World City Guide

Sport

Seattleites are quite sports conscious and loyal to their local teams, whether Major League or university – bright purple and yellow banners of a howling dog denote the University of Washington’s Huskies (website: http://gohuskies.ocsn.com), an all-sport team. Safeco Field, just south of Pioneer Square, is home to the Seattle Mariners Major League Baseball team (tel: (206) 346 4000; website: www.mariners.org). The Mariners far outpace any other team in Seattle’s sports obsession. The KeyArena, in the Seattle Center, 305 Harrison Street, hosts the Seattle SuperSonics National Basketball Association team (tel: (206) 283 DUNK or 283 3865; website: www.nba.com/sonics) and the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League (tel: (425) 869 7825 or (206) 448 7825; website: www.seattle-thunderbirds.com). Basketball season is October to April, while ice hockey is played from September to March. The Seattle Seahawks National Football League team (tel: (888) 635 4295; website: www.seahawks.com) has moved into their long-awaited, 67,000-capacity stadium in Pioneer Square, near Safeco Field. Football season is October to December.

Tickets for all Seattle’s major sports events are available for purchase through Ticketmaster (tel: (206) 628 0888; website: www.ticketmaster.com).

Cycling and Hiking: The Burke-Gilman Trail is a 24km (15-mile) trail through the woods, from Gasworks Park at Lake Union to the University District and onto the suburb of Bothell and Lake Sammamish is part of King County’s 164km (100 miles) of paved and 113km (70 miles) of unpaved bike trails. The Bicycle Alliance of Washington (tel: (206) 224 9252; website: www.bicyclealliance.org) is a wonderful information source for bikers. For bike maps, contact the Seattle Bike Program (tel: (206) 684 7583; website: www.seattle.gov). Gregg’s Greenlake Cycle (tel: (206) 783 1000; website: www.greggscycles.com) has three locations and rents all kinds of bikes. Rates begin at US$5 per hour or US$22 per day.

Fitness Centres: Greater Seattle abounds in upmarket fitness clubs, such as The Sammamish Club, 2115 NW Poplar Way, Issaquah (tel: (425) 313 3131; website: www.sammamishclub.com), which charges US$12 for drop-ins and has four indoor tennis courts (must be reserved and there is an extra US$8 fee), a 23m (75ft) lap pool and a TechnoGym. The Seattle Athletic Club, 2020 Western Avenue, near Pike Place Market (tel: (206) 443 1111; website: www.sacdt.com), is known for its squash program and cardio and strength training facilities. There is a US$15 daily fee to use the gym and you must be staying at a hotel in the area or be affiliated with a member club. Pure Fitness, 808 Second Avenue (tel: (206) 224 9000; website: www.purefitnessclubs.com), offers personalised training systems. Daily fee US$10.88. Ordinary mortals can work out at the YMCA, which has 15 outlets around the city, including a downtown venue at 1700 23rd Avenue (tel: (206) 382 5003; website: www.seattleymca.org). Just bring your hotel key and the daily rate is US$10.

Golf: Jackson Park, 1000 Northeast 135th Street, North Seattle (tel: (206) 363 4747; website: www.jacksonparkgolf.com/jackson.asp), has one of the city’s most popular 18-hole courses (from US$23), which gets very crowded at the weekend, as well a nine-hole executive course (US$7.50). The 18-hole West Seattle Municipal Court, 4470 35th Avenue Southwest (tel: (206) 935 5187; website: www.jacksonparkgolf.com/west_course), offers superb views of Elliot Bay. Daily green fees are US$26 and US$31 weekends, plus about US$14 for a cart for 18-holes. Membership is not required at either of the above courses.

Sailing and Kayaking: One in five Seattle natives owns some kind of boat. Kayaks can be hired from Northwest Outdoor Center, 2100 Westlake Avenue, Lake Union (tel: (206) 281 9694 or (800) 683 0637; website: www.nwoc.com) (rates from US$12 per hour), or a wooden sailing boat from Center for Wooden Boats, 1010 Valley Street, Seattle (tel: (206) 382 2628; website: www.cwb.org). Tours, equipment and hire are all available from REI, 222 Yale Avenue North (tel: (206) 223 1796 or (800) 426 4840; website: www.rei.com).

Skiing: The mountains are easily accessible from Seattle and Seattle Ski Rental, 14915 Aurora Avenue North, Shoreline (tel: (206) 548 1000), hires out equipment and can offer advice on skiing in the region.

Swimming: Queen Anne Pool, 1920 First Avenue West (tel: (206) 386 4282; website: www.cityofseattle.net/parks/Aquatics/queenannepool.htm) (fee: US$3.50), is a public indoor pool. The YMCA (see above) also has a public swimming pool.

Tennis: Most of Seattle’s larger parks, such as Volunteer Park and Woodland Park, have tennis courts (tel: (206) 684 4062). There are 10 indoor courts at the Amy Yee Tennis Center, 2000 Martin Luther King Way (tel: (206) 684 4764; website: www.discnw.org/maps/fields/amyyee.html).