Alpental ski area on Snoqualmie Pass will unveil its new two-story David Pettigrew Mountain Safety and Education Center on Saturday afternoon. The 30-minute ceremony will start at 2 p.m. with a tour to follow.

The mid-mountain center will serve as a meeting place for mountain safety and avalanche courses and as an additional ski patrol outpost and dispatch center.

The center is named in honor of David Pettigrew, a long-time snowboarder who died in a snowboarding accident at Alpental in 2005.

“The new structure will meet a growing need for additional meeting space to host a series of popular, free …

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Here is an update on all things snow-sports releated, well almost all things:

Crystal Mountain: The lifts are running, at least the gondola and Green Valley left. The area opened at 9 this morning. The ski area has received 19-21 inches of new snow in the last 24 hours. Area officials announced Chinook Express, Discovery and Forest Queen lifts will open Saturday. This will allow access to beginner and more intermediate runs.

Paradise: The popular winter fun spot at Mount Rainier National Park has received 19 inches of new snow in the last 24 hours. Weather station data indicates there …

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Thanks to 11 inches of new snow, Crystal Mountain made it official this morning. The ski area will open at 9 a.m. Friday.

The Mount Rainier Gondola and Green Valley chairlift will operate 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Lift tickets will be $35 on Friday.

Skiing will be allowed only in the Green Valley area.

Additional terrain will open as the snowpack builds. Ski area officials hope to open Discovery, Chinook Express and Forest Queen Express chairlifts Saturday.

Mount Baker also will open Friday. The area will open both base areas and operate at least six chairlifts.

The Summit at Snoqualmie …

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UPDATED: 2:20 P.M.

Crystal Mountain officials are counting on a mid-week storm to bring enough snow to allow a limited opening Friday. The ski area announced its plans this afternoon based on the winter storm forecast for Wednesday and Thursday.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch for Wednesday and Thursday in the Cascades. The forecast for the Snoqualmie Pass area calls for almost 2 feet of snow those days, with more snow through the weekend.

Currently there is just over a foot of snow in Green Valley.

“It’s a bold move to announce the …

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Ski Magazine’s top 30 resorts issue came out earlier this month. The story listed the top 30 ski resorts in North America and the top 10 ski areas in 20 categories.

Below I’ve listed how all of Washington’s ski areas fared.

What’s that you say? “Hey, you didn’t list anybody.” That’s because nobody in Washington made the list.

To be fair to SKI Magazine, these lists are determined by their readers not their writers and editors.  But each year all I seem to learn from this issue is that SKI readers don’t ski the Northwest …

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Two-time Olympic gold medalist Seth Wescott will be at The Summit at Snoqualmie this weekend.

He will be here for the “Visa Seth Wescott Ride With Me SBX Tour” that also coincides with the RIDE Shakedown event.

Wescott, the first and only gold medalist in snowboardcross, will on hand for snowboardcross clinics, autograph/photo session and champion celebration party.

Most of the tour events will take place Sunday. The day begins with free snowboardcross clinics, led by Wescott, at 10 and 11:30 a.m. at Summit Central. Snowboarders of any age can register online and enrollment is limited; first come, first served …

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The Summit at Snoqualmie will host a Law Enforcement Appreciation Weekend, honoring police officers, firefighters, emergency medical services staff and their families.

“We are grateful to those brave men and women who help keep our community safe,” Dan Brewster, general manager, said in a news release. “Given the stress of their positions, we’re very happy to provide a fun, relaxing outing that their entire family can enjoy.”

Discounts of up to 40 percent on lift tickets, rentals, lessons, tubing and more will be offered with the presentation of work ID at Summit lift ticket windows. Reservations for tubing and child …

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Skiers at Crystal Mountain and The Summit at Snoqualmie helped raise more than $9,500 for relief efforts in Haiti.

The two Puget Sound ski areas donated $1 from every lift ticket sold on Saturday, as well as took donation.

The Summit at Snoqualmie contributed $5,666, while $3,966 was raised at Crystal.

The areas are owned by Boyne Resorts, which held a similar fundraisers at its resorts in the United States and Canada. All told, $30,528 will be donated to the Red Cross in both nations.

Donations also were collected at the company’s Big Sky, Boyne Highlands, Boyne Mountain, Brighton, , …

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