Expansion for Snoqualmie snow activities gets USFS approval

Thu., Dec. 29, 2005

Associated Press

SNOQUALMIE PASS, Wash. – The Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest has endorsed an expansion plan that would make room for one-third more skiers and snowboarders at The Summit at Snoqualmie.

But before the private ski area can move forward, it would have to buy 400 acres of wildlife-rich private timberland nearby and donate it to the government to link the forests of the south Cascades with those to the north of Interstate 90.

“Over time, the land donation should mitigate the loss of the habitat that the ski area’s trying to develop,” said Sonny Paz, a wildlife biologist for the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie Forest.

The U.S. Forest Service for the past six years has been evaluating expansion plans for the Summit, portions of which have been in operation since the early 1930s. The agency’s draft review of those plans was released last week.

Summit managers say they want to better control the flow of people among the resort’s four areas: Summit West, Summit Central, Summit East and Alpental.

The expansion plan calls for:

• Two new chairlifts through a heavily wooded section of the Central and East summits.

• Connecting the Central and East summits with steeper cat trails so snowboarders, who tend to avoid traversing flat ground, can better access both summits.

• Two more chairlifts to Alpental, allowing expert skiers to stay higher on the mountain.

• More terrain at Alpental for intermediate skiing.

• Consolidating facilities at the bases of Central and West summits, offering an extra 10 acres of parking, 2,800 more restaurant seats, and 140 more acres for night skiing.

The wooded area where the new Central and East lifts are proposed is thick with old-growth trees, so the Forest Service has urged the Summit to develop so-called “gladed” runs, which are more difficult to groom but leave more trees standing, said Larry Donovan, who led the review for the Forest Service.

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