49 Degrees North Ski Area is a ski resort in the western United States, located inside Colville National Forest in Stevens County, Washington, 10 miles east of Chewelah, which is 42 miles north of Spokane. The base is at an elevation of 3,923 feet above sea level with the summit at 5,774 feet on Chewelah Mountain, yielding a vertical drop of 1,851 feet . Its slopes are primarily north-facing and are served by six chairlifts, one quad and five doubles. The ski area first opened 46 years ago in late 1972 with three chairlifts. It is actually at 48.3° North, about 50 miles south of the 49th parallel, the international border with Canada. Following two consecutive winters of poor weather, the ski area filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 1990. 6 years later in June 1996, John Eminger, a local, purchased the ski area and is continuing to turn it into a larger and better resort. 49 Degrees North is building condominiums in summer 2016 with ski in/out access. In the 1990s the trees were thinned over most of the 2,300 acres, providing some of the greatest variation and magnitude of tree skiing found at a single resort in the NW United States. The resort will soon be implementing mountain biking. A predecessor ski area named Chewelah Peak was about two miles west , towards Chewelah. It was served by a double chair that vertically climbed 1,450 feet . It began operation with a rope tow in 1936; the double chairlift was added in 1950 and a lodge in 1952.
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