Why Washington and Oregon Have NO Destination Ski Resorts

The US states of Washington and Oregon offer multiple ski mountains of various shapes, sizes and terrain types. So why is no one hopping on a plane to ski or ride here?

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0:00 Intro
0:49 Nearby Population Centers
2:56 Physical Geographic Location
4:18 Lack of Ski Towns
6:08 Mountain Access Difficulties
7:15 Limited Expansion Opportunities
8:52 On-Mountain Climate Conditions
11:16 Final Thoughts

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Attributions/sources:
- North America map (edited with graphics on top of original work): SANtosito | Wikimedia Commons

[theokid]

Growing up in Oregon I'd never really thought about our lack of ski towns, and now that I have considered it I'm extremely thankful for the lack of them. Hood Has always felt very homey and local, Bachelor a hidden gem tucked away, and I like it that way.

[EugeneHerbsman]

Oregon mountains definitely have a more local feel from what I've seen. I really like this because it creates local legends that are fun to spot on the mountain. Plus 99% of the people are extremely nice and just happy to be out on their weekend. No travel stress involved.

[finncollson]

Exactly, it sucks here don't come.

[totallynotmyeggalt]

I'm fascinated by this video as someone who grew up going to Snoqualmie in the winters; I genuinely had no idea our conditions (fog, wet/sticky snow, etc.) were different from the 'destination' resorts. (And on that note, we like it very much and it's already getting ridiculously packed so please don't feel like you have to come here!)

[pabloairth]

He’s totally right about Mt Baker. It’s not worth the trip. Stay far far away.

[alexsakon]

I grew up skiing in Switzerland. I live in Oregon. This video is spot on. There is no reason to go to OR/WA ski resorts unless you’re a local.

[AdmiralThumbs]

As a Seattle Local, I can agree with almost all of this (and still love our mountains). But I'll note that Alpental is basically an extension of The Summit at Snoqualmie, not a separate resort. Also, at least 1 resort is super easy to drive to; I can get from the farthest part of the city to parked at The Summit at Snoqualmie in less than an hour. And it's all freeway driving until the last quarter mile for Central, or even just the last 200 feet for Summit West.

[gregswank]

It's called Cascade Concrete, and if you can ski it at an expert or advanced level you can ski any snow anywhere. And when it melts and refreezes, you best have sharp edges and lots of nerves. Colorado's double black diamonds are our blue trails.

[simplatek]

Good thing we don’t have mountains considered destination resorts up in the PNW. We have a ton of locals that snowboard/ski rain or shine so we are already very packed especially on weekends. The snow seasons are amazing here, backcountry galore with descent park terrain. Never a bad day in the PNW

[dcookie]

Skiers everywhere should be grateful that so much of the PNW is protected from development.

[sam_s_]

I flew to Seattle from San Diego and spent 6 days at Crystal Mountain. We got 10-13" of snow every 24 hours I was there. The on-mountain hotel sucked, but it was one of my best trips ever.

[heyalexluu]

Growing up in Seattle and skiing at Stevens Pass was always an adventure. I always thought it was normal to wake up early and drive to the resorts. I did find it odd that there weren't any places to stay close to these resorts seeing how the roads leading up to Stevens Pass specifically is so accident prone. There've been times when we'd be stuck in a two lane road for 2-3 hours with little to no cell service.

I still ski PNW when I'm visiting friends and family though! Amazing resorts!

[anthonyc]

I’m a local PNW skier and have skied all these mountains and some others not listed. Mt Bachelor is a regional destination resort for PDX and Seattle. Crystal and Steven’s Pass are now so insanely busy on the weekends that many skiers will take a day off of work midweek just to avoid the madness.

[LagmasterB]

I live in Spokane. Mt Spokane, 49° North, Schweitzer, Silver Mtn, Lookout Pass, Red Mtn (BC). All 2 hours, Red a little further. No lines during the week.

I’ve lived in Summit County, CO (Frisco), Big Sky, MT, Flagstaff, AZ. Can’t beat the snow up here in Inland PNW. Touch drier than coastal mtns (Alpental, Baker and Crystal). So much less crowds. Not the biggest footprints, but again, you have the whole place to yourself. Schweitzer has gnarly terrain. Red Mtn is 3 mtns with significant sidecountry/backcountry.

[eadecamp]

I used to ski Crystal twice a month back in the 90s when it was more of a locals' mountain while most of the Seattle crowd went to Snoqualmie, which is right off I-90. I would go to Crystal on Monday, my days off, and almost had the place to myself. The lift operators used to call their Monday Lady. Between the midweek rate and my military discount (my husband was stationed in Ft Lewis), an all day pass was $20. Okay, everything was slow and simple, but it was truly a hidden gem with a small-town feel.
Then Intrawest bought them out, replaced all the old chairs, added the gondola and some hilltop restaurants, and immediately tripled the price of a lift ticket. The surrounding area up 410 was quiet and pristine; I hope it at least stays that way. A lot of military families have skied there with 2 or 3 kids and could shell out as much as $700 for lift tickets alone. I'm pretty sure they've been priced out of the market.

[BoschVoyage]

When the views are visible at these resorts- they are some of the best in the country!

[sch]

Also most of the resorts are on US Forest Service land, and getting permission to build on mountain facilities requires lots of administrative paperwork. Mt Hood Meadows did try to have onsite hotel plans which got quashed because of environmental impact concerns.

[Civ]

As a Washingtonian, this video was almost perfect up until the end when you were trying to say something positive about why Washington and Oregon should be visited. Please don't encourage casuals to come here. We're already crowded as it is and don't need more people clogging the trails and trashing our beautiful wilderness. I just want the rest of the country to continue forgetting that we exist

I grew up at the base of mount rainier and my sister worked at Crystal, I've ski'd there many times. I can attest to the fact that most of the time, the weather is crap and visibility is poor. The road to it can be sketchy, and there isn't much in the way of accommodations up the pass

[ErikPelyukhno]

I grew up in this area, it’s truly a locals region. It’s really convenient to watch the snow reports and drive out on a random week day when the conditions are right, but a lot of the time the weather isn’t perfect so not worth for someone to travel to. We do have stay accommodations by Mt Hood at Government Camp but it’s pretty limited!

[TaylorPhase]

we are hipsters in the pnw. we dont want big giant corporate places up here! keep that at disneyland and CO