Master Plan Deep Dive: Alpental
A view of the Alpental summit from the Edelweiss lift, which is now earmarked to be completely replaced by a triple chair.
Washington’s Summit at Snoqualmie, the closest ski area to Seattle, unveiled its new Summit 2030 Plan a few weeks ago. The extensive master plan details a series of upgrades for the resort’s physically separate Summit at Snoqualmie and Alpental areas in the coming years. Planned investments for expert-oriented Alpental include a nearly complete overhaul of the area’s lift network and new avalanche mitigation systems.
In this piece, we’ll be honing in on the proposed “Alpental Aspect” upgrades—as the resort refers to them by—and assessing potential impacts.
For more information on Alpental as it currently exists, see our review here.
The envisioned alignments for the new Sessel, International, and Edelweiss lifts at Alpental once the Summit 2030 Plan is complete. Capacity plans for all three lifts have changed since this figure was released in 2008, with all now planned to be triple chairs.
Upgrades
Lifts
Nearly every lift at Alpental is slated to be touched by this master plan, with just the St. Bernard bunny hill lift and nearby magic carpet remaining unchanged. These upgrades are designed with capacity in mind, with every resort area on track to receive more uphill capacity than it offers today.
The most notable upgrades impact Alpental’s upper mountain. The proposed International triple chair is expected to extend from mid-mountain to the top of the Back Bowls, creating an alternative to the Edelweiss lift to access the expert International and Back Bowl zones. In addition, the Edelweiss double chair, which is over 50 years old as of 2022, is slated to be replaced by a fixed-grip triple.
Alpental also plans to completely replace its lower mountain Sessel double lift with a fixed-grip triple, with an extended alignment to connect with the new International lift. In addition, the Armstrong Express lift—Alpental’s only high-speed lift—will receive 20% additional chairs for the 2022-23 season. Finally, Alpental’s tickets and passes are moving to RFID technology, eliminating the need for guests to physically show passes at lifts.
Crowd Flow
If implemented as proposed, these upgrades will provide much-needed crowding relief. With the current setup—in which there are no real lift redundancies—lines to access Alpental’s upper mountain can become more than an hour long. Providing a dedicated lift to access the International zone and well as a reconfigured Sessel lift to allow guests to avoid the Armstong Express at the base should really help spread crowds out. On top of that, moving to RFID technology for ticket scanning should ensure a smoother loading process with fewer operational interruptions.
The proposed International lift does not provide access to any Edelweiss Bowl terrain, meaning that if the chair is constructed as planned, the Edelweiss lift will still be the only way to reach a considerable portion of Alpental’s upper mountain. That being said, upgrading Edelweiss to a triple chair should help manage the expected continued demand in this area, and hopefully, the new International setup will siphon enough crowds away from Edelweiss to sufficiently reduce that area’s lines.
Resiliency
According to the Summit 2030 page, Alpental plans to add new avalanche mitigation tools, such as trams and other remote operating systems, to open terrain faster. The resort has not provided any further public details on the placements or types of systems planned here, but one might reason that steep, popular areas such as Edelweiss Bowl and International would be prime candidates for these investments.
Alpental as it exists in May 2022.
Final Thoughts
Alpental’s planned investments strike right at the heart of the resort’s biggest problem—its crowd management. This upgrade plan suggests the resort’s priorities are in the right place, and if implemented as proposed, guests can expect significant improvements to the Alpental experience. Three of the four lift projects are earmarked as “Near Term” initiatives, meaning that hopefully, the bulk of these upgrades will come quickly.
We look forward to returning to Alpental in the coming winters as these lift and avalanche mitigation projects become reality.
Considering a trip to Alpental next winter? Read our comprehensive mountain review here. Additionally, check out our Washington state and West Coast rankings.
