Crystal - 02/27

Yee Haaa…Today was a way better than half a glass kinda day – one guy said his glass was overflowing….Based on how bad this year has been for many folks – today was a bonus day, mighty fine bonus day! Arrived early expecting the worst for crowds based on the Crystal event calendar...it was busy early, but not really that bad. Snowing half way up the blvd, few inches in the parking lot. Snowing pretty nicely all day up top. Free Riders got to load early, but they headed straight over to HC, leaving all the Valley for all the old, middle aged and young snow sliders to rip up the boot top new.
Winds were blowing pretty hard across the ridge tops, but no lift impacts. No lift lines anywhere. HC was a little rocky on top, but there was lots of nice untracked turns in Campbell Basin and PB required more than one cycle today! Most of the mountain looks like winter again, but still to little at the base to attempt the ski down (especially with 5 inches covering who knows what). Crystal should be able to groom in the new snow to really improve most of the main runs. Temps on the mountain felt pretty cold – probably the winds on top.

Other – No soup at CB lodge…they had some limited food. A lot was full when I left ( hhhmmm Pay lot? didn’t really notice, but it was smaller than normal), some cars in B lot and C had maybe a quarter full. The young Free Riders had their fist day comp under the Throne. Was today BIG or GREAT or AWSOME or just a might fine day on the slopes…think it was all of those for many folks…plus I actually got out of the hamster treadmill for a while…FUN!

'Twas nice to use mechanical advantage to reach the top of the Queen for a change today! Will say I'm a little disappointed they didn't do more to open-up the unloading zone at the top - the chair still sends ya into a pile of rock, although there's more clearance for those wishing to hook right to PB and the renovated patrol/lift shack looks nice. Similar report as above - what was reported as 6" new overnight up top was really closer to 8" with the wind affecting it and loading up N-NW aspects over knee deep (6" new in the last 24 at the bottom by closing bell, too). Should be great conditions out on the Throne and King this weekend for the junior freerippers - just watching the young'uns get after it today made my knees hurt.

After rallying a half-dozen laps in GV first thing this morning, incl. a pair in SnElk Bowl proper, we decided to give Ch6 a go. The rocks had been clearly identified by the first chair crowd but most of PB was left untouched. With the wind blowing the way it was, the coverage looking the way it does and the fog rolling in and out, we passed on Campbell Basin entirely and worked PB from left-to-right, doing Queen -> Queens laps until our legs gave out. Not wanting to throw in the towel with less than an hour to go, we closed out the day with laps on FQex before grabbing last chair on REX and downloading the Gandhi to the bottom (best part of downloading has to be that there's no last run from the top ). Coverage looked sufficient under Quicksilver for those interested in skiing-out this weekend and Southback ought to be a hoot tomorrow.

https://scontent-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/11036041_10103912160590718_8311978336900187974_n.jpg?oh=1503460c1464a57a2b8c11ca98e2dbba&oe=558700DC
Padded seats always lead to the goods

Ditto.
8 inches of fluff off-piste.
Liking the new landing pad at the top of High C.
Felt like winter again.

it looks like it goes.

it looks like it goes.

Runs better than Edelweiss right now, thought it was called chair 2? But being a guy from the southern resort, don’t know much about what the locals call things way up north.

it's the padded seats on chair 2 you refer too, Edelweiss goes, it's Sessel and St. Bernard that are weeds. We don't make or ski the man made fake stuff.