The Mountaineers, a non-profit outdoor education organization, has sold their historic Snoqualmie Pass property to Boyne Properties, which manages the Summit at Snoqualmie.

The property, which housed the historic Snoqualmie Lodge before it burned down in 2006, will allow the ski area to connect Summit West and Summit Central and provide an easement for the rerouting of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail.

Geoff Lawrence, president of the Mountaineers board of directors, said the property was sold because it had been under utilized ever since the lodge fire.

“We’ve owned the property for a number of years, we had a lodge up there and a ski area with some rope tows, the lodge burned down in 2006 and we used the property on and off for some nature outing classes, and so forth,” he said.

“It was an under utilized asset. We did quite a bit of study to see if we could build another lodge but the prices that came back for those kinds of investments were way beyond the scope of what we were trying to do.”

Lawrence added that since access to the Pass had become easy due to the highway, the need for overnight lodging diminished.

The Mountaineers had discussed rerouting the trail through the lodge property with the Pacific Coast Trail Association (PCTA). The Summit at Snoqualmie had also expressed interest in that property to connect the western and central sections of the ski area.

When The Summit made an offer, the Mountaineers worked with them on an easement to connect the ski areas and reroute the PCT, designated a National Scenic Trail.

“We are really pleased that we are able to enable the PCT rerouting. The ski area has been great, they see that as a big win,” Lawrence said. “The work is just beginning… They own the property but they have enabled us to work on an easement for the PCT there.”

According to a press release, the rerouted trail would cross a more forested area, separate skiers and snowshoers, and would make the hiking path safer across S.R. 906 and Interstate-90.