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Alpental (King, County, WA, USA) is an "Alpine Valley" (in German) about a mile North of I-90 at Snoqualmie Pass, in the Washington Cascades, just over 50 miles from Seattle. Techinically a 3 sided canyon, the valley is flanked by Denny Mt. on the West, Chair Peak to the North, and Mt. Snoqualmie to the East, with Source Lake occupying the upper valley area feeding the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River.
In 1967 mining claims were transformed into the Alpental ski area. In order to gain access to the area an agreement had to be made with the Sahalie Ski Club to allow a road through their property. Alpental ski area agreed to maintain roads at their cost for the Sahalie group in exchange for this access. Though the road accesses public forest land, the road is not part of the forest service, or county road system and is maintained by Ski Lifts, INC.
This has traditionally been one of the most popular outdoor recreation areas in the Cascades, with a rich history of Northwest climbing starting from this valley floor. There is also a ski area operating on Denny Mt. which is called Alpental, operated by Booth Creek Ski Holdings Inc., of which controlling shares are owned by Vail Zillionaire profiteer tycoon George N. Gillett Jr. of Congo Foods renown.
The ski concession is a small part of The Summit at Snoqualmie Ski Area, operated by Ski Lifts Inc. under Booth Creek management, located in Snoqualmie Pass, Washington, but offers excellent advanced backcountry skiing access to pristine undeveloped wilderness. The inbound terrain in which the ski concession operates is considered the most difficult of the Summit at Snoqualmie Ski Area, with 75% rated Advanced, 22% rated Intermediate and 3% rated Beginner. The ski area at Alpental has four chairlifts that provide access to 2,280 feet (695 m) of vertical descent and 302 acres (1.2 km²) of skiable area. The area has way more than an additional 500 acres (2 km²) in its backcountry area, which is a major jewel of backcountry skiing in the Cascades. The entire NE side of the ridgeline from Denny Mt., extending toward Chair Peak can be traversed, and a phenomenal amount of varying terrain can be accessed on skis or a snowboard from the upper "chair 2." You can get all the way out to "Piss Pass," and beyond from the existing chairlift. The backcountry can only be accessed by those riding the lift who obtain passes from the Alpental ski patrol, or by those who choose to access public land by the traditional method of parking in one of the upper lots, and hiking up the valley floor. Alpental has a long tradition of climbing ascents starting from these lots. The base of Alpental is 3,140 ft (957 m) with a top chairlift elevation of 5,420 ft (1652 m). Alpental's average snowfall is 444 inches (1127 cm).
Night skiing is also available on the lower mountain.
The upper parking lots, traditionally known as lots 3 and 4 at Alpental are public land, managed by the USFS Mt. Baker/Snoqualmie National Forest, and are free and open to the public under Article F in the , under which this particular ski concession operates. These lots are kept clear of snow and open to the public as part of the agreement with the USFS which issues the ski area's Special Use Permit. Aside from being the most choice real estate in the valley, the upper public lots not only are a convenient place to park and ski or snowboard down to the lifts, they have historically been an excellent point to access many winter climbing, skiing, and snowshoeing routes. Lot 4 is described as the start of several tours in Martin Volken's guidebook; Backcountry Skiing Snoqualmie Pass.
Here is an excerpt:
"Approach: Take Interstate 90 to the Snoqualmie Pass west exit. Drive on Alpental Road to the uppermost parking lot (3,220 feet). Leave your vehicle here. From the parking lot you'll see a groomed path leading deeper into the Alpental valley. Follow this path to the end. From here you continue up the valley, staying well above and south of the Snoqualmie River. Be aware that the north slopes of the valley are steep and very avalanche prone."
There are indeed many opportunities for climbing as well as touring. For example if one wanted to climb Chair Peak (or the Tooth, or Bryant Peak) in the winter as Jim Nelson and Peter Potterfield describe in their guide:
"The difficulty of this approach varies, depending on snow conditions. Drive I-90 to
Snoqualmie Pass and Exit 52; cross under the freeway by heading north, and follow signs to
Alpental. Drive Alpental Road north 2 miles to the parking lot. Hike upvalley, staying
left (south) of the creek, to the head of the valley above Source Lake. This area is prone
to avalanche. Use extreme caution."
Nelson, Jim and Potterfield, Peter, Selected Climbs in the Cascades, The
Mountaineers,/Seattle 1993, p 46.
Booth Creek Ski Holdings, Inc. is currently requesting that the USFS approve its plans to
develop Alpental's backcountry.
Alpental is also the name of a small sub-division of resort homes on the Alpental Access
Road
[http://www.alpental.com Alpental detailed information and history link
Liberal left-wing propaganda site that opposes Booth Creek
[http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/mbs/projects/summit-at-snoqualmie/figures/2-3-3-2-Alternative-2-Pro posed-Conditions-Alpental.pdf Master Development Plan]