The Crystal Conclusion...

A couple of recent Crystal observations, not even directly related to the ticket pricing.

1. Just WHO the hell is this targeted at? "Sample Summit House menu" Must be the same people who don't think it's worth complaining about the big price jack for their kids skiing, since as you'll note the prices on this menu are conveniently missing. If you have to ask ...
Maybe just my dirtbag opinion, but the Summit House is perhaps the premier place in WA to put a nice burger and beer setup. The kitchen could turn fast & (relatively) cheap stuff out fast and people can spill out of the obviously too-limited seating and eat & drink outside. Hell, no one will WANT to sit inside on a nice spring day. The garlic burgers they had there about 7 years ago were some of the best mountain food I've had in this state, and the place was hopping. To take the Summit House basically the other direction such that the 100 seats are filled by people insane enough to pay whatever they're going to charge for their duck confit or whatever, well, it's business. But not a business I am interested in supporting, that is for sure.

2. Driving up to Crystal and looking down the Northway chairline, saw that they took out quite a few trees for the chairline, and left pretty much a whole "deck" of logs in Lot F. Rumor is that's the second "deck" worth. Hope that the sales money for those is going to the FS, so that Crystal didn't have double incentive to log it up. (Areas other than the chairline didn't look too impacted from my vantages, although I imagine they also partly logged out the two escape traverses to make them friendlier, couldn't see those.)

I think many people do not know there is a sno-park where Crystal access road meets 410.

Hey Joe: according to the public information the State puts out for last year at least, there IS NOT a Sno Park there:
www.parks.wa.gov/winter/parks/nonmotorparks.asp?Region=4

Either there's mixed messages here or someone just forgot to update the website and fliers. Or there's some kind of 'unofficial' SnoPark thing going on where they continue to plow certain places on occasional basis but don't enforce the stickers. Something like that appears to be happening at Deer Ck on the Mt Loop hiway.


I think you're right that there is a secret agenda with 410. My guess is that there's nothing in the law books to prevent two situations they don't want: skiers coming down Kempers in even greater numbers and putting NPS at budget risk for rescues, and snowmobiles running up and down 410 and 123 all winter. Thus the real reason for keeping 410 plowed down to pavement but locked at the Entrance in both cases. They don't want to make it easy for either skiers or snomos to just glide along (although it seems like either can get around on the shoulders anyways).

Hey Joe: according to the public information the State puts out for last year at least, there IS NOT a Sno Park there:
www.parks.wa.gov/winter/parks/nonmotorparks.asp?Region=4

Going to have to check in to that one, sounds like a change of heart?
And yes the 410 thing always gets them anxious.
Joe

Hey Joe: according to the public information the State puts out for last year at least, there IS NOT a Sno Park there:
www.parks.wa.gov/winter/parks/nonmotorparks.asp?Region=4

Either there's mixed messages here or someone just forgot to update the website and fliers.

Well it was the latter, website update.
Here is the official word from sno-park.

Hello Joseph,
Good question! The Sno-Park is called Silver Springs and it's listed in
our 2007-2008 Sno-Park brochure. We are a bit behind in the electronic
world. The web site is going through a "face lift", as such it has old
information. I have been told that the web master will try to get
everything up and running by next week.

Thank you for the heads up. If you are heading that direction please
keep records of time, date, snow level and numbers. I will do the same.

Colleen Maguire
Special Assistant to the Assistant Director
P O Box 42662
7150 Cleanwater Drive SW
Olympia WA 98504-2662
(360) 586-6646
(360) 586-6651 fax
www.parks.wa.gov/winter

There you go-
If any of you are interested please send snow reports including comments, feel free to contact Colleen Macguire at colleen.maguire@parks.wa.gov
This may be used by those who XC ski because it is a way to go to get good skiing, unless you have a snowmachine and they are only allowed to the WR campground, no further or Uwe the WR park Super will nail you!

Have fun out there!
Joe

How about BigS for family skiing if we are priced out of Crystal? And the pass even gets you a few days at Crystal during the season, eh? Lots of different terrain for various ability levels. Safer and shorter drive from anywhere north of Auburn, no? How many Olympic Gold Medal alpine ski racing winners from Alpental vs Crystal? Just asking, can hardly wait to see what flame war this might begin, apologies in advance.

Well, since the same guy is running both of them, the pricing got hacked to bits at the summit too. Midweek pass eliminated. First time in probably 10 years I won't have one. Same attitude IMHO. They get rid of the hard-core skiers who eat from their coolers and buy cheap midweek passes by eliminating the midweek pass.

Different target, same attitude.