Trailhead: Source Lake Trailhead (Alpental Lot)
Difficulty: Moderate
Distance: ~5 miles RT, 1,500’ gain
After the first big storm of 2024 in early January, I got to ski some of the backcountry terrain outside Alpental Ski Resort at Snowqualmie Pass. Here’s two great routes to follow if you’re looking for some starter points. Starting from the Alpental Ski Resort, head up towards the upper parking lot. From this parking lot is where the skin track starts heading NW up the valley along the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River. There is a bridge over the river to keep the skin track out of the resort’s area. Most skin tracks in this area will lead to Source Lake, which is often not even visible in the winter.
From Source Lake you can get great views of where you are wanting to ski and skin from there. The two options we checked out were Pineapple Pass and Snow Lake Divide. If you head south of Source lake you’ll be going through Big Trees Area and this can lead you all the way up to Pineapple Pass. If you head towards the North from Source Lake you can go for Snow Lake Divide. Both of these options are the easiest to evaluate larger terrain, but they do go through avalanche terrain, so be aware.
