Closing Weekend at Crystal Mountain

We started with a damp, cool Friday. Saturday transitioned from cloudy to the sun, and Sunday was full on Spring! Freezing overnight temperatures made for some very fine skiing.

Saturday afternoon was all Northway laps. It is amazing terrain out there. Despite the superb skiing, it was worth a quick diversion to the base for the Bikini Downhill 🙂

Sunday was a bump-a-thon. By 10am even Lucky Shot was a mogul run. The star was the steep run into Snorting Elk Bowl. Huge, well-spaced bumps made for some smile-inducing high-speed fall line turns. It was so good I skied it 6 times.

So a good season at Crystal. We managed 10 days, just about covering the Ikon Pass. Next year we’ve gone Full Epic, so will be looking out for pass deals for Crystal in Fall. #fingerscrossed

5300, 9900, 9000m vert

49 days, 391,200m vert, 14 powder days

Spring arrives at Crystal Mountain

This was a great sunny cornfest. Some fantastic Spring conditions, magnificent views, light crowds and no lift lines.

Just how I wish Crystal was all the time.

The groomers rocked, especially early as they softened and turned to vanilla ice cream. The glacier (aka Middle Ferk) was all global warming, grippy and slushy and huge fun.  Venturing into Powder Bowl and Northway paid dividends too as these GoPro (not very edited!) clips show.

Great weekend. Spring was welcome. But hopefully Winter will return soon 🙂

Saturday 9000m, Sunday 8400m vert

37 days,  285,400m vert , 10 powder days

 

Ski Season 2018-19 finally up and running

#fuckingelnino

El Nino years are never welcome in the Pacific Northwest. This #fuckingelnino delivered clear sunny weather well into November.

#fuckingelnino

With an early Thanksgiving, Whistler managed to blow enough snow to open. Just. but not enough to tempt us up there. So we worked, cooked turkey, and drove up to Crystal on the Friday for two days.

Crystal’s investment in snow guns sure paid off. They blew enough gun pow to enable us to slide down Tinkerbell for two days. It was far from epic. At least it was skiing. And we had Ikon passes, which effectively gives us a Crystal season pass. And the weather was nice.

Luckily the cold meant Mission Ridge opened soon after, and some steady top-ups made it fun there in early December. Slightly rocky. But fun.

And since then, conditions have slowly got better and better. We’re still getting signature El Nino temperature bounces, giving some rain between the dumps. But now there’s plenty of snow, we’ve had a good powder day at Crystal before Xmas, and some ever improving cruising and the odd off-piste expedition at Mission Ridge.

So – #fingerscrossed, #fuckingelnino might be slowly slipping away.  And #fingerscrossed, we won’t have to ski Tinkerbell again this season!

A selection of pretty scenic pics is here. It’s been fine photograph weather 😉

Day 1 Crystal 3200m vert

Day 2 Crystal 3200m vert

Day 3 Mission Ridge 6900m vert

Day 4 Mission Ridge 6800m vert

Day 5 Crystal 2700m vert

Day 6 Crystal 4600m vert

Day 7 Crystal 9300m vert – powder day

Day 8  Mission Ridge 7500m vert

Day 9 Mission Ridge 7400m vert

Day 10 Mission Ridge 7800m vert

Season Totals: 10 days, 59,400m vert. 1 powder day

 

Excellent March Cascades Skiing

We’ve been blessed with some sensational mid-late March skiing in our local resorts since returning from Lech. We started at Mission Ridge with a 6 inch cold smoke day on a typically mostly deserted Saturday. There were plenty of scraps left for Sunday too. A fabulous weekend with great snow and cold clear weather.

The following Friday was a wild one at Stevens Pass. 4 inches of snow had fallen overnight, but the solid base meant only the brave went off the groomers early. The weather then oscillated every 45 minutes or so between sunshine and absolute dumpage as the storm pulses rolled in from the west. By the end of the day, I was lapping the Winnie Chutes off Skyliner, picking up face shots. The rock solid base was nowhere to be found. Quite a day.

We carried on from where we left off Friday in some superb conditions at Mission Ridge. The late Friday afternoon storms had made it over to the east side of the Cascades and laid a soft blanket of snow on Mission’s runs. With no killer freeze-thaw cycle earlier in the week, the whole mountain skied great for the weekend under clear, cold blue skies. One day I’ll process the GoPro footage of this one. One day.

Finally, we spent last weekend at Crystal. This was one of those weekends where the weather forecast was as out of kilter as the Seattle Sounders forward line. Saturday was a fun, mostly groomer Spring day, but the promised sun never arrived to soften up the mountain.

By Sunday morning it was unexpectedly dumping. We left at 2pm and there were 5 inches on our car outside the Alpine Inn. Easter Sunday is a reliable ‘no one on the hill’ day, so all day there was freshies on the groomers, and as the base built. tasty turns were available all over the mountain. Loadsafun.

Another massive storm is rolling in off the Pacific as I write. We might be in for some fun at Whistler this weekend. I love Spring in the Cascades 🙂

Mission Ridge 8200m, 8500m vert

Stevens Pass 7800m vert

Mission Ridge 9400m, 8100m vert

Crystal 10,400m, 7900m vert

Season Totals 47 days, 340,700m vert, 17 powder days

2017-18 Ski Season Kick-off at Crystal Mountain

Big mid-November storms seem to happen every 3 or so years in the Pacific Northwest. This year brought excellent early season cover enabling most of the Cascades ski hills to open. We hit Crystal, ‘coz it’s close and, well,  great.

The weather cooperated too. It’s always nice to be able to see while warming up the legs and body. Steady winds also loaded north facing slopes for most of the weekend, making for some tasty turns, especially in Green Valley.

We took it easy and cruised the groomers off the Forest Queen, and played in the bumps and trees in Green Valley.  It was plenty for our opening weekend.

Next stop Whistler for ThxGiving. The forecast express delivery of pineapples should have blown through by then. At least they have good cover already 🙂

Lots of pics on Google Photos.

Saturday 7200m, Sunday 7300m vert

Season Totals: 2 Days, 14,500m vert

April Riding in the Washington Cascades

Deep snow. No crowds. Generally good weather. Spring skiing in the Cascades in mid-April can be majestic.

Crystal skied beautifully all weekend on their penultimate weekend of the season. There had been lots of snow on the Friday and the remnants were plentiful all over the mountain on Saturday. Sunday a crazy wind hit the high ridges until lunchtime. Crazy as in ‘almost impossible to push off Rex and head down the hill’ crazy. The groomers everywhere were great though, soft and perfect for laying down long carving turns. By noon when the wind dropped, the wind blown off the Green Valley chairs was epic.

Bear Pits

A great weekend of steeps and quality snow and groomers.

Mission didn’t disappoint the following weekend either. Sunny clear-ish weather meant for cold nights and warmer days. This delivered classic Spring corn snow by noon. The highlights were laps of The Castle on both afternoons. Perfect corn on a majestic Spring ski weekend.

That wrapped up another superb season at Mission for us. Just 14 days. But with included free days at 49 Degrees and Snoqualmie Pass, that adds up to 20 days on a ~$400 season pass.

We have purchased again for next year 🙂

 

Crystal 10,900m, 8000m vert

Mission Ridge 8000m, 6700m vert

60 days, 496,800m vert, 16 powder days

Crystal Delivers Deep

Saturday at Crystal delivered the groomers that Whistler the previous weekend had denied. With plenty of opportunities to jump off piste and play in soft snow, it was a fine old ski day. It was fun to ride at high speed on Crystal’s great terrain.

Then about 5pm it started snowing. We retired to the Snorting Elk and watched the snow dump. There were no groomers to be found Sunday. Everything was buried under 18-24 inches of light blower pow. What a storm. What a ski day.

Sunday morning at the Snorting Elk

Kathy

Crystal storm

Kathy

Bottom of Middle Ferk

Left of Middle Ferk

AT 2pm teh sun came out

Kathy

With so much snow, the upper mountain lifts were slow to start. With the sound of bombs ringing around the peaks, I hopped on the Chinook chair – singles line magic – before 9am and bolted to the Forest Queen to get in some quick laps. The terrain over there has flat spots which are challenging in knee deep snow, but the steeper pitches were truly amazing. It was powder cloud time. Every turn.

By 10.30 the upper mountain lifts opened and the line at REX (Mount Rainier Express) shrank to a couple of minutes. So we just lapped the bowl in Green Valley, the trees to the left of Middle Ferk, and the steeps down to the base. Wash, rise, repeat. There was so much deep untracked snow that short traverses delivered huge rewards.

There may not be many better days than Sunday this season. Although I said that about Whistler last Saturday. That was a great day. This was even better.

Saturday 9000m vert, Sunday 6100m vert

Season totals 5 days,  32,800m vert, 4 powder days

Spring Saturday, Winter Sunday at Crystal Mountain

Winter weekend crowds mean we avoid Crystal Mountain like a Donald Trump rally. Those Seattle-based hordes mean crowded everything all weekend long. But by mid March the crowds are playing baseball and golk, and on most years the skiing is still fabulous. This Saturday saw the 500 inches for the season broken – thanks El Nino!! There’s as much snow as I’ve seen at Crystal in 15 years.

Saturday was Spring. Great groomers, and some tasty remnants on north facing aspects from the previous day’s storm. Powder Bowl was excellent. So was Paradise Bowl and the steep-sometimes-groomed run into Snorting Elk ripped all weekend. Half way down Bear Pits was where winter snow turned to ball-y, solid crud. Those last few turns weren’t my favorites of the weekend.

Crystal Mountain

Crystal Mountain views of Rainier

Crystal Mountain

Crystal Mountain – Northway

It started drizzling late Saturday night but by Sunday morning it was snowing steadily to the base, with a couple of inches on out truck. Squalls moved in and out all day  topping up the excellent conditions. Sunday was as empty as I’ve seen Crystal for many years, which just meant more pow for us. First groomer pow off the Forest Queen. Then pow off the north facing lines that run back in to Green Valley and Snorting Elk Bowl.

Crystal Mountain

Crystal Mountain

Crystal Mountain

Crystal Mountain

Crystal Mountain

Crystal Mountain

Crystal Mountain

Crystal Mountain

Crystal Mountain – Ron at the top of Powder Bowl

Conditions warranted a couple of runs into Northway, where wind was constantly loading Paradise Bowl and serving up fantastic conditions. After lunch we timed a run down Powder Bowl in a cloud. White on white on a 50 degrees slope isn’t may favorite, but at least the snow quality was excellent.

Great ski hill. Great conditions. Absolutely fantastic weekend.

Saturday 10,100m, Sunday 8200m vert

Season Totals: 51 days, 407, 600m vert, 23 powder days

Powdery Xmas Presents at Crystal

After a 3 year absence from skiing Crystal, we were greeted incredibly warmly on Xmas Eve with 9 inches of new snow, light crowds and excellent weather. But like some of my friends, a warm welcome rapidly becomes a celebration involving excess Double Dead Guy consumption, which is enjoyable, but challenging. That’s Crystal for you. By noon we’d skied lines in Powder Bowl, Bear Pits and Green Valley that are as steep as you can ski anywhere. It’s a great, kick-ass mountain.

The crowds were focused on the huckster lifts (Northway, Chair 6), but even these diminished by 11am as the local pow hounds headed home. At 15F, the snow had come down super light, and in places was seriously deep due to the wind pushing it around. You didn’t have to try hard to find fresh or lightly tracked snow all day. It was everywhere, even at 4pm. I love Xmas skiing!

Xmas Eve at Crystal

Xmas Eve at Crystal

Xmas Eve at Crystal – Powder Bowl

Xmas Eve at Crystal

Xmas Eve at Crystal

Xmas Eve at Crystal

Xmas Eve at Crystal – Bear Pits

Xmas Eve at Crystal

Xmas Eve at Crystal

Xmas Day dawned cold and mostly clear. The groomers were as good as you get, ever, anywhere, and we spent the day alternating between warp speed carving and play in the pow. The runs into Snorting Elk Bowl were especially sweet, offering steep winchcat groomed and soft, chalky bumps to play on. Even the Crystal Glacier, aka Middle Ferk’s Run, was skiing so well we lapped it three times.

With Crystal’s incredible scenery and terrain, and deep snowpack from wild December weather, this day had a ‘calm before the storm’ feeling. We reveled in having one of the best ski hills in the world to ourselves (relatively speaking) for a day. I suspect it wasn’t that  way the next day …

Xmas Day at Crystal

Xmas Day at Crystal

Xmas Day at Crystal – Green Valley

Xmas Day at Crystal

Xmas Day at Crystal – Powder Bowl

Xmas Day at Crystal

Xmas Day at Crystal

Xmas Day at Crystal – Powder Bowl

Xmas Eve 8100m, Xmas Day 8200m vert

Season Totals 14 days, 103,400m vert, 9 powder day

 

Cruising the Cascades in early January

The only place in striking distance where new snow was forecast was the Washington Cascades, so that’s where we headed for the first weekend of 2013. First stop, Mission Ridge, delivered it’s usual mix of soft packed and wind blown pow, shredding groomers and  little treasures lurking in the nooks and crannies of the mountain. And due to the NFL Playoffs, it felt like we had the mountain to ourselves.

Next stop was Crystal Mountain, where the storms were due to hit big time. On Monday we benefited from 3 inches overnight, and constant snowfall in the morning. This started to freshen a somewhat frozen front side of the mountain, while on north facing slopes we found fine powder skiing as plentiful as dykes at a Florence + The Machine gig. It kept snowing lightly into Tuesday, and propelled by wind, Powder Bowl was a billowing powfest and groomer pow was everywhere and wonderful, even on the surprisingly finely manicured Glacier (aka Middle Ferk).

The big storm was due Tuesday night, but like the Republicans acceptance of tax hikes for the rich, it arrived somewhat late. But when it arrived at 7am, it turbo dumped. Northway had been closed the previous day, so as the new snow built up on yesterday’s freshies, the skiing was amazing. So few people were competing for the terrain, virtually top-to-bottom lines of deep untracked were available for the picking by mid-morning. The wonders of midweek skiing had me smiling like Ted Nugent at a gun rally.

We headed home via White Pass, where we hoped the remnants of the storm would be available for the picking. First lift rides confirmed these hopes, but the frontside untracked and wind blown layer hid mine fields beneath. The groomers rode like semi-freddo, but angular frozen bumps and steeps with death slide potential lurking off groomed soon made us enthusiastic to explore the newer terrain off the Couloir Express. The difference was remarkable. Additional altitude kept the base soft, and the lack of crowds kept the pow plentiful. Low angle cruising through the trees in the beautiful, cold sunshine kept us happy for the rest of the day.

Mission Ridge: 9600m, 8400m vert

Crystal: 9500m, 11200m, 10200m vert

White Pass: 7400m vert

Season Totals: 31 days, 15 powder days, 281,400m vert