Crystal - 01/26

Try number 1...Yee Haa first time and its a go....And the rest of the report...Another big Sunny spring day, looked and felt like late April from the very start today.  Big unexpected bonus for the cruising crowd – Crystal actually did some grooming, Lucky was wide and smooth and soft from the start and later when I was being nice to #1 I found out that Queens, Downhill and even Rolling Disaster had been groomed (somewhat) smooth.  Not many folks on the slopes, not much food on the hill, big winds early kept the Bucket and HC down in the morning and Crystal decided to shut them down for the day just before the winds slowed down around noon (or earlier).  Lots of rocks, brush, grass, small trees and big brown showing across the front side of REX. Valley looked pretty nice on coverage, but never went there (others will report how awesome it was).  Spent most of my not being nice to #1 time from Door #1 (pretty fun) to SunnySide with some nice bump and rock dodging runs in MiddleIceFerkBerk.  Getting thinner with less off piste routes everyday…cant imagine what it will be like next week.

Other – No soup report, no food pretty much anywhere on the mountain after 11am (top and Bullwheel?).  Pay lot was nice and small, rest of A lot did not get full.  Lots of folks had left before we did – really felt like a quiet day at the end of the season…might be soon locally.  So sad.  But it was a fun day at the beach again today
Looked at my skis when I got home - no dings but lots of spring dirt!

Today’s report is academic. A really Fun Day® sacrificing skis to the grass, dirt, and rocks. Academic because the snow is used up. The morning started with a couple runs of slushy groomer action. Proceeding to The Frontside where a little air got you over the dirt and a tight line could be woven between the rocks. By mid day nothing could save you from the rock hits, but we carried on ignoring the scrapes and clunks. Anything not getting full sun was dangerously frozen. Have so much fun in the morning, I was hoping tomorrow might bring one more day of warmth and I’d be back up. By day’s end, however, more rocks than could be navigated and I declared it over. A huge impact high-side fall brought home the danger in skiing an aggressive line with ski-stopping rocks hidden under and inch of soft slush. I can’t see Crystal keeping it open much longer. Maybe Green Valley with down loading (it was scary ice in the shade) as the trip to the base wound through barely navigable areas of dirt and frozen blue ponds. Any snow in sight?

Ken
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From:
MOUNT RAINIER RECREATIONAL FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
230 PM PST TUE JAN 27 2015

Maybe something is coming! Not a fabulous forecast but better than recent ones.

.SUNDAY...RAIN AND SNOW LIKELY. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 5500 FEET.
.SUNDAY NIGHT...RAIN AND SNOW LIKELY. SNOW LEVEL NEAR 4500 FEET.
.MONDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW. SNOW
LEVEL NEAR 4500 FEET.
.MONDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW.
SNOW LEVEL NEAR 4500 FEET.
.TUESDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW. SNOW
LEVEL NEAR 5000 FEET.

1/26/15 – Monday was a very pleasant late spring/sunny summer day at Crystal. The snow cover was pretty low low down but the upper mountain groomed was tolerable except for the spots that even a groomer could not have an impact on since those were hard as glass glazed over bits in the shade that tried to kill you. There’s lots of open dirt near the bottom of the hill, but full (thin) cover up above the REX & Queen load points. Not very busy at all, just skied right onto the lifts. High C and the Gondy were closed due to the 55 degree wind and lack of demand. TomK & Kerry, and Bob.