Jaron Burbank

Review of Stevens Pass Mountain Resort

Been going here for about 7 years and have always ...

Been going here for about 7 years and have always recommended it over the other resorts in the area. However, things have changed. I will say that the ski patrol group is awesome but that s about it. The parking staff is rude and unprofessional. Parking is also extremely unorganized. We arrived at 8:45 (15 minutes before they open) from the west. We waited in the right lane to get in the parking lot but when we got to the front of the line it was full. They did not do anything to let people know it was full. So we were directed to the lots down the road which were again full from people that didn t wait in the line for the main lot. We were then directed a few miles down the road to yodelin. Again this lot was full. We were then directed 4 miles down the road to the Nordic center. We finally get parking after sitting in traffic. It is now 9:30. The resort shuttles people from the Nordic center parking up to the resort. It took over half an hour for the first shuttle to get to the Nordic center. It was a van that seated 10-15 people. The line for the shuttle was around 300-400 people long. It is now 11:30 and still no bus has come, only vans. The line is still around 300 people long. The bigger problem comes from the resort being bought by Vail Resorts. Vail also owns whistler. Now Vail made some changes including the lift tickets. You can no longer just buy a lift ticket and use it when you want to but you instead have to schedule a lift ticket. So when you get stuck in their disaster of a parking system for 3+ hours you can t just leave and come back the following weekend. You can only use your day pass for the day you scheduled it, or the day after. On top of that the parking are rude and disrespectful (for the most part, I m sure there are some good ones). We ended up leaving and going to Leavenworth to try and salvage a terrible day. I usually go to Stevens 5-10 times a season but after these new changes and their parking issues I will be taking my money elsewhere. What was once a resort that had a feeling of a small town, family resort has turned into a corporate business that does not care about you, just your money. Also there were some people that weren t able to find parking anywhere, even 8 miles down the road. These people were not able to use their passes and go skiing/boarding. But Vail, I mean Stevens, will not refund your ticket or let you use it on another day. Before Vail s purchase of the resort these issues would not have happened, but if they did Stevens would have handled it appropriately. For instance, my brother and I purchase 4-6 day powder packs each year. One year because of injury my brother was not able to use it and they refunded it. This year my brother got admitted to WSU at the last minute and decided to go. About a 5 hour drive away. Vail/Stevens would not refund his unused powder pack. I would recommend making your way to Crystal or Baker if you can. Or smaller resorts like mission ridge or white pass.