Crystal Mountain, Feb 21, 24, 25 - 2016

What's that, it's only Feb 20?  Yes, setting up the trip report thread NOW!  Crystal has had 28 inches over the past 48 hours, with more expected tomorrow.  I'll get to the ski reporting tomorrow night!

Good start to the trip.  A 'Duty Free' Jamieson sales stand in JFK Terminal 4, with samples.  Can't pass THAT up.  Downed a shot....and he asks "do I want another?"   Does a bear shit in the woods?!

My burger hath arrived!

Take pictures!

Plan on it, and you may have to suffer through some GoPro video if I get anything good.

Boy, that was tough, resisting the urge to have a bite to eat and stop at the casino......

The elk crossing signs....they ain't kidding, yo!  They're big...

Rainier

The size and scope of this place is mind boggling to an east coast skier.  Everywhere you look there is another skiable aspect, every countless line there for the taking.  Even managed to find some untracked turns traversing way out Northway.

View from my lunch table 10 minutes ago.


View from my lunch table now.


Storm moving in, things change quick.  I feel like I'm at WF, to gondola is on wind hold!

Pictures really don't do the place justice.

If ever renting a car where you might have to drive on snow, or is a compacted snowy covered parking lot, and they try to give you a Chrysler 200......just say fuck no!  Worst traction ever.  I'll tell you the story later.  Hope the roads are ok when I leave....

Isn't the 200 RWD?  I was in a FWD Jeel Cherokee when I was in Colorado and it sucked because it had bald summer tires.  It was a southern car with Georgia plates.

Spent the afternoon taking a couple of laps in Southback.  Less skied out than Northway, because of the 15 to 45 minute hike and traverse, depending on where you decide to drop in.

Dropped into Avalance Basin once.





And Silver Basin once.

that's a helluva day.

When you upload photos: in the Resize section, click "Big Size"!

 Looks like you're doing well.

Sorry!  In the past I had trouble uploading photos at all and resizing smaller helped.







Doesn't seem to be a problem now, so will do.  I can never aspire to the level of your trip reports, sir!

nepa wrote

 Looks like you're doing well.

Yeah, conditions are great, by east coast standards.  One guy I lapped Southback with was actually a little disappointed.  He said there are times when skiing Soutback can be like helicopter skiing, mostly untouched. Not so after the powder circus on Saturday.  I heard lift lines were very long.  I didn't wait more than 5 minutes all day, although the singles line helped once or twice, where I might have waited 6.

A lot of the chopped up crud yesterday was crunchy, as the strong sun yesterday baked and softened the surface.  It was still great for me, but locals were again disappointed.  Southback was much less tracked out and stayed nice and soft for the most part.  Only spill I took was on a steep powder face where my downhill ski dove and got buried in two feet of fresh. Stopped me in my tracks.

Definitely a good day.  Appreciate your advice in the planning!

JTG4eva! wrote

Definitely a good day.  Appreciate your advice in the planning!

For sure JTG.  Glad you have the opportunity to sample the goods!!

Crystal has been on our bucket list for a while now. We had so much invested in the East this year - really hampering our travels out West.

Crystal looks amazing and that one chute looked well covered.  does the deep snow there ski like the East when we have deep snow (which is rare)?

Ray....how the powder skis out here depends on when and where you go, and what aspects you ski.  Where I was able to find untracked or soft snow yesterday (primarily in the Southback area) it definitely had a 'powder in the Slides' kind of feel (just on a much larger scale and deeper), no Cascade concrete to be found.  There were aspects and places lower down where the powder and crud was crusty from a thaw-freeze cycle.  Nepa knows better than I do, but late Jan to mid Feb might be the best time to plan a trip.  One of the locals I skied with figured the two plus feet they got last week may be the last good storm, as the weather can get even more variable than usual with March.

Gonna head back to that chute on Thursday.  The guy I was skiing with yesterday wanted to keep going further out.  Coverage to the choke was great and traversing out let me see the exit was well covered, so I'll try to bag that on Thursday.  Looks like my day in the BC is going to come off Wednesday, even if we have to stick to shadier slopes.

JTG4eva! wrote

Jan to mid Feb might be the best time to plan a trip.  One of the locals I skied with figured the two plus feet they got last week may be the last good storm, as the weather can get even more variable than usual with March.

I would agree that later season and last minute planning is best... it can turn to shit real quick.  You also need to have a bit of luck on your side.  Last week, it looked awful across most of the PNW.  This week is much better... next week looks like April/May conditions.

As the season progresses, getting on fresh snow early is very important.  Not simply for beating the crowds... even on cloudy days in February, the solar effect is significant.  Quality decreases quickly as Avalanche hazard increases.  Early morning is always the safest conditions of the day in terms of snowpack and weather stability.  That said...Keep the pics coming... and Be Careful JTG.