Stampede Pass
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Snoqualmie Pass | |
|---|---|
| Elevation | |
| Location | Washington,  United States |
| Range | Cascades |
| Traversed by | Forest Service Road 54 |
Stampede Pass, is a mountain pass through the Cascade Range just south of Snoqualmie Pass in Washington,
The only public access to the pass is from the east, access from the west is not open to the public, since this is a part of the Green River watershed.
[edit] History
In 1888 the Northern Pacific Railway (now the BNSF Railway) completed a rail tunnel (the Stampede Tunnel) through Stampede Pass, connecting the port of Tacoma with points east. As early as 1887 the Northern Pacific ran trains over the pass on temporary trestles and switchbacks (the train was required to reverse several times to negotiate the switchbacks and could only pull 5 cars using what were then two of the largest locomotives in service).
Supposedly Stampede Pass was named when, during rail construction, a particularly unpleasant rail foreman arrived and the construction crew "stampeded" back to Seattle.
The Northern Pacific received twenty 1/4 mile sections of land for every mile of track laid in Washington in alternate sections. As a result, much of Stampede pass wound up in private hands.
In 1939 the Northern Pacific Railroad opened a ski resort on the eastern portal of the Stampede Tunnel called the Martin Ski Dome. The resort was to compete with the one built just north by the Milwaukee Road on Snoqualmie Pass. The resort closed in 1942 with the start of WWII then was sold in 1946 after the end of the war to the University of Washington students association. The ski area was re-opened as the Husky Chalet and had 2 rope tows. Operations lasted through 1956 when heavy snows crushed the lodge and the ski area was never rebuilt.
The Mountaineers also have a ski area about 1 mile SW of Martin. Built in 1928 the Meany Lodge still runs today with 2 rope tows and is one of the oldest ski areas in the USA.
