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Higher Elevation Washington resorts needed...?

  • andresih
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12 years 1 month ago #219561 by andresih
The late start at Snoqualmie and Alpental this year has got me thinking about some of our lower elevation resorts in Washington.  Given the climate change we appear to be seeing, in the near future Washington State and the Feds will have to allow for development of higher elevation Ski areas.  Just a Hypothesis, but probably one worth considering.  A few years back I read an article about development of a ski resort on the flanks of Mt. Adams, in part due to the eventual rise of snow levesls.  Does anyone have any insight into the likelihood of this sort of scenario?
www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Yakama-N...s-resort-1159620.php
Are there any other efforts of this sort?

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  • TwoFortyJeff
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12 years 1 month ago #219562 by TwoFortyJeff
Replied by TwoFortyJeff on topic Re: Higher Elevation Washington resorts needed...?
Wouldn't a single dry December fall under the"weather"category and not "climate change?" It would take a few years of this to have me worried.

I believe 2004/2005 was so bad that Snoqualmie gave season pass holders a free pass for the next season because they only ran for a handful of days. This was soon followed by some very nice snow years.

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  • aaron_wright
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12 years 1 month ago #219568 by aaron_wright
Replied by aaron_wright on topic Re: Higher Elevation Washington resorts needed...?
I think the words "need" and "have to allow" should be replaced with"want" and "should allow". I think the skiing at lower elevations near Snoq. Pass has been marginal for a while.

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  • Pete A
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12 years 1 month ago #219570 by Pete A
There were a bunch of proposals back in the 60's for new ski resorts in the NW...some were rather ambitious, such as a resort on Mt.Hinman. Lowell has a very detailed list on his site here:
www.alpenglow.org/ski-history/subjects/S...l#ski-areas-proposed



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  • Jonn-E
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12 years 1 month ago #219637 by Jonn-E
The window for new resorts in the NW is pretty much closed, IMHO. The political climate towards such development is hostile, the amount of capital necessary to overcome the modern approval process is absurd, and the federal agencies aren't particularly interested.

Also, skiing above treeline in the winter in the PNW often presents very challenging conditions, so moving resort skiing up in elevation present's it's own difficulties.

Annexing British Columbia is probably a simpler solution ;D

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  • dberdinka
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12 years 1 month ago #219679 by dberdinka
I think Jonn-E is absolutely correct which is a real shame. Based on population growth alone a few new ski areas to accommodate Western Washington skiers seems reasonable. It's getting crowded up there!

Pete posted a link to Lowells website which is well worth perusing. It's basically an aggregation of all historical articles regarding the development of skiing and ski areas in Washington.

Of particular interest to me is the information regarding the development of NCNP. The original plan for the park included the development of more road access as well as up to 4 alpine trams in places like Ruby Mountain and Price Lake along with the possibility of developing more ski areas. Of course in the end all that was dropped and what is essentially a wilderness park was created. Now you can't take a piss in the park or even the recreation area without a permit. How that played out would be an interesting story but I couldn't infer the tale from Lowells data.

Ruby Mountain and the Granite Creek Corridor were apparently excluded from the park due to Ski Area Industry pressure. Ultimately it was decided that Ruby Mountain was too steep for skiing. Times change. I guess you can always dream....

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