Mountain Review: Stevens Pass
MOUNTAIN SCORE
CATEGORY BREAKDOWN
See our criteria
7
Snow:
5
Lifts:
7
Resiliency:
5
Crowd Flow:
5
Size:
4
Facilities:
6
Terrain Diversity:
6
Navigation:
8
Challenge:
6
Mountain Aesthetic:
GOOD TO KNOW
On-site Lodging: No
Apres-ski: Limited
Pass Affiliation: Epic Pass
Recommended Ability Level:
+ Pros
Generous snow accumulation
Diverse advanced and expert terrain
Competitive terrain park experience
Available night skiing
Local feel
– Cons
Perennial foggy, low-visibility conditions
No on-site lodging
Limited parking and inconvenient overflow lots
Short vertical drop
Very little beginner terrain
Limited on-mountain facilities outside base area
MOUNTAIN STATS
Lifts: 10
Trails: 52
Beginner: 11%
Intermediate: 54%
Advanced/Expert: 35%
Mountain Review
Stevens Pass is a modestly-sized ski area a few hours away from Seattle. Strong snowfall totals, a local feel, and challenging expert terrain have attracted regional visitors for years. Although a few notable changes have come to pass, the resort still largely offers the same experience it did before Vail Resorts acquired it back in 2018.
Stevens Pass’s character has somewhat changed since the Vail acquisition, with new LED trail status maps installed at the base and price hikes across food venues. However, the mountain still maintains its local feel, with very little buildup past the base complex. Despite its very modest stature, the area still feels quite removed from the outside world; a two-lift requirement to reach all summit areas helps with this, even if upper-mountain chairs are quite short in length. Prominent power lines on the back side may remind you of the outside world, but there’s very little trace of civilization back there besides that.
Stevens Pass’s overall aesthetic heavily depends on the day you visit. The mountain experiences some of the heaviest fog of any Washington resort, with visibility on the worst days dwindling down to the point where you may not even be able to see a few feet in front of you. But on clear and sunny days, you’ll have a clear line of sight to the stunning mountain ranges surrounding the area.
Stevens Pass is not for beginners. Beginner terrain exists solely in lower-mountain areas, and some of it is too flat to pick up speed, resulting in a less-than-ideal experience even for those learning. A bunny hill, newly upgraded with a higher-capacity quad lift, exists at the base.
Stevens Pass offers decent intermediate trails for its size, but the terrain doesn’t stand out. Intermediate runs exist across most mountain areas, but some upper-mountain areas are advanced-only. The mountain does offer a few cool intermediate-accessible glade areas, but most blue trails are typical, tree-defined trails with ordinary terrain elements.
On the other hand, Stevens Pass offers some unique, seriously technical terrain. Advanced and expert runs span the entire resort and comprise many forms, including trails, glades, and bowls. Certain lines boast technical pitches that extend the entire mountain length, resulting in some leg-burning challenges. Others require demandingly tight turns or steep drop-ins with very little room for error. The toughest lines exist off Cowboy Mountain, a short hike from the 7th Heaven chairlift, which comprises cliff- and chute-riddled terrain with few in-bounds danger markings. An out-of-bounds backcountry warning sign exists at the start of the hike, but the guidance only applies to the terrain off the back side of the ridge.
Stevens also boasts three competitive terrain park areas with features ranging from extra-small to large. Features include boxes, rails and jumps, as well as one of the only half-pipes in the Pacific Northwest. The setup falls short of top-tier, however, due to a lack of extra-large features.
Stevens Pass’s toughest terrain is especially avalanche-prone, and due to the nature of the terrain, extensive avalanche mitigation work must be done after snowstorms. However, the work hasn’t been done as fast under the new management, and some trails or lifts can take hours or days to open. This can especially be inconvenient if a storm falls on a weekend, when the fewer open areas leave less room for crowds to spread around.
Speaking of crowds, Stevens sees serious traffic on peak days. The resort’s convenient location from Seattle makes it a favorite for locals, with long lines common throughout the entire peak season on weekends and holidays. However, Stevens’ parking lots quickly reach capacity on weekends, so there’s a limit to how bad the crowds can really get. Crowds tend to be non-existent on weekdays.
Stevens’ lift setup does a decent job of handling crowds in certain places. Three high-speed lift options exist from the base, which helps move traffic efficiently. One of these lifts—the Hogsback Express, which provides the main access to the resort’s back side and the only access to non-bunny-hill beginner terrain—always sees longer lines than the other two. The fourth major base lift, the Kehr’s double chair, provides an alternative route to the back side for advanced and expert guests and generally experiences somewhat shorter lines than the other three lifts. The 7th Heaven and Double Diamond chairs rarely get backed up, but their terrain is very difficult to directly lap, and most guests will end up waiting at another chair after a run down one of these. Stevens’ popular back side often bears the brunt of resort traffic, with its two lifts often seeing long lines on weekends.
When it comes to lift infrastructure itself, Stevens offers a mix of high-speed quads and slow, lower-capacity fixed-grip chairs. High-speed service holds down many lower-mountain areas as well as the Jupiter backside area. All other lifts are slow, but the advanced-only Double Diamond and 7th Heaven lifts are so short that their speeds barely matter. It’s worth noting that the short, frontside Double Diamond and backside Southern Crossing chair are the same lift starting on different sides, sharing a top mid-station for unloading; failing to get off at the right time means a grueling download to the bottom and ride back up.
While fog can severely hamper visibility, getting around Stevens isn’t terrible overall—although there are a few quirks. Slopes across the resort’s compact footprint funnel down to just one base area and one backside junction point, making it tough to get truly lost. However, while signage is decent, some resort areas could use more trail maps posted around. Getting around the base can be tricky due to a large hill required to reach to most facilities and the Kehr’s chair from other popular lifts; a short rope tow provides convenient transportation up this hill, but it’s tough to grab and hold onto.
Like other Washington state resorts, Stevens Pass sees incredibly high snowfall totals each winter—often among the highest in the country. Immediately after a snowstorm, the resort can offer light, untouched powder stashes. However, wet and heavy snow conditions often plague the mountain, making for unpleasantly difficult snow to plow through. Weather can vary as well, and the resort can see occasional rainstorms—followed by ice-overs—throughout the core season.
Stevens Pass offers night skiing during the core winter season, with operations extending as late as 10pm Wednesday through Sunday. These operating hours are generous, but limited terrain options stay open throughout the evening, with few options for advanced and expert visitors. Intermediate and freestyle guests will enjoy night-skiing the most, as much of the terrain in these categories tends to remain open.
Lodging
Stevens Pass doesn’t have any on-site lodging, and the nearest options are approximately 20 minutes away in Skykomish or 40 minutes away in Leavenworth. The mountain is about 60-to-90 minutes away from certain Seattle neighborhoods.
Stevens offers very limited parking—and even more limited convenient parking. Getting a parking spot within walking distance to the slopes means arriving incredibly early in the morning due to limited upper-lot capacity.
Overflow parking is quite inconvenient, with the lots about 5 miles down the mountain pass from the resort along a considerable gradient. Access to the resort from these lots comes through shuttle buses. Backcountry trails back to some of these lots do exist, but they’re not marked. However, even the furthest overflow parking can fill up by 9:30am on peak days.
Aprés-ski
As a local mountain with no on-site lodging, Stevens Pass doesn’t really offer an aprés-ski vibe. However, the resort boasts a few enjoyable base area bars that generally stay open late thanks to night skiing.
Verdict
Stevens Pass gets really busy on weekends, and the mountain may not be the best choice for destination-goers due to its lack of nearby lodging and modest dimensions. But for those who go at the right time, Stevens can be really awesome thanks to generous snowfall and unique, technical terrain. Despite some operational challenges since the Vail acquisition, the area is still one of the most competitive in Washington state. Ticket prices have risen in recent years but remain a solid deal, especially for experts.
NOTE: Mountain Score criteria for this resort were adjusted on October 12, 2021.
