with Covid getting in the way I may not have nearly so many of those. It remains to be seen what will transpire.

I've been doing all kinds of work on my old cabin in Skykomish in preparation for the next season. I had all of the work scheduled to get finished by the time the snow flies, but last trip up I discovered TERMITES! More work.

I have little hope for Stevens, but I'll try it again. They really got on my nerves last year with all of their closures and poor customer service.
 
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David Chaus

David Chaus

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I’m probably going to stick to my schedule from last year, Thursdays free-skiing, Fridays taking clinics, and maybe skiing Sundays. If I decide to instruct this season it’ll be Sundays, or maybe Friday evenings.

It would also be nice if we can actually make a Pacific Northwest gathering happen.
That would interest me as well. A weekend gathering anywhere in Western WA or OR in Jan/Feb would be challenging, though March would work, or weekdays any time during the season.

Whether they’re gathering locations or not, I’m looking forward to visiting both Schweitzer and Red with my Ikon pass.
 

pchewn

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I have my Mt Hood Meadows value pass ( midweek and after 3pm). I will probably get the Fusion Pass (Timberline, Skibowl) for skiing weekends and holidays with my son and grandsons. Perhaps a trip to White Pass and/or Mission Ridge (Fusion Pass).
 

aveski

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My tentative plan is to head to the PNW after the Taos gathering. It might be mid-February before I make it there. After Taos, I’m going to have a warm weather rendezvous with my non-skiing girlfriend. Hopefully the Canadian border will be open so I can continue my Ikon pass search for powder tour.
 
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David Chaus

David Chaus

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My tentative plan is to head to the PNW after the Taos gathering. It might be mid-February before I make it there. After Taos, I’m going to have a warm weather rendezvous with my non-skiing girlfriend. Hopefully the Canadian border will be open so I can continue my Ikon pass search for powder tour.
A Mainiac visiting the PNW?! Definitely let me know when you’re coming, it’ll be fun to ski with you again. We could get a few people together and call it a Gathering.
 

dovski

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We have already got our passes for Snoqualmie. Kids are all signed up for Freeride and my oldest wants to compete in at least three different states this year so she can qualify for the national rankings :) We will be at Alpental all day every Saturday and some Sundays, I will also try to get in a couple afternoons each month when my work schedule allows. We also have mountain collective passes and have booked trips to Alta/Snowbird, Big Sky and Banff so far. Depending on the border situation we will likely also do some long weekends skiing interior BC.

I've also signed up for the Mountain Pros clinic at Alpental, which is great if you like to polish your skills on steeps and deeps :)
 

CascadeConcrete

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Already have my Ikon for Crystal. I misjudged how quickly Snoqualmie passes would sell out at the cheapest price. I'm also a little annoyed with Summit for doing literally nothing to address crowding at Alpental for yet another year in a row, but it's not like the situation is better at the other local hills so I can't really take my money elsewhere in protest. And I still want to ski Alpy so I'll get a pass there too. Probably just pick one up through city league in the fall. Planning to spend some more time at Crystal than I have in the past, actually having an Ikon Pass this season.
 

Bad Bob

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Plan is to teach weekends at 49° North again this winter. Their new quad chair is moving along on schedule. It will be a 7 minute ride for 1900' vertical, not sure what the legs will think about that. Lots of brush cutting happening up there too. The expanded snowmaking should be a treat for early turns on a few of the runs.
Hope to take a long weekend up to Red and Whitewater as well as the occasional day of hooky at other local hills.
All of this is subject to change if I buy the right Lotto ticket.
 

John O

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I have my Ikon pass and am also starting to get excited. The summer is going by so fast, I figure it'll be here before we know it. :)

That said, I'm worried about the parking situation at Crystal if things return to what they were like 2 years ago. Reservations were a little annoying to deal with last year, but the drive and parking situation was *so* much better compared to 19/20 that I wouldn't be upset at all if they kept that system in place. I do know one coworker who switched from Ikon to Epic because of the price difference this year, who knows how prevalent that will be and what impact that will have on both Crystal and Stevens.
 

noncrazycanuck

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BC isn't really part of the PNW these days, should the US border ever reopen might ski Baker and Whitefish again.
Otherwise I'll make do with my Whistler season pass and road trips to the usual suspects in BC and Alberta.
 
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David Chaus

David Chaus

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I have my Ikon pass and am also starting to get excited. The summer is going by so fast, I figure it'll be here before we know it. :)

That said, I'm worried about the parking situation at Crystal if things return to what they were like 2 years ago. Reservations were a little annoying to deal with last year, but the drive and parking situation was *so* much better compared to 19/20 that I wouldn't be upset at all if they kept that system in place. I do know one coworker who switched from Ikon to Epic because of the price difference this year, who knows how prevalent that will be and what impact that will have on both Crystal and Stevens.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens with the Ikon base pass having 5 days of access at Crystal rather than unlimited.
 

robertc3

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We have already got our passes for Snoqualmie. Kids are all signed up for Freeride and my oldest wants to compete in at least three different states this year so she can qualify for the national rankings :)
My son will be competing in freeride again this season as well as racing which means that, after a Europe trip, if we are not at Stevens we will be at a race or freeride competition. Having competitive kids keeps us in the mountains, but it doesn't make any kind of ski vacation pretty hard.
 

markojp

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I've also signed up for the Mountain Pros clinic at Alpental, which is great if you like to polish your skills on steeps and deeps :)

Slight off topic question, but who does the Mountain Pros clinic? Is there a website? I asked because I haven't heard of them and figured I knew most of the folks in the local game.
 

dovski

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Slight off topic question, but who does the Mountain Pros clinic? Is there a website? I asked because I haven't heard of them and figured I knew most of the folks in the local game.
You probably do know them Mark as it is a program run by Alpental. First time I took it was run by Rob Bell - he was the main instructor trainer at Alpental and is a pretty phenomenal skier. We skied mostly chair 2 and really dialed in our technique on steeps and deeps. Rob also did this cool thing where he filmed you skiing and then afterwords we watched the footage in slow mo so he could call out areas for improvement. Rob has move on but they still bring in seasoned instructors for Mountain Pros.

 

markojp

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You probably do know them Mark as it is a program run by Alpental. First time I took it was run by Rob Bell - he was the main instructor trainer at Alpental and is a pretty phenomenal skier. We skied mostly chair 2 and really dialed in our technique on steeps and deeps. Rob also did this cool thing where he filmed you skiing and then afterwords we watched the footage in slow mo so he could call out areas for improvement. Rob has move on but they still bring in seasoned instructors for Mountain Pros.


Ah! Got it. Rob's a friend. :)
 

charlier

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You probably do know them Mark as it is a program run by Alpental. First time I took it was run by Rob Bell - he was the main instructor trainer at Alpental and is a pretty phenomenal skier. We skied mostly chair 2 and really dialed in our technique on steeps and deeps. Rob also did this cool thing where he filmed you skiing and then afterwords we watched the footage in slow mo so he could call out areas for improvement. Rob has move on but they still bring in seasoned instructors for Mountain Pros.

Another PNW suggestion for refining ski skills either on-piste or off-piste is Snow Performance. Currently, they coach at Snoqualmie Pass and Alpental, and they offer early season clinics - http://www.snowperformance.com/ Many years ago, my wife attended a multi-week ski clinic and the occasional two day clinic with Gavin Hunter.
 
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