The Summit at Snoqualmie — Attraction in North Bend

Good place to learn to ski, with extensive resources, classes, and staff. Parking can be a challenge, especially on weekends, so make sure to get an early start. Summit West is the best place to learn, but doesn't offer much for more experienced skiers, due to its lack of high-speed lifts (available at Central, Silver Fir and Alpental), and cat tracks/Nordic skiing/snowshoeing (at my favorite of the bunch, East Summit/Hyak). So once the other areas open up for the season, you should ditch West. Crossing over to Central also requires going down black runs and it's generally the first to close, once all the classes wrap up.

My take on each area: Summit West: Again, this is where all the classes are, so lots of people trying to learn how to ski/snowboard on the weekends. Usually first to open and close. As such, watch out for early season conditions. If you're new, start on the bunny hills then move over to Little Thunder. Julies is great for transitioning to blue runs. More experienced skiers have Dodge Ridge and Pacific Crest right outside the lodge. Chair placement is an issue, since the beginner chairs are off to the sides and the advanced run chair is shoved way over. As mentioned, no high-speed lifts. Basically, once Central fully opens up there's no reason to stay here. Summit Central: Probably the main area of the resort. It's the biggest by far. Unlike West, their beginner chair is actually right outside the main lodge, and as such is quite crowded but still easier to get to. Gallery is good for transitioning to blue runs. Central Express is the main chair here and takes you to the top of the popular Alpine run, while Triple 60 services some black runs. The terrain parks are located here, including one for beginners. If you're more experienced, skip the main area and head straight to the newer Silver Fir Lodge, which has actual dining options besides the usual burgers, chicken tenders and hot chocolate, and an impressive bar with local brews (although mid-level skiers should still be able to give the Silver Fir chair a shot). Summit East: My personal favorite of the bunch, only open on weekends. If you're into Nordic and snowshoeing, this is the place to go. It's got some black-level face runs, but the other trails here are all interconnected and offer many exploration options: do you go for the extremely long green run, or cutoff onto one of the blue shortcuts? You can also venture onto the back face and do trails there. Lifts midway up allow you to avoid the base area, which is good since only one standard-speed triple ferries you up to the rest of the runs. Alpental: The only one I've never been to, but I still feel I can judge it. Lots of black runs, rocks, trees, and the only double-diamonds in the resort. This place won't offer much if you don't like/can't do black diamonds, although it is usually the last to close, so you can milk out some last-minute runs on one of the blues here. They do still have a green run for expert skiers who need something for the kids or their friends to do.

As a last note, this place is mostly intended for local skiers who can easily reach it due to I-90 linking it to Seattle. Visiting Ikon Pass holders would likely prefer Crystal Mountain to the south or Schweitzer over by Sandpoint. And it's massively outclassed by Whistler BC as a resort...

BEWARE! The (for profit) parking company will still ticket you for having a parking permit and for parking in an un-signed spot that, I suppose, is an EV space, even though there is not a sign for said space, and it's impossible for the charging cord to even reach the space, while every other space that is EV has a sign in front of it. I arrived at my vehicle to find a parking violation for $100 ($100!!!!! Makes Seattle parking violations look like child's play) for parking in an unmarked, but designated? EV space. How would anyone know that. I've been a season pass holder for mutiple years and have parked along the West side of Silver Fir parking lot for years, acknowledging the EV parking huts and marked spaces. I pulled into a space with no sign to the far right of the charging huts. I disputed the violation immediately, with photos (attached). A guest services member agreed that the violation was a mistake and said it would be forgiven. HA HA not so. I disputed with 4 photos (as much as the allot) and my take on the situation. The entire dispute system is broke because once I hit submit the dispute erased all my photos from the dispute page as well as some of my text, and there is no way to edit the dispute. Once you hit send, it's no longer anything you can fix. They got back to me a few hours later stating the reason for the violation was that I did not have a parking permit (I have a parking permit), but then went to say I was in an EV space and not actually charging, which is impossible because the cord would not even reach my vehicle, meaning no one could charge there, in the unsigned space, that clearly is not EV. I re-sent my pictures and pinpointed questions to an email address for the parking company and got a blanket email, most likely AI written, stating their hands are tied, and not answering a single one of my questions. I've since sent 5 more emails with no response. There is not a phone number for the company, there is no human interaction. I called Summit guest services for help, thinking someone will know what to do but just got an email stating Summit has no affiliation with the parking company, and suggested that I pay the fine before it goes to $200 in 2 days. a 100% increase if not paid in 10 days is the policy. Robbery. Greed. Absolutely no help from The Summit, a company I have given thousands of dollars to over the years sine 2006. I have spent lots of hours now trying to get someone to do the right thing, but alas, corporate takeover has ruined all things good, and obviously just wants that healthy bottom line. Shame on you, I will never spend another dollar at The Summit and I will encourage others not to do so. I've read the other 1 star reviews here and agree wholeheartedly with them. One of the reviews for parking actually got a response from the Summit (owner) it states. Well (owner), please do what's right and help with this. And if you want unmarked spaces to be designated spaces (as another parking review sort ticketed for) then put up signs so that your intentions are clear. There is no sign designating the space I parked in as an EV space. The photos here are very clear. I'm shocked that I have to waste my time with this sort of pettiness.

To sum this up, spend your money elsewhere, The...

My friends and I booked 6 Nordic Trail Tickets, and also rental gear via the Snoqualmie website in order to go Nordic Skiing on Sunday 2.28.2021.

When we got to the area and picked up our Nordic Trail tickets, we were told that we couldn't have booked our rental equipment online cause it doesn't give you the Nordic Center as an option. However, when we go to purchase the Trail tickets, it asks us "if we want to rent equipment". So based on that option, we added the rental equipment as selection. Again, when we got to the Nordic Center, people there were swamped, frustrated, and could not help us with our situation. The lady there expressed that if the Nordic Center doesn't appear as an option when you book your Trail tickets, then there is no possibility to have been able to reserve equipment. She said we probably booked downhill skiing equipment instead. This is $531.36 worth of tickets and equipment. So my group and I were extremely frustrated and upset. We had booked this stuff 3 weeks back.

Not to mention the website is horribly confusing! There are no clear instructions for Nordic Skiing. It is poorly setup. We are very disappointed with the resort and the website itself as they have been functioning in the Washington area for such a long time, you would think there are clear instructions on what to do. And we live in Washington and wanted to try Nordic Skiing for the first time.

I went to whistler to snowboard in February 2020 and things were MUCH EASIER than this.

If i were to go on the website right now and buy Nordic Skiing Trail Tickets this is what I get. This is completely misleading! Rental Reservations are not required for Nordic Skiing. It can only be done with a lesson - as we learned from the Lady at the Nordic Center. YOU REALLY NEED TO FIX THIS!!! We were lucky and eventually got our refund for everything. I am waiting for the refund in my bank account.

We were also told that numerous others had the EXACT same issue. So please make your website more clear and obvious. This is...