Change comes to Washington ski hill with industry’s priciest parking

What goes up, must come down.

True enough for skiers, snowboarders and snowshoers who head into the mountains, where the price to park at the Summit at Snoqualmie will be considerably lower this winter. After clocking the highest daily parking rate in North America last season at $55 per day for visitors who were not ski area customers, Summit has unveiled a new parking plan going into effect Nov. 29 that cuts prices by over half and only charges on weekends and holidays.

Parking at Summit Central, East and West will run $15 per day, free for carpools of three-plus in select lots until 10 a.m. or at capacity. Spots at Alpental will cost $25 per day, free for carpools of three-plus in all lots until 10 a.m. or at capacity. Paid parking will be in effect from 7 a.m.-3 p.m. through the end of the season. In addition to all Saturdays and Sundays, visitors must pay to park Dec. 26 through Jan. 2, Jan. 19 (MLK Day) and Feb. 16 (Presidents Day). Parking remains first come, first served.

Lift and Nordic season passholders will continue to be exempt from paid parking. Ikon Pass holders, single-day ticket holders and visitors who buy multiday ticket packages will be subject to the new rates, unlike last season. Uphill Pass holders will also be required to pay for parking this season, but uphill travel on the ski area’s marked uphill routes is no longer permitted on weekends and holidays from Dec. 26 to March 1.

“We significantly reworked the system from things we learned last season,” Summit general manager Guy Lawrence said. He noted that peak days, especially weekends in January and February when lessons are in full swing, require tighter management of the approximately 5,500 parking spots sprinkled through Snoqualmie Pass. (The Summit maintains parking lots on a mix of public and private land; the ski area does not manage parking on State Route 906, which remains free).

Lawrence also acknowledged that not everyone who wants to visit the mountain pass along I-90 on a midwinter weekend will be able to do so, even as weekdays remain below capacity.

“We’ve had a long history of trying to accommodate everybody all the time and it just doesn’t work,” he said.

The new policy went over better than last year’s high price tag with recreation groups like the Cascade Backcountry Alliance, which advocates on behalf of backcountry skiers, splitboarders and snowshoers in Washington.

“Overall, this is a more middle of the road, moderate approach to parking,” said Vice President Will Russack on Thursday after a preseason open house in North Bend. “It facilitates public access to public land more than it did last year with the carpool incentive and the lower prices, which are an easier barrier for people to cross.”

But for ski area management and backcountry recreationists alike, managing scarce parking is a symptom of a larger problem.

“We’re close to over 4 million people and there’s been an explosion of backcountry and uphill travel,” said Lawrence. “Those add to the pressure and we can’t just turn a blind eye. We need to be more disciplined in how we manage our business.”

The Cascade Backcountry Alliance has been focusing its advocacy work on establishing new Sno-Parks at the Snoqualmie Pass Pacific Crest North trailhead, also known as the Kendall Katwalk trailhead, and at Mount Pilchuck, where a ski area ran from the 1950s to 1970s.

“The bigger picture is about how the Forest Service and the ski areas work together to accommodate the increased demand that we’re seeing,” Russack said.

The group is also pushing King County Metro to run winter bus service to Snoqualmie Pass, something that Lawrence endorses. He has previously suggested the parking lots at Summit West, which are in King County, as a drop-off point, and offered to transport visitors from there via the Summit’s summit fleet.

In August, King County Metro and the county Department of Local Services briefed the Metropolitan King County Council on the feasibility of transit service to Snoqualmie Pass at the behest of Councilmember Sarah Perry, whose district includes the mountain area.

The presentation concluded, “Regular service to Snoqualmie Pass is not a Metro transit service priority based on County policies including Metro’s Strategic Plan, Service Guidelines, Metro Connects.”

Public transportation to winter recreation hubs exists in Denver, Portland, Salt Lake City and Vancouver, B.C.

“There are a lot of mountains close to cities that have strong public transportation,” said Lawrence. “King County has more work to do in that regard.”