Alpental Opens New Mountain Safety And Education Center

Washington’s Alpental Ski Area has opened a new building to serve as a ski patrol outpost and a safety education center. Alpental, which belongs to The Summit at Snoqualmie, has dedicated the new mid-mountain center as the David Pettigrew Mountain Safety and Education Center.

The David Pettigrew Memorial Foundation was founded in 2007 in part to provide skiers and snowboarders with awareness, safety, and training with free educational workshops. The new two-story Alpental building will serve as an education center for mountain safety and avalanche awareness classes. It is named for David Pettigrew, who died in a snowboarding accident in 2005 at Alpental.

The new sign for the David Pettigrew Mountain Safety And Education Center at Alpental. Photo courtesy of The Summit at Snoqualmie.

The free workshops at the new center are taught by Alpental’s professional ski patrollers. Courses designed for skiers and snowboarders are available on mountain safety, avalanche awareness, companion rescue, and avalanche terrain observation.

Upcoming classes at the new Alpental facility are offered through February and March 2012. Here’s a list of the courses offered:

Feb. 25 Avalanche and Terrain Observation Skill
Feb. 25 Mountain Safety Workshop
Feb. 26 Avalanche Awareness Workshop
March 3 Companion Rescue Workshop
March 17 Mountain Safety Workshop
March 18 Avalanche Awareness Workshop

Alpental plans to dedicate the new David Pettigrew Mountain Safety and Education Center on Feb. 11. Tours of the facility will be available following the 2 p.m. dedicated ceremony.

Find out more information on the free workshops http://www.pettigrewfoundation.com/workshops" target="_blank">here.