Seattle-area skiers and snowboarders no longer have to drive four extra hours down a 184-mile detour through Leavenworth to access Stevens Pass after the west end of Highway 2 reopened Thursday. The resort is operating daily 9 a.m.-4 p.m., with night skiing currently unavailable. Lift tickets, equipment rentals and ski lessons are available to book at stevenspass.com.
“We are very excited to start welcoming guests back to the resort from both the East and West sides of the Pass,” wrote General Manager Ellen Galbraith in posts on the Stevens Pass Instagram and Facebook accounts.
Parking at the resort is limited to numbered lots 1-4, Summit lots A, B and E (south side) and Summit lots G, C and D (north side), according to the resort’s website. Guests arriving from the west are encouraged to make a right-hand turn into lots 1-4 or A, B and E, while guests arriving from the east are encouraged to make a right-hand turn into lots G, C and D. Parking reservations will resume Saturday for lots G, A, B and E.
Highway 2, the main route to Stevens Pass, had been closed since mid-December due to heavy debris obstructing the roadway. Stevens opened for the season on Monday, nearly a month after its targeted Dec. 5 opening date. Before Highway 2’s west end reopening, drivers coming from Seattle needed to follow a 184-mile detour involving a route along I-90 through Snoqualmie Pass and Highway 97 over Blewett Pass, followed by driving through Leavenworth up Chumstick Highway — a journey that could take at least four extra hours of travel time. Travelers coming from the east side still have to follow a pilot vehicle for 5 miles from Coles Corner to Stevens Pass from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Michelle Rolfs, a season pass holder for the last three years, was one of the first skiers on Stevens’ slopes on opening day. She lives in Shoreline, but was able to make it to the resort from her cabin in Coles Corner.
“Opening day this year was pretty surreal,” she said. “I arrived about 10 a.m. and it felt like a ghost town — zero lift lines and only a handful of people hanging out around the lodge … Everyone that was there definitely felt lucky to get to experience an opening day like that and you could feel that the whole staff was really excited.”
While the highway reopening comes as a relief to westside-based skiers, many season pass holders are still awaiting news on possible refunds from the resort. The lengthy detour was a “nonstarter” for Christian Knight, who has inquired about the resort’s refund policies. He was already on edge about this season after checking long-range forecasts. “It is a risk, and you accept that risk because you believe that you can get your money for it,” he said.
“I don’t expect that we will receive any refunds and I think that is going to make a lot of people upset,” Rolfs added.
Rolfs and Knight purchased an Epic Pass, the season pass sold by Vail Resorts, who has owned Stevens Pass since 2018. Epic Passes can be used at a network of ski areas owned by or partnering with Vail Resorts and come with insurance called Epic Coverage at no additional cost, which covers unexpected circumstances like an injury or job loss. The refund policy does not extend to “road or traffic challenges,” according to Stevens’ website.
On Dec. 24, Galbraith shared via the resort’s social channels, “We know many of you are frustrated. We get it, and we hear you. We are committed to sharing updates and information about resort operations as soon as we can. For our pass holders concerned about the impacts to your season — please know, as we mentioned in our last update, we are actively assessing the situation and will share more information about passes when we have a better sense of the resort’s opening date and road access.”
The lack of clear communication from the resort has been frustrating for Adam Jata, another season pass holder. Jata, who lives in Kenmore and skis with his kids, grew up visiting the slopes at Stevens before spending nearly a decade at Snoqualmie. This year, he decided to return to Stevens and ski with friends in the area, and bought his first Epic Pass.
“This year was a big stretch for me to make the season passes happen this year,” he said. “(The lack of communication) was a gut punch from the organization. It just felt like we didn't matter to them.”
He added that although Epic Passes are valid at other mountains like Whistler in British Columbia, that journey is still several hours long and travelers would have to potentially spend more on lodging and other costs.
“I think at this point, unless they offer some sort of compensation or discount or refund to us and say, ‘Hey, we acknowledge that your season was disrupted due to things outside of everyone's control,’ I just don't see myself buying a pass there next year,” Jata said.
For others like Knight, who is building a house in Index about 30 miles from Stevens, they’re still hoping to stick it out. “I'm sort of married to Vail,” he said, adding, “I've got to make the most of it. I'm just hoping that Vail makes that a little bit easier on my family and me to do that.”
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