Has anyone here skied Mt. Pilchuck?

damn, look at those lift lines!

I'm so glad we have all these mega chairs now and lift lines like that are just barely reckognizable images from the past!

I remember driving UNDER the chairlift in 1974, and 75. Is that right?
I don't remember skiing there on the lift, but I did carry my skis on my back in 1988 and 1989 and ski down from the firewatch a number of times. The upper mountain is a very cool ski, interesting NW northface skiing!
I climbed it 10 or more times in the mid 70's in the evening and some day hikes, doing the summit in a couple hours. and then glissading down the thick spring snowfields with my wooden REI iceaxe in the near dark.
You have to understand that here in the USA, we did not have Rando gear at all. Only 3-pin set-up. No AT gear at all, so "touring" was a vague dream at that time (1970's and 80's).
Oh, I also remember seeing the lights of the ski area from Interstate-5. The lights would REALLY stand out looking at the mountain from the freeway going northbound there by Everett. You could almost see the skiers.

Anyway, I have a question, where did the upper Mount Philchuck chairlift TERMINATE?
Was it BELOW the upper meadows of the upper portion of the mountain? There is a cliff there and it opens up from the trees.
The picture looks like it terminated there in the spot I described. You WILL find very little in the way of ruins, some cement footings is about it but they are there. I have never seen ruins any higher up.
I wonder, did the chair go up near the top ridge? I saw a reference to a chute(the funnel) that everyone HAD to ski down, that would be near or on the top ridge. That does not make sense, I believe the chair terminated only about halfway up the mountain(from the road) and NOT up on the top ridge. As you can see, I am confused.
Lowell sir (or rather Sir Lowell)? Do you remember where that chair terminated? I cannot find any picture of the top terminal, that would solve my dilemma anyway.

Also where is that chair now?

Best of the seasons,
BillyTheMountain

Unfortunately, I never skied at Mt Pilchuck when it was open. I believe, based on photos and topo maps, that the main chair terminated around 4300ft, about 1/2 mile NW of the summit lookout. If you follow the NW ridge of the peak down to 4600ft on a topo map, you'll come to a very flat shoulder. From this point, a subsidiary shoulder descends north toward a knob marked on the USGS 7.5 map (in TOPO!) at 3945ft. The upper terminal of the chairlift was around 4300ft to 4400ft on this northerly trending shoulder. There is an aerial photo on p. 87 of Ted Mueller's book "Northwest Ski Trails." showing the chairlift.

A good friend of mine who skied Mt Pilchuck a lot when he was younger tells me that the old Pilchuck chairlift is now Chair 6 at Crystal Mountain.

Here's a nice diagram of the Mt Pilchuck ski area in the late 1960s, from p. 86 of "Northwest Ski Trails." The book says that the upper lift terminus was at 4350ft.

Here's a nice diagram of the Mt Pilchuck ski area in the late 1960s, from p. 86 of "Northwest Ski Trails." The book says that the upper lift terminus was at 4350ft.

Now it makes sense. I thought the chair did not go up that last 300 or 400 feet above the cliff. It makes sense that it would.
Now that I see this map, I feel like Mount Philchuck would actually make a VERY cool ski area if a chairlift went another 4 or 500 feet up to the NW ridge so a skier could easily traverse the (very complex and interesting) top area of the mountain. I bet grooming might be a problem on that north facing slope. Did the Mount Philchuck Ski Area have ANY grooming when it operated?

TY Lowell for this and all your research and work on our skiing history, I don't know why, but this history interests me a great deal.
Bill

Did the Mount Philchuck Ski Area have ANY grooming when it operated?

I doubt it.  At least not in the sense that we think of grooming today.

I was telling my son about "the old days" recently when we were skiing together. As you can see in the photo above, the slope was packed entirely by skiers and is extensively moguled.  I remember a lot of that in the 1970s. Young skiers today sometimes make fun of people who make short radius turns at modest speeds--but that's the way you pretty much HAD to ski at a place like Pilchuck in the 1970s. Widespread, daily grooming has really changed things.