| White Pass | |
| Map: | USA#Washington |
| Map Relief: | y |
| Label: | White Pass |
| Elevation Ft: | 4500 |
| Traversed: | U.S. Highway 12 |
| Location: | Lewis / Yakima counties, Washington, U.S. |
| Range: | Cascades |
| Coordinates: | 46.6383°N -144.4°W |
White Pass (elev. 4500feet) is a mountain pass in the northwest United States, in the Cascade Range of Washington, southeast of Mount Rainier and north of Goat Rocks. U.S. Highway 12 travels over White Pass, connecting Yakima County on the east with Lewis County. It was named after Charles A. White, a surveying engineer who led the party that discovered it for the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1878.[1]
A shortcut route across White Pass between Packwood and Naches was first established as State Road 5 in 1931,[2] [3] [4] and the link was completed in August 1951 along the current route,[5] later designated U.S. Route 12.
White Pass Ski Area, at the summit, opened on January 11, 1953. Champion ski racing twins Phil and Steve Mahre, along with their family, grew up on White Pass where their father Dave Mahre was the mountain manager for the ski area.[6] White Pass is also the home mountain of professional snowboarder Marc Frank Montoya, owner of the Block Hotels.
As the crow flies, the pass is approximately southeast of the summit of Mount Rainier and 30miles north of Mount Adams.
On October 7, 2007, a single-engine Cessna Caravan crashed near White Pass while carrying skydivers; all 10 people aboard died in the crash.[7] [8]
Pigtail Peak, lies above White Pass and is within the White Pass Ski Area.