Crystal Mountain to run Summit at Snoqualmie

Local hard-core skiers could get discounts to ski at more resorts with the same ski pass, as the company running Crystal Mountain will take over management of the Snoqualmie Pass ski area.

Boyne USA Resorts, based in Michigan, will take the reins of The Summit at Snoqualmie from Colorado's Booth Creek Ski Holdings, under a deal announced Wednesday.

Resort managers from Boyne said they expect little change in how the Snoqualmie Pass resort is run and have no plans for job cuts.

But with two resorts in the same market, they plan to offer benefits such as free or discounted day passes at one resort to some season-pass holders at other resorts.

"There's all kinds of things that are being worked on that will come out shortly about value-added ski passes," said Stephen Kircher, head of Boyne's East Coast operations.

The details haven't been determined yet, said Tiana Enger, Crystal Mountain's marketing director. People who bought the "unlimited" season passes at either resort might get discounts on day passes at the other resort, or between five and 10 free day passes.

Season-pass holders at Snoqualmie Pass might need to pay for an upgrade for the added benefits, because a season pass there is so much cheaper than one at Crystal Mountain, she said.

Details about the benefits should be announced later this week or next week, Enger said.

Additional cross-resort benefits could come in the future, she said.

The deal gives Boyne control over two of the three largest ski resorts in Western Washington. Snoqualmie gets roughly 400,000 skier visits per year, while Crystal Mountain gets an average of about 300,000, Enger said. Stevens Pass, farther north, falls in between.

The change in management shouldn't affect expansion plans at Snoqualmie Pass, Kircher said. The U.S. Forest Service is in the final stages of considering a permit for expansion of the resort, which was negotiated with Booth Creek. That proposal includes new lifts at both the Hyak and Alpental areas at Snoqualmie Pass.

Scott Kaden, of the Pacific Northwest Ski Areas Association, said he saw little reason to think the change in management would be noticeable to most visitors.

He noted that the owner of the Summit resort will remain CNL Income Properties, a Florida-based real-estate investment trust that acquired the Summit from Booth Creek earlier this year. It then signed a deal to have Booth continue managing the resort.

"I think this is going to be inconsequential," Kaden said.

Warren Cornwall: 206-464-2311 or wcornwall@seattletimes.com

Information in this story, originally published on September 20, 2007 was corrected on September 22, 2007. A management change at The Summit at Snoqualmie will give Boyne USA Resorts control over two of Western Washington's three largest ski resorts, not all three as a headline stated Thursday.