Crystal - 12/23

A 4 out of 5 day.  Beautiful weather and relatively good snow.  Alas, crowded once again.  Day started with GV to Iceberg runs.  Iceberg was the nicest it's been all year.  Smooth, soft, and carvable.  When the REX line got long, headed to Northway where there was no line.  Unfortunately, the bottom of Northway is a rocky, stumpy, frozen mess and should be avoided.  We worked our way through it 3 tiimes due to the lure of no lift lines, then had enough.  The rest of the day was spent on the front side with Sunnyside and Memorial the best.  Our group of 4 split up and used the singles line to cut the 20 minute lift lines to 13 minutes.  I skied a bit longer than my mates enjoying the signiifcantly shortened lines from 1:30 on.  When I left, all the parking lots were full except F lot that was maybe half full.  A really long slow caravan of cars home.  I feel like I skied some stuff today.

Last year on this day, my season ended with a shattered collar bone. Today was much better. Early Valley-Bergs were very enjoyable, best Bergs of the year. Took a GV and skied Collarbone giving it a big anniversary F-You to The Spot. Amigoette and I gave Northway a one and done - Paradise Trees were OK, the rest odd, big, icy bumps and icy rocks. Grubstake was good, the GV line was growing and we headed to the Frontside. Good snow there, soft patches, smooth icy patches, and lots of energy. And long lines, but best runs of the day so we stuck it out. Bad decisions of the day, Lower Bull Run and Deerfly - But the short Chinook line was nice. At 1:00, the low sun caused a quick re-crisping and we were out.

The first day of the year I’ve seen every light on the board green. That may be stretching it a bit condition wise. Powder Bowl looked windblown/packed and there were very few takers during the day. No Snow Garden, FQ, or T-Bar Hill (aka Gold Hill) reports. Looks like tomorrow will be the warm/soft day.

Ken