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Snoqualmie Pass, Washington
backcountry skiing and ski touring photos
Snoqualmie Pass, sometimes affectionately known as Snowcrummy Pass, doesn't enjoy a reputation for great snow, but when the conditions are right, it's Snowquality Pass all the way. With low freezing levels and fresh powder snow, Snoqualmie Pass offers backcountry skiing in beautiful old-growth forest unmatched by most other destinations in the Washington Cascades, and it is only an hour's interstate drive from the Seattle metropolitan area. Most of the Snoqualmie Pass ski areas offer only moderately steep slopes, but the backcountry can be a different story, where steep runs, open and forested, abound, with attendant avalanche hazards. For times when the avalanche danger is high, there is great backcountry ski touring as well. Due to Snoqualmie Pass' low elevation, 3000 feet, the backcountry ski season tends to start later and end earlier than for other areas of the Washington Cascade Mountains.


Backcountry skiing destinations abound in the Snoqualmie Pass area. Destinations west of the pass include Granite Mountain, Humpback Mountain, and McClellan Butte. Backcountry skiing terrain accessible directly from Snoqualmie Pass includes the Alpental backcountry, Chair Peak, Kaleetan Peak, Snoqualmie Mountain, Slot Couloir, Crooked Couloir, Guye Peak, Lundin Mountain, Red Mountain, Kendall Peak, and Kendall Peak Chutes. South of I-90 at Snoqualmie Pass are ski destinations such as Mount Catherine and Silver Peak. There's great ski touring terrain in the Snoqualmie Pass area as well, with destinations such as Nordic Pass, Commonwealth Basin, Gold Creek valley, Rampart Ridge, and the Folklife Tour out of Alpental.

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Skinning toward Guye Peak
Skinning toward Guye Peak

Telemark skiing in old-growth forest
Telemark skiing in
old-growth forest


Snoqualmie Mountain and Guye Peak
Snoqualmie Mountain
and Guye Peak


Old-growth forest near Nordic Pass
Old-growth forest
near Nordic Pass


Snoqualmie Pass winter wonderland
Snoqualmie Pass
winter wonderland


Nordic Pass backcountry skiing
Nordic Pass
backcountry skiing


Old-growth forest powder skiing
Old-growth forest
powder skiing


Silver Peak
Silver Peak

Nordic Pass telemark skiing
Nordic Pass telemark skiing

Fresh powder at Snoqualmie Pass
Fresh powder at
Snoqualmie Pass


Booting up a nice slope
Booting up a nice slope

Spring backcountry skiing
Spring backcountry skiing

Skinning up Snoqualmie Mountain
Skinning up
Snoqualmie Mountain


Skiing down Snoqualmie Mountain
Skiing down
Snoqualmie Mountain


Snoqualmie Pass backcountry run
Snoqualmie Pass
backcountry run


Spring telemark skiing
Spring telemark skiing

High speed backcountry skiing
High speed
backcountry skiing


End of a great run
End of a great run


Follow this link for more galleries from Central Cascades backcountry skiing trips.
Follow this link for Snoqualmie Pass panoramas.



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