white pass ski area

Good price, family oriented, good instructors, great daycare, great people working there. Smaller mountain less crowded than the other 2 major slopes. We are average skiers and snowboarders so not looking for the biggest and baddest slopes.

We had just skied at at a large resort near Portland and had a blast. We were too far from there to get back for a single day so we thought we should try White Pass. When we arrived we noticed that it didn't have the 'glitz' of the larger resorts closer to a metropolitan area. This had real old school charm. It was like stepping back in time to my child hood. It had a slightly campy feel which only added to its undiscovered charm. The folks manning the ski lifts, the cafeteria, the ticket booth were all super polite. My daughter ordered 'a large fry' to share with us and the cafeteria lady handed her a large fry cracking my daughter up.The snow, early in the season, wasn't great but all the runs were well-groomed. The lift lines were non-existent. They have several high speed quad and triple chairs and even a throw back old double chair lift like I grew up with. White pass is about two hours from my home in the Tri-Cities and I will head back there as often as I can. It was lovely.

Even on the busiest weekend of the year (Prez day, during a huge dump of cold dry snow) the lines were short and there was plenty of untouched powder in the trees. The lift layout opens up a lot of terrain making the hill seem a much bigger than it looks on the map with plenty of tree runs & traverses between lifts to keep things interesting.Plus, their well-plowed (& free) overnight RV lot makes weekend road trips from Portland easy and inexpensive.

Fabulous ski conditions over Presidents Day weekend. It was windy for lift rides, but fine for skiing. Busiest ski weekend, but only encountered long lines first thing in the morning. On a cold, windy morning I did not have a face/neck cover - and lift attendant offered a small scarf that was in lost and found and not picked up. Saved my ski day! Demo'd powder skis (yes the snow was THAT deep) and helpful staff in picking a ski to demo. On mountain food is good and reasonably priced, also good beers on tap. Lodges were crowded and busy, but able to find seating with just a short wait. Love this ski area - I have been here twice, before the West side was open, and once when it was closed. The west side adds fun terrain, we skiied mostly in the trees. I don't know how a ski area can feel so freindly, but talkative people on lift rides, freindly staff, small town community feel. I'll ski here again (hopefully soon!)

I gave this a 3 because I have nothing to compare it to. This is the only ski "resort" I've ever been to. Don't expect a beautiful big lodge with cozy couches and warm fireplaces - it's more like a junior high school and lunchroom with the crowds. However, the bar area is more comfortable, less crowded and has a great view out onto the mountain. But the energy of all the people having fun makes it enjoyable. The rental room staff are very nice, friendly and helpful. After reading about other larger ski areas, I appreciate that White Pass is obviously less visited and more laid-back so less stressful for a beginner such as myself. I will be trying the Nordic Center for skiing and snowshoeing this year so we'll see how that goes. Another reviewer was correct however, that it is not much of a place for more experienced skiers, as my husband complained. But it gets him out there again after so many years and he likes that.

Ski and snowboard instruction very organized. Very reasonably priced. Friendly and very helpful staff from the Lift Ticket booth to the Rental Shop. Short drive from Packwood to ski area. Plenty of parking. Easy in and out. Inexpensive skiing for all levels and ages. Great for snowboarding! Short lift lines a big bonus. Several lifts and slopes were closed due to lack of snow but, there were plenty open to keep us happy and skiing for 3 days. Very, very family oriented. Day care available on site. Can't beat the view of Mt. Ranier while skiing.

I carefully read through the website including details about the "Learning Center" and pricing. I looked Thursday evening and again Friday morning. It was clear that the mountain was open (early in the season and some aren't) and that they offered skiing lessons......unfortunately I missed the one page that stated "no lessons today". I was taking my 8 year old son skiing for his first time and eventually picked White Pass over Mt. Hood meadows because it was clear that the lessons were 1.25hrs instead of the typical 2hrs and he preferred the shorter time. I got there at the suggested time after driving two hours and went to sign up for lessons only to be told that lessons hadn't started for the season yet. I have worked in customer service many times in my life so I tried to stay calm and to respect the fact that the two people I was speaking with are not the keepers of the website. Eventually they showed me the one location of the "no lessons today" statement on the website (again, not on the home page, lessons page, or pricing page). To be fair, it was on the "snow report" page and I didn't check it because if the place is open.....well, then it's open. And I wasn't negotiating between one day and another, or worrying over snow in the last 24hrs so I didn't see the point in checking on the "snow report". I'm glad that THEY know their website, but anyone can see that THEY are not the target audience. Long story short, they made it right by......charging full price for two lift tickets and full price for rental. I'd taken a day of vacation and my son out of school (one time only deal, I promise) in order to see if he would take to skiing at the start of the season, so they were nice and condescending and had me by the.... To top it all off, the bunny slope was closed; I've looked again and while the open chair lifts are marked on the website, the open slopes are not at all. Okay - so there are good websites and bad. Some are user friendly, and some are not friendly. This one fooled me. I thought it was user friendly and therefore didn't dig deep enough and frankly I guess I don't speak the language. And expect no grace. There will be none. I'm no great skier, but I've been to almost all of the resorts in WA, ID, and OR. White Pass has so little draw compared to the others, I would think that they would go to great lengths to get people there and make them happy.On a positive note: my son - proud of that dude. Made the absolute best of a very non-ideal situation.

Great dry snow. Not crowded. Short twenty minute drive from our cabin in Packwood. Seldom blocked by slides. Very recently expanded to almost double ski area.

Great time with 3 and 5 year olds on the magic carpet. The Kids Clinic was good for the 5 yr old and the kids skied from lift open to close. We really liked the bag racks in the lodge. The food in the lodge was good and moderately priced.

Went here for the first time last weekend and was pleasantly surprised. The lifts were up-to-date, staff friendly and runs were generally enjoyable. Only negative comment was that it seemed that the run categorization (IE Black, blue, double-black) was a little off. Most of the runs seemed to be rated at a higher difficulty than they were. For example, what I would consider to be a moderate blue would be rated a black diamond. I assume this is due to the fact that the ski area's total elevation is a lot less than a lot of other resorts around WA and other areas.Would recommend this ski area for anyone who enjoys skiing in the trees (as we found untouched snow in many areas).

First time traveling to White Pass and found it to be worth the trip. The Nordic ski trails are well groomed and plenty of variety .the staff in the Nordic center are experts, friendly and very helpful. We will return again during this winter center..

We enjoyed the short lines and less crowd at White Pass. All ranges of groomed intermediates to diamond. Beautiful drive to the park. Stayed overnight near Mt. Rainier park at Gateway Inn Cabins. Nice time off to enjoy the great Northwest backcountry...

I thoroughly enjoyed my 1st visit to this ski area thanks to the knowledgeable staff! In the morning, they properly selected and fitted me with equipment for my 1st snowboard experience. Then, in the afternoon, they provided the same quality of service when I decided to switch to skis. Every staff member was friendly, courteous, and encouraging-how refreshing!

White Pass Ski area is about 50 miles from Yakima. The drive through the mountains is a scenic one past the Rimrock Lake reservoir. White Pass is good for beginners and intermediates. There are black diamond runs, both bumped out and steep, in the main area for those looking for more of a challenge. The newly-opened Paradise Basin significantly increased the acreage. There the designated runs are pleasant blue boulevard runs but there are opportunities to ski the woods as well. We had heard a lot about the magnificent views of nearby Mt. Rainier just 12 miles away as the crow flies. Unfortunately, even on the sunniest day, clouds obscured our view. Fortunately the same clouds generously were dumping snow on the mountain. Snow is so reliable the ski area does not even have to resort to snow-making. We enjoyed our time on the mountain.A couple comments on the layout. There are 2 peaks but only one base. To get to the second mountain and Paradise Basin you ride the Great White Express, head across on the green traverse, Boardwalk. Ride up Basin Quad then down This Way and Wind-Shot to finally get to the main lift of this new area, Couloir Express. Several blue runs and potential glade runs beckon from atop the Couloir Express. Both the lifts in Paradise Basin run only until 3:15 PM and so be sure to be on the Basin-Boulevard traverse back to the main area by that time. Night skiing is offered at the main base area. We did not stay at White Pass though there are lodging options both at the base and on-mountain. We ate both at the base lodge and High Camp Lodge and they both offered the usual fare. A suggestion: buy your tickets online, print the e-ticket, and have them exchanged for the Passport (RFID/smart card) at the resort. Then reload them online at home prior to each ski day. Unlike other ski areas there are no options to buy multi-day tickets so you have to reload your Passport each day. We had to wait 45 minutes for tickets on our first day

My one weekend visit was great. I stayed in my truck camper in the RV lot - ski in, ski out - for free! The ski runs just go on and on back away from the highway, I found lots of runs great for my intermediate ability. Small lodge, but everyone very friendly.