Snowboarding highlights: 49 Degrees North

Chair Two, the Grubstake, provides an exclusive entrance into 49 Degrees North's snowboard park. With the only Pipe Dragon in the Inland Northwest, the resort pulls off an Olympic-size halfpipe every year that runs 350 feet long, 12 feet tall, and 48 feet wide. Above the pipe is a snowboard park replete with natural and manmade obstacles, including tabletops, spines, a quarterpipe, and hits both big and small. The park continues to grow each year as the new owners dedicate more resources and time. Their goal is to develop the park into the region's best, and they're well on their way to accomplishing that.

49 Degrees North also offers intense backcountry freeriding in the East Basin. The steepness of the terrain keeps traffic to a minimum, allowing fresh turns all day long. From the top of Chair One, hang a right, stay above Silver Ridge, and head into the trees. Both the sign and the trail are easy to spot. After a few hundred yards, the trail opens up to a large gladed area. By virtue of its eastern location on the mountain, the snow tends to be drier here than anywhere else. It may just be the best snow on the mountain.

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