Crystal - 1/11

A very nice 2.5 out of 3 day. The half point deduction was for a cold east wind that, well, kept things cold and never allowed the sun-facing slopes to soften.

Earlier this week, we saw Crystal had a flash sale of $50 lift tickets for today. Oh boy, better head up week-end early as Friday seems to be a week-end day anymore. It wasn't required. Pulled into A-lot three rows from the front with a moderately sized pay lot. However, every RV spot in B-lot was full for whatever festivities were happening this week-end. No lines anywhere on the mountain and the crowd remained light. No chair spasms either. A lot of filtered sun all day with nice views all around. The temperature would have been warm if not for those east winds. The groomers were a little soft and remained groomey all day and GV skied well. Other off-piste not so good. Made for a lot of Valley-Valley and Valley-Berg runs. Big, fast fun. Bear Pits was worth a second run. Didn't make it up to Powder Bowl as there were reports of variable conditions and wind howling up the face of the bowl. Worst snow on the mountain? Berry Patch as we were leaving via Kelly's Gap. Saw two guys rip Banana Chute. It was their third lap and they liked it. Never would have thought. Lower E had softened and was good as long as you stayed where it was skied and didn't get caught in the heavy mash potatoes.

Good amount of vert today off-setting the low amount of vert on Tuesday.

After CD's very nice report I'll add a lot to many more words! Very Very Big Day in The Hamster Treadmill! Ouch fun for a limited brain.  Never went farther south than PB/BP's (pits more times - it was a kick) and never further north than GV Bowl/MIFB with a end run down Lower FB (thanks CD). Big vert oh meter on the K2 Experimental's! Ouch! Second day on them and they are pulling me ever so slightly from the New Coombas?  They sure scream and carved today on MIFB! As noted not much info about ski conditions from me...it was good where I was, rocks not really that bad on top of the Queen, wind blowing up PB was impressive every time I did it today, no wind in BP's and it was a kick...but still the big hamster treadmill run of the day was soft small bouncy bumps in GV Bowl (preferred slightly left of the last Bucket tower vs CD who seemed to prefer right of that tower...hhhhhmmm?) to screaming fast primo all day runs down a very consistently smooth MIFB!  Did that run who knows how many times with the CD pack and ended with myikat (welcome back - skis really nicely with a locked down heel! can't wait to hear the southback report).  Big fun day, biggest easiest big vert day in a long time - I hurt right now. Just enough good off piste to beat yourself up in soft steep bumps with a lot of screaming easy old man groomer skiing - who would have thought! No lift lines all day, funny ultra light crowd. Big views from Adams to Baker, some filtered sun, some grey, lots of winds up top, I didn't ever feel hot.

Other - Think the soup at CB lodge was Tomato Bisque, pizza looked marginal again. No time for lunch today. Base lodge had a nice enough combo piece to suck me in...but the beer selection at the base was limited - they sell to much of the good stuff before the lifts start spinning in the morning!

Other Other - Pay lot was pretty big with lots of space for lots of buses (6 when I left with another driving up with no space to park), lots of the upper pay lot was a total disaster of row management? Noticed areas where the row was three cars deep? Hows the middle car get out? Funny. C lot pretty full, B lot had a lot of very widely spaced rows filling a fair sized area. Early drive up was a breeze, drive down got stuck in a speed challenged pack.

Headed straight for A basin in the morning- hike was brutal with 30+ kts at the ridge from the East. All the fresh must have been loaded into the trees in the Park. Did 4 runs moving from N to S and the best were in the chutes nearest the Throne/ pretty damn fine top to bottom and few tracks. Put on the fixed heel setup after lunch and did GV and the Gulch groomers with ddk in the afternoon. Pretty clever idea- a whole binding- still getting the hang of it tho. Good to be back after a month in the tropics.