If you are a beginner, the Methow Valley Ski School offers lessons in classic cross-country skiing and more technical skate-skiing at three locations, Winthrop, Mazama and the Sun Mountain Lodge.
Blink and you will miss Mazama (population 230), little more than a gas station, a cosy mountain inn and a mercantile store that, between November and April, is the last stop on the road west when Highway 20 across the North Cascades to Seattle is closed due to snow.
