White Pass

Love it. Great family place. Ok so I have to add more for Unilocal to say it’s a review instead of a tip. We really love White Pass. Great family ski mountain. Tons of great snow this year. Reasonably priced season tickets when you get them in the sale. Friendly staff. Lots of indoor seating but on holidays it doesn’t seem to be enough. Good thing though is that you get close to others and get a chance to visit. Kinda like a game where you are forced to meet people. Wish they had wifi for all the non skiers that hang out waiting for their families.

First the good: The recent expansion of the resort added 2 new lifts and lots of new runs. Lift lines are short and snow is pretty good for being so close to the west side of Washington. The new High Camp Lodge is fun, has great food, and a great staff.
The not so good:
–The main lodge is a mess. Folks are allowed to come in the mornings, push tables together, and leave their bags. When people come in for lunch all the tables are empty but occupied with coolers and ski bags. The resort really needs to put a stop to this and start moving those items to a bag storage opening up the tables to people who are PURCHASING lunch and are looking for a place to sit.
–The main lodge menu needs a revamp. The food tastes similar to a high school cafeteria. If they want to keep up with other northwest resorts a better, healthier menu is mandatory.
— The two high speed quad chairs need more staff. On Saturdays and holidays the lines are poorly managed. People cutting and charging through lines making for a very unpleasant experience. Most northwest resorts have some one managing the lines were they merge to give skiers/​boarders a better experience. Even little Bluewood does a better job at lift line management.

White Pass had a promotion where I could use my Crystal pass, so I decided to make the trip over with my 17 year old daughter. We had our best day of the season… lots of different terrain and no long lift lines! I would have loved a little more steep, but will definitely be back.

Normally, ski resorts make you pay one daily price to ski the whole mountain. But what if you only use half the mountain? Can you pay a lower price? What if you are a beginner or you have young kids with you and don’t plan to use the black diamond trails… Here at White Pass, you CAN pay a lower price. How awesome is that? Our family of 4 paid $ 60 total to use the ski lifts, which was perfect for us. Plus, the snow was well groomed and fun to ski on. It’s definitely the most family friendly ski resort we’ve been to so far and we are definitely coming back.

We really enjoyed our stay at the White Pass Village Inn. It was fantastic and the manager Mark bunch went way out of this way when we left something in the room. You want clear to town and mailed it to us C.O.D. And then when the post office screwed it up he spent a lot of its own time trying to straighten things out. Thank you Mark it was a fantastic stay at the White Pass Village Inn

From beginner to advanced, they have something for everyone. If you are a beginner like me they have a lower area lift pass, which is $ 27 instead of the regular $ 60 ticket. That was nice because most beginners will only use the lower level lift anyway.
The reason I took away two stars is because:
1 — the food prices are ridiculous. We paid $ 28 for the prime rib and the roll was practically frozen. The meat was alright I guess, nothing special.
2 — the lodge is looooong overdue for a renovation. It’s crowded and I constantly felt like I was fighting through crowds just to get to the restroom.
Other than that it’s a great place! Friendly staff, excellent skiing/​boarding.

I didn’t get a chance to ski out here but we came out for a snowshoeing hike that you can use the cross country trails right across the street from the resort. The trails were not properly signed at all which made it really complicated to figure out if we wanted to stay on the trail longer, take a different one or head back. After finding the map when we were done we couldn’t find any of the mapped trails but it was very enjoyable so I would come back and try to snowshoe there again.
I did use the resort/​lodge to grab some lunch and coffee which was just as you’d expect for a ski resort. They had sandwiches, burgers, fries, hot drinks, a bar upstairs and a lot of window seats to watch skiers and snowboarders on the slopes! The mountain seemed great to come back if you enjoy blue trails with some blacks and some greens.

Friendly for n00bz and advanced skiers/​snowboarders
* Nansay and I are an average skier and snowboarder respectively. This basically means we can handle most mid level runs without falling, but aren’t exactly doing any crazy jumps.
PROs:
* We enjoyed the different runs in this area. On the paths I used I did get stuck in any flat areas. I was basically all downhill… which is awesome!
* There is a changing room with lockers as well as a play place for toddlers.
* Overall the staff was helpful and kind when we required help with finding different chairlifts or renting equipment.
* The other skiers were kind and patient as well! Other ski resorts tend to have large amount of stuck up people… not that that bothers me, I live in Bellevue after all: p
* Nansay’s family came along. They are advanced skiers and mentioned they had a fun time on the black diamond.
CONs:
* Food and drink is expensive. This is obvious at any ski lodge though. Just bring your own food if this is a problem for you.
* Someone mentioned this before… and I agree… the lodge is LOUD with plenty of bodies and voices bouncing off the walls
OTHER COMMENTS:
* I noticed some of the runs bleed into each other.
Example: A easier run is near the base. A mid level run starts further up the mountain… halfway through the mid level run, you merge into the easier run.
* This isn’t so much a bad thing. It’s actually a smart way to increase a run.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
It’s rare that we are this far south… so we won’t be visiting White Pass anytime soon. This quite frankly is a shame, because we had a really good time here!

I went to White Pass for my first time snowboarding, and while it was disastrous for me, the extremely helpful staff and beautiful views may have made up for it.
A half-​day pass cost $ 44, which was good after 12:30pm to closing, although they only allow one night run when it gets dark. My snowboard and boots rental cost $ 25 for the day, and the rental guys were super helpful from putting on and taking off my boots for me to comforting me for wiping out for three hours.
Once we were all in gear, we rode chairlift #2 to the holiday run (which is not a great idea for your first run fyi — I wish I knew about the rope lifts!). Trying to get off the chairlift wasn’t easy, but luckily, the staff helped with that too. The views going down were absolutely amazing and almost made every crash worth it to enjoy being surrounded by the gorgeous mountains! In fact, I think my sprained wrist may just be worth it.
The other skiiers and snowboarders were also very patient, and some even stopped to help out and guide us down for a bit. I was impressed by this after learning everything I know about skiiers and snowboarders from Johnny Tsunami.
Now the lodge on the other hand wasn’t too fun. It was so incredibly loud in there, which was such an abrupt change from being on the quiet slopes. And my juice and orange cost $ 4 — lame.

I moved to WA last April with the intention of trekking up to Stevens Pass and over to Crystal… I’d never even head of White Pass. Well, I haven’t missed a weekend since x-​mas and the 20ft base up and glade skiing on the Couloir has treated me well. Skiers left off 6 and keep going. Being from NY I must say finding this little gem has made my winter… that one is for free, if you want more you gotta pay up. Just got my 2011 – 2012 pass on sale today and I’m looking forward to getting my moneys worth before this season wraps up. More 12′+ POW days God… please? Yep, huge fan… Awesome!

I learned to ski here many years ago and want to echo the comments of Nic J. This is a great ski hill and people are downright friendly, including the staff if you show them a little appreciation. The past 2 weekends, I’ve brought friends here for their virgin White Pass experience and both times, they were hooked and can’t wait to come back. Davey’s Yurt has been a huge hit with my friends. It has a surprisingly wide beer selection including a new fave, Irish Death. Ski up, pop off your skis, grab a tasty beverage and pull up a picnic table with some strangers. You might make a new friend or two.
Short lines, a good assortment of runs, and decent food all make this a good value for skiers. If you want the fancy Colorado scene, this is not your place. Stay home. That’s just more mountain for the rest of us.

Umm did you go to ski?
If you read the reviews that have 1 – 2 stars they say, «good snow, no lines, lots of runs» then they say «but the food was crappy»…
Pack a sandwich!
White Pass is a great place to SKI! I mean it, and it the mountain just doubled in size. It does take a minute to get back to the new side but it’s awesome (740 acres!). There are so many great runs, great trees, and if you look you can almost always make some fresh turns. No, there is no shopping mall at the basin (sorry, if you are from Colorado) but I think its low key feel makes this place great.

We had a great time on the snow. But… When it came to anything customer service related, you could have gotten better service from a purple elephant.
Everything from the tickets, lifts, food, beverage, adult beverages, and all other areas of accommodations were not just poor, but unacceptable.
After asking for comment cards, we were directed to a woman who said she was the close with the owner and would be happy to take our comments. Even after telling her of our experience over two days, she shrugged her shoulders and gave me the «sucks to be you» look.

This review is strictly for the Nordic Trails of White Pass (i.e. the groomed crosscountry ski trails) — -I thought I was going to be the first to Unilocal the nordic trails, but Becky L, and Kathleen M. beat me to it! :)
I’ve been on these trails several times over the last 8 years. There are all types of trails (flats, steep climbs, and fun descents — as long as you don’t eat it on the way down!).
For Thurs-​Sun one has to pay $ 11 for a pass, but that’s such a deal, and heck if you can play hookie during the week, you can have the place to yourself and for free!
The Nordic Center yurt is cozy and a nice place to take a break (also a place to change out of stinky clothes after a nordic workout!).
A friend (justin g.) and I were able to tackle just about all the trails in about 90−120min. During our trip we didn’t see anyone. I went on a solo 60min run and ran into about 5 fellow skiers.
All in all, a great way to spend a day. I’m already itching to get back up on those trails. **oh, and if you spot a stray water bottle up there, it belongs to my friend!**

The most unpretentious ski resort I’ve ever been to. How refreshing! Not a single posing blond in a fur-​lined jacket and D&G sunglasses holding a chihuahua! Awesome. We snowshoed on a couple of surrounding trails near the resort (one groomed, one off-​site) and enjoyed drinks and snacks in the main lodge bar. Looks like a great place to come for no-​hassle runs and good times. The people in the yurt were super friendly — a great place to take your boots off, grab some cocoa and compare stories with fellow adventurers. One of their groomed trails actually feels more rugged than you’d expect — but there are FREE hiking trails nearby so take your pick.
Note — the upstairs restaurant at the lodge closes early so it’s all cafeteria style at night and the bar only has beer/​wine, no hot toddies to warm you up. But there is a fireplace…