Crystal 03/09

Long day in the BC with PNWBrit( Banned) and Joe after a couple of T2B's for a warm up.

Finished with a rush to the gondola for a final T2B.

We found cold faceted pow, sun hardened hardpack and proto corn depending on the aspect.

A lot of steep stuff had death cookies and frozen chickenheads under a seemingly benign covering of pow.
Some of the turns were OK and some were fabulous.


Aspect and timing where the key to a very successful day and we had the aspect guru with us.

And now, for an inbounds version...The opening crowd at Crystal’s Chinook Express was in a good mood for good reasons. Clear and cold overnight kept the snow in nicely carvable shape to enjoy under blue bird skies. AM groomers done skied good, off piste was a couple of inches over easily cut stuff, and it was just starting to slush up down low at noon. Very wide crowd dispersal made running the singles line at the Queen, Rex, and Greeny a breeze to get back up after each fun screamer down. A-E Parking lots were pretty full all the way down. TomK & Kerry

Great reports - and my late version - Gotta say pretty nice day all in all, lots of sun, some nice heat ( got the “real” Hawaii shirt out ), fairly light lift line crowd on the lifts I rode ( REX early and late, HC no lines ever and single line of FQex was pretty okay). Best run for me – PB(!) with a short mid day warm time in BP’s and when that was not good OuterFerks was pretty okay. (heard someone else say PB was the run of the day – might have been a fireman). Mid day REX chair line (Showtime), Sunnyside, Gully by Memorial were all fun and just soft enough. Only did one fun on Lucky and IceFerkberg, nice groomers early, no clue late.

Other – Soup was a repeat from yesterday, so sad. Crowd was reasonable, Pay lot big and almost totally full, B/C/D/E all pretty much full. Patio at the base was packed when I left. Great day

Awesome day. Early frozen conditions led to some screaming groomers before the crowds accumulated. Took a short stroll to Avie Basin to find an untracked chute. A light touch through the chicken heads worked well, and as the slope angle lowered, the occasional cow heads were easily slalomed in boot-top smoothness. As the Frontside softened and obtained some skier grooming, a few great lines emerged. We ran those till the afternoon recrisp started. Warm afternoon sun and a pitcher on the patio closed out the day. Won't be nice after tonight's refreeze till another hot sunny day or significant new snow falls.
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Gotta add my 2 cents, carvey groomers with Mrs Wally out of the box, no lines,no crowds to speak of. CMACrs kept to themselves on Chair 7. Got some tasty turns off the beaten path in NW. Afternoon with the grandkids in the terrain park. Not sure how the big kids feels about it but the 6 year old thinks it's the bees knees. Highlight of the day was skin to summit house for the NWAC benefit. Good turn out and great conditions. Was a little weird cruising down by headlamp with all the fireflies lit up. Photo courstey of Kim Kircher. To all the folks who roared past me on the way up remember I may be old, but I'm still slow.