Stevens Pass sets ski season opening date with 100-mile detour from Seattle

Stevens Pass, the last Cascades ski area still yet to open this winter, will fire up the lifts on Monday, Dec. 29 — but prepare for a grueling detour if you're coming from the west side of the state and want a taste of fresh powder. And in a reversal of initial policy, the ski area's owner Vail Resorts is now hinting that some kind of compensation for season passholders may be forthcoming.

It’s time to start the season – something I’ve wanted to say since the snow started to fall," wrote GM Ellen Galbraith in Friday afternoon posts on the Stevens Pass Instagram feed and Facebook page.

Galbraith added: "For our impacted pass holders, we anticipate sharing an update with you early next week on our plans to address the impact to your season."

The delayed opening day at Stevens is a minor miracle, and means that WSDOT and the ski area have found a workaround about two weeks after flooding from a series of atmospheric rivers closed Highway 2 on both sides of the mountain pass and Gov. Bob Ferguson initially cautioned that the closure would last "months."

Ferguson announced Friday that a roughly 20-mile section of the highway from Coles Corner to Stevens Pass has been repaired. The fix means there is now a through route from Leavenworth to the ski area that detours around Tumwater Canyon, where the Wenatchee River swallowed chunks of Highway 2 during the worst of this month's historic floods.

With a road connection in place following a week during which feet of snow blanketed the mountain, Stevens Pass announced Friday that its long-awaited opening day is finally here.

A lack of snow delayed an initially planned Dec. 5 opening, then the atmospheric rivers more than just rained on Stevens Pass's parade — the impending road closure necessitated an evacuation of the remote locale and left a skeleton crew on site.

Since the storm abated, staff have returned via the detour route to shovel, plow and maintain critical systems. Power outages were a recurring issue, but Galbraith attested Friday that the ski area is ready to come online.

"The snow has piled up, our power supply is holding steady, and our mountain and operational teams are ready to go," Galbraith wrote via posts on Stevens Pass' social media accounts. "This is the first needed step on our path to returning to full operations for our community and our employees."

While the majority of Stevens Pass's employees are based east of the ski area, the largest concentration of skiers and snowboarders live on the west side of the state.

That geographic fact means makes the opening bittersweet for many of the ski area's loyal customers, who — for as long as Highway 2 remains closed at Skykomish — now face the daunting prospect of driving more than 100 additional miles each way to get to Stevens Pass ski area from western Washington

What's more, the detour route is unlikely to be an easy trip. After navigating I-90 over Snoqualmie Pass and State Route 97 over Blewett Pass, drivers will then go through Leavenworth and up the Chumstick Highway. WSDOT describes the detour as "a rural county road with lower speeds and bridge restrictions.

A pilot car will guide drivers along the reopened stretch of Highway 2 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., which will add further delays.

The controlled access road situation is not unique to Stevens Pass though the Highway 2 section is the longest stretch for any of Washington's ski areas who were affected by road closures.

Mt. Baker Ski Area is similarly dealing with alternating traffic on Highway 542 but only through a single washout. Crystal Mountain Resort initially opened for the season with limited capacity in order not to overwhelm a fragile section of Highway 410. As of Wednesday, the road was fully repaired and Crystal had returned to normal operations.

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