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Pacific NW/AK/BC Resorts Near Seattle in Late March

Johnfmh

Johnfmh
Skier
Joined
Aug 20, 2018
Posts
554
Location
Arlington, VA
Work will be bringing me to Keyport, Washington, in late March. Since my wife has never been to that part of the country, she will be joining me. We intend to spend a few days in Seattle and then try and make some turns at one of the nearby mountains. We will have three days to ski and want to limit our skiing to a single resort. We also want to stay as close as possible to the slopes.

I am an advanced skier and my wife is a strong intermediate, confident on blue and single blacks in Utah and Vermont. She likes groomers. I will ski all terrain, but am more of an East Coast type of skier—very confident on ice and less so in deep powder. We are basically inbounds skiers and don’t venture off piste much unless by accident or in in-bounds bowls. We do not have any multi resort passes so that’s not an issue. We also will be skiing midweek.

Crystal seems to be the obvious choice given its proximity to Seattle, its size, terrain variety, etc. If the weather permits, the prospect of seeing Mount Ranier is a big draw. Its high base elevation for the region is another plus.

Stevens pass would be another good choice given its size and proximity to Seattle.

Don’t know much about Baker but it appears a bit smaller than the other two and a bit further away.

The Snoqualmie areas seem a bit smallish but am open to thoughts on these places.

Neither of us are keen to drive to Whistler or Schweitzer, so I think those places can be taken off the table.

Can any folks familiar with these environs offer guidance about where to go and stay? Snow has been good so far in the area but a lot can change between now and then. Subtleties between the resorts with regard to microclimates would be helpful to know. Which resort has the best skier services—namely food but also demo rentals? Which is best for people of our skiing ability?

I read the Crystal versus Stevens thread for December. It was helpful, but I thought I would start a new thread for this query because the dates are very different and I am willing to go to Baker as well.
 

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