January 15, 2013 Crystal

This was my first time at Crystal with my Summit Gold pass this year.  We said hi to Silas who was heading out to the back country.  Jill and I went to get our tickets, and the passes didn’t work because we had put holes in them for our leashes! Luckily the woman at Guest Services remembered us and gave us our tickets; now we’ll have to get new Summit Gold passes that work at both areas.  We skied with some friends who have a 2000 Roadtrek van just like ours.  I am so impressed with the groomers -- they were in great shape.  We skied Lucky Shot and all of the runs off the Forest Queen lift.  And after 3.5 hours (not counting time out for a lunch break), 11 runs, and 10400VF, Zap’s legs were shot!   My skiing is getting better, but it’s a long route.   The hardest part of the day for me was walking back to the car.  It was fun to look at all the terrain I’ve skied in past 30 years, some of which I may never ski again!  But that’s okay.  Crystal is a great place, but the 2 hour drive is a long drive in comparison with our 50 minute drive to the Summit.   But it sure was beautiful with temps in the low 30s, and with Mt. Rainier out.  It was a bit warmer higher up, but not uncomfortably so. 

Warm temps in the sun belied the cold, smooth packed pow in the shade – both good skiing. A relentless northwest wind kept the shade cool and scoured the ridges. Our gain, as the couple of skier smoothed Frontside runs (Memorial and Greg's Gulch) were constantly refreshed with ½ inch of blown in silky crystals each run. Niagaras was unexpected cut pow/packed pow. It was raining on I-5, however, from all the tree-melt, making it spectacular in the sunlight, but slow. One Powder Bowl was all we could manage after waiting 15 minutes on the chair while they tried to decide if it had derailed or was just malfunctioning. Sad to think how many more years we might have to ride that POS. Runs are limited to those that have had enough skier grooming, although the 3 of us didn't have any competition for the good stuff. An awesome day, but overnight freezing will not be kind to the sun-softened snow below 6.5K ft.
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Great to hear you had a good time. I spent my entire birthday + 2 days up there 1/13 - 1/15. Was beautiful and really fun. Great weather and almost felt like spring conditions yesterday. Glad you had a good time, and wish I would have known you were there to meet you.

Great to hear you had a good time. I spent my entire birthday + 2 days up there 1/13 - 1/15. Was beautiful and really fun. Great weather and almost felt like spring conditions yesterday. Glad you had a good time, and wish I would have known you were there to meet you.

You had 2+ great days.  Happy Birthday! 

Luckily the woman at Guest Services remembered us...

I am so impressed with the groomers -- they were in great shape....

The hardest part of the day for me was walking back to the car....

some of which I may never ski again...

Crystal Guest Services staff is superb, I think they remember all of us Snoqualmie minions.

What a perfect conditions day on the groomers.

For many of us, the hardest part of the day is the walk back to the car, you are not alone.

May never ski them again? Not necessary, just having fun is such a blessing!

Great to see you two up there, the backcountry was beautiful, but not better skiing.....