Crystal - 12/30

Nice day up in the sun. Arrived early to get the typical parking…kinda nasty cold windy walking up to the lodge this morning – might not be good with the ultra cold temps for the PNW. Small early crowd for the early up load on CHex. Nice relatively pleasant groomed runs with my #1 off of REX – till the CMAC racers freaked her…so over to the more quiet slow paced FQex run. Groomers nice and soft…after a short break for me when I did PB/BP’s (PB still nice easy bumps, BP good but the bumps are building), I suggested trying out Chair 4 – ouch nasty cold slow long ride…snow quality was great but the ride is just the pits. So down into the mess at the base, not enough room in the mass crowd and even less room this year with the very big closed off space for the beginner ski area between DISCO and CHex (the idea might have sounded great, but the mess it creates all around it at the base during rush hours is pretty obscene). So back up the mountain for an early lunch before the CB lodge area turns into the noonish disaster. Nice social with the Fireman and his wife (and Hugh ). Went out for some more runs, but the crowds on the groomers runs off of REX were just to much for #1 ( I agree ) so we bailed out early ( looking forward to getting back to casual weekdays next week). So quality is holding up nice from what I got to ski, more rocks top of HC but still easy to get around them. Still hearing lots of happy reports from out South. Happy New Year to all…unless I go tomorrow….

Other – Soup was Beef Stew again? Heard they have enough for another couple of days! Ouch! Oh well. Parking was typical as usual, plus the added bonus of a fair number of cars in the F lot! Ouch oh my. It was a big crowd….kinda funny how different days during the holiday week are. Yesterday would have been better for #1. But the sun and big views were great today. Hopefully I will not double post CD again...how do you delete a post?

A nice drive up this morning with the roads clear and dry and traffic moving at the speed limit. Pulled into one of the last rows of A lot at 8am. What a beautiful, cold, bluebird day all day! Crowds were light early with no lift lines until 11am. More on that in a minute. While there was fog in all the valleys to the east, it was clear north, south, and west. The views from Mt. Hood to Mt. Baker were spectacular.

The mountain is skiing very consistent. The groomers are smooth and fast. Off piste has turned into firm, chalky packed snow, but very edgeable. It was the same everywhere…GV, Powder Bowl, Bear Pits, Paradise Bowl, Bruce's Bowl, Sluiceway, etc. all skiing the same. After discussing with #1, we agreed the best snow was in Outer Ferks right along the trees. And the best bumps? Lower E. Large and perfectly shaped woohooo bumps. Speaking of #1, she definitely got her groove on today.

It was a late arriving crowd, but oh what a crowd. The longest wait was only 10 minutes on REX, but all the main runs were clogged with many first timers of the season (all the more reason to stay off-piste). We talked to one couple who waited 90 minutes to get their kids rental gear. While skiing Iceberg was a hoot, we felt like we were risking our lives in the afternoon. Like ddk said, we bailed early, but not before getting our second 35K day this week.

On the way out, the line on Discovery was huge. God bless 'em because that's the future of our sport!

the 47 of us that were riding the padded seats had no problem making room for one of the southern resort's finest ambassadors, buster hymen.
even saved him a kind parking spot for ski on ski off access to his sweet car.