Crystal Storm Chasing, Day 1, 3/11/16

Storm Chasing......mission accomplished!!  As usual from me, pictures first, narrative to follow (belatedly).  The last run (and Seth somehow saves the best run for last.  Plan a trip and USE HIM!) was 800 vertical of steep and thigh deep powder.

Resort?  Not today....

Into the wilderness.  Only 5 laps today, but last time out we hit a lot of the BC right outside the resort.  Today we ventured much further into the BC.


The goods in the distance.

Still a ways to go.......


We've arrived.  Bullion Basin.  The goal for today is East Peak, notably Seth's favorite area of the Crystal BC.

Ok, before I screw up this post ...I'll hit send now, and continue in the next post.

Dayum......those WA brownies are GOooooooD, yo!

The first area of target.  To set the stage, on the skin track up we encountered...well, bad conditions.  A definite ice crust.  Yes, the Wednesday storm dumped 14 inches of snow on Washingtons's crown jewel, but some rain late Wednesday night put a definite question mark on how well my Storm Chase would pan out.....

JTG4eva! wrote

Dayum......those WA brownies are GOooooooD, yo!

JTG4eva! wrote

We've arrived.  Bullion Basin.  The goal for today is East Peak, notably Seth's favorite area of the Crystal BC.

Snow looks a little dense ^^ there... can't wait to hear how it panned out.

Adk Jeff wrote

Snow looks a little dense ^^ there... can't wait to hear how it panned out.

Dense! Looks like knee twisting cement.
Been there, done that!

PT....luv ya, buddy....but you couldn't be more wrong!

Looks god to me.

Up we go.

....and up.

So, you see those pics, dense, yeah......I ask Seth at the end of the day what him optimism was.  He didn't answer me.

We did pass thru the debris field of a legit D2 avy on the skin up......

I smell, myself.....gotta take a shower and quell the munchies.  Laters...

Looks smashable to me!

Well, I was wondering if it would be, as later confirmed by Seth.  

The Wed storm in the Cascades finished with a couple hours of rain.  As shared by nepa, and confirmed by other info....it looked like 6k feet was about the level that the rain ended.

On the skin up to the lake/bench of Bullion Basin, the classic Crystal BC tour, we encountered that avy debris, and crappy rain crust conditions.  On the skin up the steep slope for our anticipated first run we encountered rain crust and wind affected.  As an east coast skier I started thinking......dayum, this is a nice ehdgeable hard pack.  Variable conditions is what we had so far, and that isn't the adjective anyone wants, especially on the chase.....

I looked in here to post what a pain it is to unpack the pack and hope everything dries before tomorrow morning.  It won't.....then you distract me.  

So, reaching just below the ridge Seth tells me to sit still.  I hydrate to this view.

While Seth ventures over the ridge to see if the next basin/aspect offers more than the rain crust, wind affected slopes we'd encounterd so far.

Back to drying and cleaning.....

Well...Seth has a way of understating things....and says 'it's ok over here'.  Our next few hours in my pics...





How deep is the snow pack, you ask?

Snorting Elk....FKNA.

Staying at the base of Crystal is not a hopping village or family resort.....but there is a reason the Snorting Ekl is usually in the running for top ski bar....

So, through Basin Shopping we went three laps in the poorly coined Cement....

The powder over there was boot top and soft.  Ok, a little crust below 6,500....

But still.....

As a quick point on note.....with stellar conditions above 6,000 feet we were alone in the BC.  Yes, it's Friday....but Seth said nobody will venture that far into the BC even on Saturday.  He's lived and skied BC in the Crystal area and he's only skied the area we were in a couple times.
So....it's been snowing an inch a hour since we crossed the ridge to Cement Basin.  From clear-ish day to socked in in no time.

We head back over the ridge to Bullion....and it's old home time.  The rain crust/wind affected face we skinned up previously was an east coast carveable hard pack I know how to ski!

No worries, in short order we were headed up to more silky powder.

To this...



Like I said, by plan or by fortune....Seth saved the best for last.  An 800 vertical shot of thigh to boot top powder.  The snow was fallin', the wind was howlin'....no pics.  Well,here's Seth gearing up...

Otherwise, you have to wait for the video.  Hardest part of the day? The slog back through rain sticky powder.  Haven't had those snow plow burnt thighs since the days of teaching the kids!

Woohoo!  Looks like it all worked out!

Great report, thanks.
Top-notch guide.

Last run of the day.  I undersold this in my report.  Through the narrowest part of the chute the powder was coming up over the thighs.  Great feeling. Legs were TOAST and the powder was deep, so I did a couple self preservation hip checks.  Amazing to have that, and everything else in my pics, all to ourselves.  Seth and I were the only two souls to lay tracks out there the entire day.
Watch “Buillion Basin, Foggy Bottom, Crystal, WA BC” on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/158756792

Buillion Basin, Foggy Bottom, Crystal, WA BC from Chris Kidd on Vimeo.

You ready? Yea man!