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Ski USA - Washington

Alpental At The Summit Resort Reviews


Alpental At The Summit Forecasts
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Visitor reviews for Alpental At The Summit Ski Resort

Alpental At The Summit Ratings

Overall: 3.0. Based on 22 votes and 10 reviews.

Rate this resort

Snowsure: 3.1

  • Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
  • Is often closed due to a lack of snow
  • Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
  • Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
  • Alpental At The Summit is snowsure even in the poorest seasons

Variety of pistes: 3.3

  • The ski runs are featureless and unvaried
  • The ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week
  • Alpental At The Summit has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain

Off-piste: 4.5

  • No off-piste worth mentioning
  • Off piste is out-of-bounds
  • Some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days
  • A vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days

Scenery: 3.7

  • An ugly resort in a bland setting
  • Average mountain views and resort
  • A spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town

Access: 4.6

  • At least one overnight stop
  • Requires a whole day
  • Requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns
  • Arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon
  • There is a main airport within an hour of Alpental At The Summit

Public Transport: 2.4

  • There are no buses or taxis to Alpental At The Summit
  • There are slow or infrequent buses / trains available
  • Getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections

Accommodation: 2.5

  • No places to stay in/near Alpental At The Summit
  • A few places to stay in the resort
  • A wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets

Cheap Rooms: 2.4

  • No budget accommodation available
  • Just one or two hostels so book ahead
  • Several cheap hostels and pensions available

Luxury Hotels: 1.5

  • No luxury accommodation available
  • Just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead
  • Several up-market hotels in Alpental At The Summit

Ski in/Ski out: 2.8

  • The ski area is located far from any accommodation
  • A free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip
  • Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available

Childcare: 1.9

  • There are no child care facilities at Alpental At The Summit
  • The resort has limited child-care facilities
  • the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche

Snowmaking: 1.8

  • Alpental At The Summit relies entirely on natural snow
  • There are just a few snow cannons
  • There are snowmaking facilities on all pistes

Snow Grooming: 3.0

  • There are no snow groomers at Alpental At The Summit
  • Occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state
  • All the runs at Alpental At The Summit are groomed daily

Shelter: 3.4

  • There is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut
  • There are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close
  • Alpental At The Summit is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close

Nearby options: 3.5

  • If snow conditions are poor at Alpental At The Summit, it will be poor everywhere nearby
  • There are good alternatives within an hours drive
  • Other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions

Regional rating: 3.6

  • Alpental At The Summit usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region
  • Has average conditions for the region
  • Usually has the best snow conditions in the region

Lift Staff: 4.0

  • The staff at Alpental At The Summit are rude or unhelpful
  • Lift staff at Alpental At The Summit are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help

Crowds/Queues: 3.1

  • The resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues
  • It is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays
  • It is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare

Ski Schools: 3.1

  • No ski schools available
  • One or two ski schools but local language only
  • A few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors
  • Plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available
  • Excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors

Hire and Repairs: 3.4

  • Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex
  • There are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance
  • Good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible

Beginners: 2.0

  • Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard
  • A few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week
  • Vast areas of gentle terrain

Intermediates: 3.1

  • No intermediate terrain at Alpental At The Summit
  • Intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days
  • Vast areas of cruising runs

Advanced: 3.2

  • Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders
  • Enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste
  • Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week

Snow Park: 1.8

  • Not even a kicker at Alpental At The Summit
  • Average sized park quite well looked after
  • Huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails

Cross-country: 3.0

  • There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Alpental At The Summit
  • There are some cross country trails available
  • The area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails

Luge/Toboggan: 1.8

  • No designated luge or toboggan runs
  • There are toboggan runs that open quite often
  • Alpental At The Summit has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages

Mountain Dining: 2.7

  • Nowhere to buy food by the pistes
  • Some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive
  • There is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets

Eating: 2.3

  • Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop
  • There are a few places to eat in the resort but nothing special
  • A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants

Apres-Ski: 2.2

  • Nothing to do, not even a bar
  • There are a few bars in the resort but nothing special
  • Clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere

Other Sports: 1.8

  • No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts
  • Resort has just a small public swimming pool
  • Resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool

Entertainment: 2.3

  • Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here
  • The non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week
  • The resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports

Winter Walks: 3.9

  • Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails
  • A couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails
  • Extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities

Ski Pass Value: 3.6

  • A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available
  • The ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts
  • Ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area

Value (National): 4.2

  • Overall, Alpental At The Summit is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money
  • Overall represents average value for money
  • Overall offers the best value resort in the country

Value (Global): 3.9

  • Overall, Alpental At The Summit is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world
  • Overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries
  • Internationally the resort offers excellent value for money

Show all 35 ratings

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February 07, 2016
Will from Ski USA - California USA - California
Both Alpental (plus Snoqualmie Pass back country) and Stevens are situated at passes which divide two very different air masses; often cold continental high pressure and maritime low pressure (the later driven by prevailing westerlies, over the longest fetch on the planet). The Cascade Mountains offer up one of the steepest slopes anywhere on earth. Moist air is forced up causing winter precip nearly unmatched anywhere giving these places arguably more powder days per steep than anywhere else. Combine that with the notorious low level "easterly flow" that can maintain lower temps than anywhere at these elevations (just fractions of a mile to the west) and you've got winter wonderlands like no others. Alpental, however, has little in the way of any "bunny" slopes, separating this mountain and it's regulars from other areas with pretty much only serious to hard core skiers. This place is not for Texas wanna-be skiers, or anyone looking for a 5 star hotel with a hot tub....go back to Seattle.
January 07, 2016
shawn from Ski USA - California USA - California
My favorite place to ski, hands down. But shh it sucks, go to Stevens, everyone likes it more...
April 02, 2013
Coop from Ski USA - California USA - California
Alpental is the worst ever, you should never, ever go there. Stay away, really and truly, stay away. Go to Summit West or Central, or even better, another area entirely. All the rad people go to Crystal or Stevens, man. Yeah, Alpy sucks. That's what makes it so hard living there. I really should move away, but I will probably live there forever with my luck...
January 21, 2011
ppenoyar from Ski USA - California USA - California
Little secret; it does rain here. However, that rain is what makes the vast playground of backcountry possible at Alpental At The Summit. The wet snow sticks to the rocks creating a platform for the powder to stick to. This leaves us with lots of pillows, steeps and drops that are not only challenging but fun as hell. Please, if you are venturing into the backcountry check yourself, the place can and will kill you if given the opportunity.
January 10, 2009
Jacko from Ski USA - California USA - California
Well, Stevens is great but for beginners, except Mill Valley (sometimes it is open for skiers). Best access is, we know Summit. There is also a nice Summit learning center and with my respect to all another learning schools, they're doing a great job. But you can see the best skiers on Alpental (Alpental At The Summit). The reason is simple; they know about skiing and slopes. There is only 5% beginner’s terrains so go to Summit West where there is 40% beginners or Central 25% beginners and in future come to Alpental if you are currently intermediate. To ski on Alpental all winter you must love this mountain and explore more. This is the reason for other skiers to be jealous of Alpental. Weather, what weather? Wet snow and rain, they are pretty much same. And all are good, depending what you are looking for.
November 28, 2007
Justin from Ski USA - California USA - California
I laughed really hard when I read Larry's comment. Alpental is one of the best ski areas in Washington, hands down. Everyone goes there to ski and have a good time. As for the summit and Steven being "where it's at"... well... only if you want lots of poser kids talking trash and smoking weed. If you want great skiing however, go to Alpental.
April 07, 2007
Austin from Ski USA - California USA - California
Alpental is always wet and rainy. There is way better snow just 40 minutes north at Stevens. Stevens would be my choice any day of the week as is has better runs, better BC and better parks and they actually groom their runs. If you want sun go to Mission Ridge or Crystal. Crystal is very nice and has great runs and great snow. If you want 34 degrees with a snow/rain mix with a lot of vertigo go to Alpental.
January 29, 2007
Noelle Richards from Ski USA - California USA - California
Wow Larry... did you have a crappy time at Alpental or something?? You must've bit it pretty bad and made a yardsale out of yourself cuz who wouldn't like Alpental unless they were entirely unskilled?? Did ya read the sign that said for experts only?? And if you are an expert, you can not tell me that you didn't find the mountain challenging. To the rest of you reading this, ignore Larry, he is either extremely ungrateful and doesn't know a SICK mountain when he sees it OR he's a poser trying to pretend he's a pro skier.
December 13, 2006
Larry Johanson from Ski USA - California USA - California
Alpental is garbage. Don't ever go there. Stay away at all costs. Yuck Yuck Yuck. Go to the summit, or better yet Stevens. That's where it's at.
December 29, 2004
Rick Vicik from Ski USA - California USA - California
Alpental may be small, but it is less than 1hr drive from Seattle, offers 2200' of vertical and 75% of the runs are advanced. Non-stopping the double-diamond 'International' is a rite of passage. There is also an impressive back country (safety briefing from Ski Patrol required for access). The advanced runs are serviced by only 1 double chair, but most of the time the crowds stay on the easier runs of Summit West, Central & East (located on the south side of I-90). Alpental is on the north side, has a higher base (3140') and much higher summit (5450') which means better snow. Also, it has more of the atmosphere of a hard-core ski area. On the down-side, the altitude is low enough that ra Note: Your map should show Alpental on the north side of the kink in I-90 at Snoqualmie Summit.