Lost ski areaWashingtonSelkirk MountainsPacific Northwest
Chewelah Peak ski Hill
Ran 1936–1968. The ski area on Chewelah Peak that came before 49 Degrees North, with a rope tow from the 1930s and a double chairlift from about 1950, closed in 1968.
Overview
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Imagery: USGS The National Map · Terrain: Mapzen, USGS and others
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A rundown cabin served skiers on Chewelah Peak before the 1930s, and the Colville National Forest formally recognized winter use of the peak around 1935. Cy's Hut was finished in 1936, and the sources put the first rope tow there in 1936 or 1939.1,2,3
Read the whole historyTodayThe old chimney, an outhouse, a chairlift anchor and a faint ski run still mark the sites in the woods. (2016)3
Timeline
8 events · swipe
Photos
Memories
Skied Chewelah Peak ski Hill, or worked there?
Tell us what you remember, or what this page has wrong. Memories show here, credited to you, after we read them; facts are checked against a source before they change a figure.
Lost near Chewelah Peak ski Hill
The closest other lost ski areas, as the crow flies.
- Opened 1971 · 49.9 mi away · WashingtonA ski and snowmobile resort on Carlson Hill at Liberty Lake, near Spokane, that opened in 1971 with one chairlift and had shut down by 1977.
- Opened 1965 · 109.3 mi away · IdahoA small ski area on East Moscow Mountain, northwest of Troy, that drew university students from 1966 and ran on and off until a 1992 tax seizure.
- 1969–1974 · 164.8 mi away · WashingtonA ski area and cabin village on the east side of Stevens Pass that opened in 1969, suffered a deadly avalanche in 1971, and lasted a few seasons.
History
Written by aurora.ski from the 3 pages below, each sentence numbered to its sources.
A rundown cabin served skiers on Chewelah Peak before the 1930s, and the Colville National Forest formally recognized winter use of the peak around 1935. Cy's Hut was finished in 1936, and the sources put the first rope tow there in 1936 or 1939. The hut burned in 1949.1,2,3
A second site, about two miles from today's 49 Degrees North, followed with the two-story Chewelah Mountain Lodge in 1950 and a double chairlift in 1951, by the Lost Ski Areas of Washington and the Chewelah Independent; Wikipedia has the chair in 1950 and a lodge in 1952. Use grew at first, but money troubles let the chairlift fall into disrepair, and the area closed in 1968.1,2,3
The Chewelah Basin Ski Corporation was formed in 1970, and 49 Degrees North opened in late 1972 with three chairlifts. By 2016 local researchers had found Cy's Hut's old chimney and cookstove, an outhouse, the bottom concrete anchor of the old chairlift and a faint line of the second ski run in the trees.2,3
TodayThe old chimney, an outhouse, a chairlift anchor and a faint ski run still mark the sites in the woods. (2016)3
Timeline
- c. 1935Colville National Forest formally recognizes winter use of the peak1
- 1936Cy's Hut built; Wikipedia dates the first rope tow here1,2,3
- 1939Rope tow date given by the Lost Ski Areas of Washington1
- 1949Cy's Hut burns1
- 1950Two-story lodge built at a second site1,3
- 1951Double chairlift installed1,3
- 1968Area closes as the chairlift falls into disrepair1,3
- 197249 Degrees North opens nearby with three chairlifts2
Sources for this history (3)
- 1Lost Ski Areas of Washington · Chewelah Peak
- 2Wikipedia · 49 Degrees North Ski Area
- 3The Chewelah Independent · In search of history on Chewelah Peak (Brandon Hansen, July 1, 2016)
Photos
No photographs of Chewelah Peak ski Hill we may republish yet
Its old photos and trail maps live on the sites that collected them, and Google finds the rest.
Memories
What skiers remember of Chewelah Peak ski Hill, in their own words.
Facts
Location
48.2978° N · 117.5985° W · Washington · Selkirk Mountains
OpenSkiMap lists it as abandoned.
Years operated
1936–1968
Closed after the 1968 season. It stays here as part of the record of U.S. ski areas.
No figures from its operating years are collected yet.
Terrain contours: USGS 3D Elevation Program, public domain