The Lost Ski Resort of Mt. Pilchuck (Part 1)

Seattlest first heard the legend of the lost ski resort of Mt. Pilchuck way back in 2004 from a man who cut our hair at Rudy's (which, contrary to what you may have heard, is actually a decent and affordable place to get your hair cut in Seattle). The story goes something like this: Back in the 1950s there was a big push to start up a ski resort on the mountain in question, despite the fact that the conditions there sucked even harder than the abysmal snow levels of Suckqualmi Pass. Controversy aside, the resort plans moved forward at taxpayer expense. But by the late 1970s, the suck-ass conditions were as bad as predicted, decimating the usually meager attendance levels to the point where the resort had to close up shop in 1980. Since then, conditions permitting, snow enthusiasts wary of paying the exorbitant lift ticket prices at actually functional ski resorts (or too lazy to make their own fake passes) would venture out to Pilchuck for pseudo-back-country action, sometimes camping overnight in the ruins of a once proud society.

A mountain-man friend of Seattlest now in his 40s later confirmed through independent testimony that the mythical place does in fact exist. He stated for the record that he and his pre-Grunge era friends would often hike up there to get stoned and beautify the interior of the lodge ruins with whatever graffiti art would work for teenagers in the '80s (let it be known the friend in question was and is a conservationist tree-hugger who wouldn't tag a fly.).

Seattlest was intrigued: a desolate and perhaps even haunted ski resort from an ancient past, combined with the ghostly impressions of whatever Lord of the Flies type bullshit went down with delinquent teens from another generation, conjured up an imaginary world like The Shining crossed with every comic book Charles Burns ever drew, or maybe a Grizzly Adams director's cut of the Outsiders.

An insipid google search yielded more clues: Apparently there exists a small mountaineering museum atop the peak of Pilchuck. Combine that with the absence online of any photos of abandoned lodge buildings, and the mystery of the lost ski resort just gets foggier.

Seattlest had enough with the inconclusive hear-say and decided an in-person visit was required. In part two of this turgid narrative, we will report on what we saw there and whether the legend lives up to the hype. (To be continued...)