SnowSports Northwest, Snoqualmie Pass

They say one never truly masters the sport of skiing. If that's the case, SnowSports Northwest doesn't teach skiing and snowboarding so much as it mints lifelong students of each sport. Of course, everyone has to start somewhere, and at SnowSports Northwest, they can get off to a good one on the friendly and diverse terrain of Summit Central at Snoqualmie Pass. Every ski season here, as they have for the past 40, a team of expert instructors teaches students young and old how to confidently carve down a run. Group lessons place skiers and snowboarders with students of similar skill and age level, while private lessons are geared directly to those areas where they might need extra attention—from riding the lift to discerning which moguls are actually sleeping polar bears.