Tomer’s Take: Snow Favors Both Coasts – Jan 4, 201802:03

Whistler-blackcomb is not the only PNW ski area. Crystal Mountain east of Seattle is an excellent mountain with more to offer than many mountains nation-wide, like 486 inches average annual snowfall, on-site accomodations, 3100 feet vertical drop, 2600 ski-able acres, 11 lifts, w/Gondola to the top, 57 trails, 1 base lodge, w/two on-mountain lodges, one of which boasts the best views of Mt. Rainier anywhere, lots of accessible backcountry, PUMA snowguns half way up (soon to be all the way to the top), long groomers with the longest being 2 miles,  multiple bowls, lift tickets less than a C-note and much more,. Then there is Mt. Baker, Mission Ridge (totally fun and my WA second favorite), Stevens Pass (better than Brighton in Utah in my opinion), Snoqualmie Summit (worth a mention, albeit best for beginners but still close to Seattle), Crystal Mountain (my home mountain and best in Washington), White Pass and let’s also include a nod to Oregon, with Mt. Hood (ski in August which is a blast) and Mt. Bachelor (amazing). Simply Put, Washington has GREAT skiing and boarding and the lack of mentions in your alert forecasts for the PNW shows little more than a simple lack of overall knowledge and/or favoritism to the big corporate areas. Ski and board Washington. We have extreme terrain, great mountains and usually more snow than anyone. Sorry for the feedback. I do enjoy your reports.