Mission Ridge goes year-round with first time opening during summer

Long known for powder and peaks, Mission Ridge is embracing a broader identity: A year-round recreation hub where summer recreation meets good food and community — and the Chair 5 Pub stands at its center. There may not be a hotel near the lodge at the Ski & Board Resort at this time, but the mountain still calls to people all year long.

And it’s not like something like that in the future is entirely out of the question. There has been talk for more than 8 years of measured, sustainable expansion that could one day even include a village at the Ridge, although there’s nothing reportable today.

Mission Ridge’s scenic summer identity is anchored by warm weather activities you’d never expect from a ski area. The resort highlights hiking, trail running, mountain biking, and scenic views from atop the ridge — versatile outlets that draw locals and visitors alike. The mountain has already achieved the kind of casual ubiquity in the minds of people around the state that even life-long winter sports enthusiasts from Western Washington think of it as a primary destination.

But one of Mission Ridge’s most exciting recent announcements, the fact that Chair 5 Pub is now open for warmer months, complete with a new menu designed to appeal to hikers, trail runners and local passholders, means that the mountain may start mentally popping up as a destination from all over the state even in the middle of July.

Aside from simply providing adult entertainment, they’ve got kids’ games like cornhole, tetherball, ladder toss, and they have picnic tables outside to “come just hang out with us,” says Matt Neubauer, the General Manager at Mission Ridge.

But where adult entertainment is concerned, they’ve got it covered. “We’re open Friday through Sunday,” Neubauer says, “and depending on the week, we’ve focused on experiences on Fridays, so that’s where we have line dancing, some different groups, comedy nights, some parties and things, and Saturdays we’ve tried to focus on music, whether it’s on the deck or on the inside, moving indoors when the fall colors change.”

And they’re booking locals: Rib, the frontman from Buzz Brump, does solo summer shows up here. They’ve had Massy Ferguson, a band from the other side of the mountains that’s over here so much they feel like locals. If the people of Wenatchee know the band, they’ll come, and it doesn’t have to be some big-name Seattle act. Keeping it local brings in the folks who respect the setting.

All of that turns the pub into a social anchor for off-season guests. “What’s really fun,” says Neubauer, “when we think about how to bridge a winter recreation business into a summer opportunity for people to come up and around here was the restaurant.”

And what makes Chair 5 Pub unique is its proximity to key trailheads. Just down the road from each other lie Beehive Reservoir and Squilchuck State Park, offering seamless transitions from rugged trails to relaxing meals. Hikers or bikers heading up from Beehive or into Squilchuck find the Chair 5 Pub a natural meeting place — refreshing after a morning on the trails or as a scenic end to a summer day on the Ridge. Clara Lake and the summit are popular hikes. Devil’s Gulch has a legendary dirt biking experience throughout its trail system.

“We’ve had an excellent summer with Friday-Saturday-Sunday and knowing that the attraction is the mountain, people get used to the winter and come back from there. It’s been wildly successful,” Neubauer says.

Picture it: Returning trail enthusiasts kicking off their boots, gathering on the Chair 5 patio over a drink and a bite, while checking their cameras and swapping stories of wildflowers and mountain views. That’s the atmosphere the resort is cultivating. It’s one where summer hiking meets ski-area hospitality.

By turning Chair 5 into a year-round venue, Mission Ridge isn’t just extending its season. It’s finding its roots as an integrated recreation anchor in the community. This shift supports the local economy, highlights the Wenatchee Valley’s all-season appeal, and builds a bridge between mountain terrain and social connection.

The genius of Neubauer’s and the rest of the Mission Ridge team’s plan is that even with designs to expand as it becomes possible, they’re putting a natural parentheses around it. They have no plans to overdo anything. Sustainability is at the heart of their plans, and with the mountain being a sort of “joint custody” agreement with the Forest Service and the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Mission Ridge gets an operating permit.

“It’s my responsibility to be a good steward of this mountain,” says Neubauer. “Pacing at which we grow, at a sustainable rate for bringing guests up and having those parts is something that isn’t lost on me and is important. Right now, as we open for the first time for the summer since Mission Ridge started, we’re allowed to use the base area. We don’t have on-mountain facilities in the summer.”

That’s because deer and elk are migrating, things that renew during the summer months are growing, and nature is having its way with Mission Ridge during the summer, just as it always has.

But Mission Ridge is of course always going to be a winter-focused destination. And they haven’t slowed down that side of things one bit. Both Neubauer and Marketing Director Tony Hickok say that last winter was a record-setter for unique visitors. Maybe the best year for visitors in six decades since the resort opened made thinking about opening Chair 5 Pub during the summer a no brainer.

It’s always been a world-class mountain and resort — the 1984 downhill gold medalist at the Sarajevo Olympics trained here — but they keep introducing new and better features while limiting their impact on the mountain itself. Just a few years back, Mission Ridge debuted the first bubble chair lift in Washington State. Not Stevens or Snoqualmie, not Crystal Mountain or Mt. Baker, little old Mission Ridge had the very first one.

It’s that kind of forward thinking that’s kept them relevant since 1966. And it’s their willingness to explore the summer possibilities in the least intrusive way possible that makes them just the kind of business Wenatchee can be proud of.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media