Snowboarding highlights: The Summit at Snoqualmie

Snowboarders have also benefited from The Summit's new owners, as evidence by a newly purchased halfpipe grooming machine. The area now sports two halfpipes and a terrain park at Summit West and a halfpipe at Summit Central. All three pipes and the park are lit for night riding. They are so popular that even after the area shuts down for the season, boarders continue to ride them as long as the snow remains.

Each halfpipe has been built to Olympic specifications, including 60-foot-wide decks. The extra large walkways kept the area from having to rebuild the pipes. Instead, the resort just groomed it four or five times a week with a pipe grinder. Snowboarders may remember the old halfpipe at Summit West, near the base of the Triple 60 face. This pipe has been moved to the midway point of Alpine Bowl. The move ensures not only more snow, but better quality snow from which to construct the halfpipe.

The terrain park is at Summit West. Known as Area 52 because it's located off Interstate 90's Exit 52, the park is full of tabletops, jumps, banked turns, rollerz, tri-angle jumps, and spines. Depending on snow conditions, there may be as many as 25 obstacles in the park. The Pacific Crest quad services both pipes and Area 52.

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