Overall Rating: 46/90
Steven’s Pass is one of my go-to ski destinations for a day trip from Seattle. However, it is far from a world-class ski hill. The biggest thing it had going for it was the value proposition. However, with it being recently acquired by Vail Resorts, that proposition is quickly disappearing as Vail attempts to recover the $67M that they spent on purchasing the operating rights. Lift tickets and season’s passes have skyrocketed and there is talk of charging for parking here. In the meantime, I have not seen anything about upgrading their antiquated single-speed lifts, or providing more terrain.
Terrain: 13/25
Vertical Drop: 1800 ft
Base Elevation: 4061 ft
Summit Elevation: 5861 ft
Skiable Area: 1125 acres
Average Snowfall: 450 in
Total Trails: 37
Total Lifts: 10
Express Quad Chairs: 3
Slow Triple Chairs: 4
Slow Double Chairs: 3
Generally, the terrain on the mountain is diverse and interesting. Rating system of the runs is aimed at beginner-intermediate skiers. Cascade blue runs are about on par with green runs in the Rockies. The back side is open until 3:30p and has some of the more technical trees, steeper terrain, chutes and moguls.
Night skiing is done Thursday – Saturday and adds a very cool aspect with low colored light. (+2pts)
Most of the lifts servicing the mountain are the slow one-speed doubles and triples.
They have grooming machines – I’ve seen them! But they primarily use them to plow moguls. Morning coloroid, is not a thing here.
Usual Snow Conditions: 6/12
This isn’t something that the operators can do much about, but it is a factor! Unfortunately, due to low elevation and the proximity of the warm Pacific Ocean, the snow quality here is rarely stellar. They do get a lot of inches most year. But it is heavy and sticky “Cascade Mash”. Some years however are an exemption and I have had a handful of phenomenal snow quality days here! But they are rare! In contrast, the resort does have a large stack of rain ponchos on hand and they do come in handy, as they do not give refunds on days when you burned your $90 ticket and you’re getting rained on.
Value: 4/10
As I mentioned, with Vail’s recent takeover, the value has now dropped from 8 to 4. Day passes were around $80 and with multi-day purchase they would get down to $60/day. As of this writing (August 2019) the cheapest day ticket I see on the site is $125!
Shame on you Vail! What caused a 56% hike in prices over the course of 2 years?!
Lines & Crowds: 6/10
It is manageable and borderline good on the weekdays. But is usually quite a zoo on the weekends, which extends into full parking lots, terrible traffic home, etc.
The beginner-intermediate crowd here means that lifts do get stopped often and lines are not well queued. Quading up at the lift is very optional and the relatively high percentage of snowboarders (roughly 50%), means less efficiently at the loading/unloading zones with semi-frequent sightings of groups sitting tip to tip blocking runs.
Parking: 4/10
Prior to Vail taking over Steven’s pass, parking had always been free here. Last year, the lower lots closer to the lifts, became paid. It feels that the intention is for all of the parking to be paid in years to come. There are shuttles that go here, but waking hours before the crack of dawn to wait at a bus stop with all of your gear, the inability to bring (or having to carry) spare clothes, not being able to have the freedom of where to leave… seems so 3rd world and a giant step backwards to me! From talking to others that have done the shuttle thing, they said that they had to be at the bus stop by 5am and between the loading and unloading, what would be a 2 hour drive turned into a 3-hour cattle-car experience. I can only imagine the odor of ~30+ skiers stuck in a confined space wearing the clothes and socks they’ve been in all day!
Generally, I would say that the parking here is insufficient on peak days. I’ve heard stories many times of people coming to the mountain on weekends just to get turned away. And because there is literally nothing else at the summit, getting turned away literally means that you have to either drive 2 hours home, or at least 45 minutes to the closest semblance of a town. Either way, there is no way of knowing ahead of time if there will be room and if there is not, your trip will be ruined.
Village & Amenities: 2/8
There is no lodging anywhere near Steven’s pass. Closest private cabins start about 20 minutes away. More realistically, you are looking at about 45 minutes.
The mountain does have a number of restaurants and bars. Lines are mediocre mid-week. Prices were borderline reasonable, for a ski hill. But expect these to rise!
There is nowhere to go to for drinks after skiing. Everything at the resort closes down promptly and most people drive down the mountain – closest towns are about 45 minutes out in either direction and roadside restaurants are the destination for most. My favorite however is to head all the way down Highway 2 to Everett and go to “Downtown Banya”. It is a Russian spa with a hot tub, Russian-hot sauna, a steam room and a good selection of Russian/Ukrainian food.
Access: 4/6
Highway 2 is the second biggest a major east-west connector through the Cascades and is plowed religiously by WADOT. Biggest problem is that most of it is a 1-lane each way road with a painted divider. It has one of the highest death rates in the country! And traffic often gets terribly stacked up. This is compounded to by the fact that there is nowhere to stay and nothing to do on the mountain, and compounded by poor traffic management at the growing town of Monroe at the bottom of the hill. So often what ought to be a 2h drive to Seattle, turns into 3h+. In the past I’ve sometimes elected to go east to Leavenworth, have dinner there and then drive home via Highway 97 over to I-90. But this can be a sketch proposition on days with heavy snowfall as avalanches might put a stop to those plans.
Friendly-Snooty: 5/5
Honestly, they have nothing to be snooty about 🙂 Generally, this is a friendly resort.
Camping: 2/4
One thing Steven’s had going for it was the fact that they allowed overnight camping and provided power connections for campers. The lot however is quite steep to get into and I sometimes wonder how the bigger motor homes got up there. Last I checked, the camping fee was $40, which is quite steep for a parking spot! I have been successful a few times in driving 10min east to the Nordic Center parking lot and staying there in my camper. Despite the signs, nobody bothered me there.