Crystal 3/8-3/9

...after an excellent 3/8 tuesday where sunny skies and 4-6" of freshie atop the well-preserved dump from last friday made for ski everywhere with authority conditions (especially sback which was sweet...but why did all the chairs+gondie close at 3:45 even though the light boards said green???), conditions changed dramatically for 3/9 wednesday...

...a classic pineapple dealt up wind/crap/snow/rain/concrete that made for crummy conditions saved only by big rocker...although rex/gvalley was open from morning until 1 pm for those who enjoy near-whiteout conditions, most of the day was spent inventing fun...grubstake + lower bearpits was OK early...no crowds, no lift lines, but plenty of wet slop with forest queen staying open until 4:00 pm (as opposed to yesterday's early closing)...even boondoggle couldn't keep the goods...the bottom gates were unable to check tiks in a reliable manner this morning leading to confusion but it didn't matter since the hill was pretty much empty...

...more of the same is forecast for thursday as 6/nway/gondie will be closed...too bad the gondie can't handle wind...i don't see conditions improving for friday although the snow level will come down a tad and there is chatter that things will improve...

...once everything freezes it will be hell...but the storms are lined up for the next several days with near-epic chatter for mon/tues with an upcoming 'powder alert' on the way...

...one thing i've learned from crystal's NOAA forecast is that when the forecast includes the word "probable", then one should expect the opposite...i suspect that marketing is trying to keep the glass half-full...

Gotta say a lot of what you said was more than likely acurate for the masses today....but with big fat skis and lots of dry gloves the snow was pretty good in lots of places from BP's and OF's to many of the Doors accross the front of REX all the way out to M-World...defintily not as nice as the pics and telemtry indicated about Tuesday that I saw, but than most folks that know me will take any of my opinions with a very large grain of salt. Do wish I had gone up on Tuesday...wish I wasnt being nice to friends tomorrow. ddk

...i agree that dry gloves helps the turns in the deep concrete  ... i was being nice to the nephew and b-in-law by keeping them safe on their non big boards... so your report on the runs down rex's face is helpful...was that you by chance dropping solo onto KGap Road below Rick's Face about noon-ish?  also, am curious about the gate off the 2nd KGapRoad switchback at the Waterfall cliffs? i was under the impression that that area was permanently closed... ? was also curious about the surprise interruption in grooming on the Road once thru the Gap as patrol had planted several caution signs...good thing as the ride got real choppy fast...thx, CS

Not I, anywhere near Kgap today....to low for me today until I finally bailed early at 1pm. Spent my entire day either in the valley or on REX.