Cross-country Ski - White Pass Nordic Center

Our group met at 9am near the yurt at the Nordic Center. We had a strong group, including students from Everett, Olympia, and Tacoma, and a couple of more experienced folks. We had planned to ski up to the Dark Meadows extension area to ski the North Loop and South Loop, and consider adding more skiing on the way down, at my excellent co-leader Brian's suggestion. We ended up skiing counter-clockwise on the Lake Loop to start, then connecting to the Kendall Konnector to the Dark Meadows Addition. We skied the North Loop and South Loop in a counter-clockwise direction, taking  a short break for lunch at a viewpoint on the North Loop, where there was a picnic table. Then we skied the Dark Meadows Loop to Zig Zag, Heatherstone, Dog Lake Loop, Deer Creek Loop, and finished via the Lake Loop (clockwise direction). 

We really enjoyed the White Pass nordic area and were able to ski most of it in a day. Snow conditions were excellent and it was snowing lightly throughout the day. We liked that most of the terrain was blue/intermediate and enjoyed both rolling hills and the significant uphill & downhill of going to and from the Dark Meadows extension. Everyone did well, and some of the newer skiers surprised themselves by being able to ski 10 miles with 1300 feet of elevation gain. The group trip ended at  2pm so some participants could get on the road, but several skiers stayed to do some additional miles until the nordic area closed at 4pm.

I had never been to White Pass before. I definitely felt it was worth a weekend trip to ski here. From the Seattle area, it is about a 3 hour drive, so several of us spent 1-2 nights in nearby Packwood at local hotels. It's about a 30 minute drive from the ski resort to Packwood. There are several breweries in Packwood, for those so inclined, and an enjoyable Thai food truck. Some of the breweries had live music as well.

Photos courtesy of Steve LeBrun