February 16, 2004, Praise for Leavenworth ski hill

With the Seattle schools on winter break, my son and I went for a mini road trip earlier this week. The plan was to ski at Stevens Pass on Monday, then drive to Wenatchee for the night and ski at Mission Ridge on Tuesday. When we got to Stevens, it was a howling blizzard--not much fun for a kid--so we kept driving east.<br><br>I was curious to see the renovated jump hill at Leavenworth so we stopped in there. To my surprise, the little downhill area (two rope tows) was running, so we bought $10 tickets and a pair of glove protectors and went skiing. Tom had a ball--more fun than he would have had on the chairlifts at Stevens, I think. Going up the rope tow was as much fun as coming down. And for a seven-year-old still in the snowplow stage, the little hill was the perfect kid-friendly size. There were 20 to 25 other skiers there, most of them young kids.<br><br>I've got a soft spot for these old-style family ski areas. Those are the kind of hills I learned on. They're WAY more affordable than, say, Snoqualmie Summit, where you'll pay $70 for a day of skiing with your kid. The bigger ski areas are killing their future with those rates. Loup Loup near Twisp is another fun little community hill. Do you know of others?<br><br>Here's the website for the Leavenworth ski area:<br><br>www.skileavenworth.com/

I ski with my kids at Hyak alot because it is a bit more old style than the rest of the areas on the pass (slow chairs). Doesn't get as crowded and lots of good kid terrain - however it is expensive if you/kids don't have a pass.<br><br>In Washington there is also Hurricane Ridge.<br><br>In Canada Mt Arrowsmith on V.I. was great but is no longer running. Further north is Mt Cain which is really good too. Crystal Mountain in Kelowna is perfect for kids and they have good nordic skiing there at Telemark as well.<br><br>I think Canada in general has alot more of the old mom and pop type hills.

The Leavenworth Ski Hill is a gem. We hadn't ever heard of the ski hill, saw a little sign, noticed the road was named "Ski Hill Drive" (or something similar) and decided to check it out. At the time, my girlfriend Emily was just learning to telemark, so we bought some passes and practiced technique for a few hours (she can now shred, fwiw). The rope tow just about rips your arm out of the socket if you aren't prepared, quite a bit different than the other rope tows I've used.<br><br>There is a little ski area near Chelan, a little ways from the north shore. Our Washington State Recreation Atlas also indicates a ski area quite a ways up the Entiat River, but I'm not sure if this is still open or not.<br><br>Here's a link to a list of former Washington ski hills: Lost Ski Areas of Washington

I've also collected information on various Washington ski areas on my history website:<br><br>www.alpenglow.org/ski-history/subjects/S-info.html#ski-areas

One more to add to the list is Ferguson ridge. I saw this on PBS. It was on a show called Oregon Field Guide. I haven't personally been there but it looked like a great mom & pop type area and could be fun to try.<br><br>Too bad places like this are slowly disappearing now that skiing has become such an "industry".<br>

Try Badger Mt. at by Waterville - that is up on the plataeu above East Wenatchee.