Alpine West Ski & Snowboard School, Snoqualmie Pass

Every winter, Alpine West Ski & Snowboard School peeks through blanketing snowdrifts and evergreen groves at the Summit at Snoqualmie, as it has done since 1980. The chalet is home base for founders Ron and JoAnn Mattila and their staff of instructors, who take every skiing and snowboarding trainee under their ski poles and help them improve their balance and controlled turns. The certified school has something to teach every level of rider, through private lessons and in groups organized by both skill level and degree of horror exhibited at the mention of the word "mogul."