Crystal - Jan 25, 2024

Pleasantly surprised with the weather today. Expected it to be lightly snowing wet snow and instead got filtered sun all day. 8" new was nice on north facers. The stuff that was sun exposed yesterday froze hard over night, then got covered with the aforementioned 8". Not so nice. GV right, and Snorting Elk bowl the best. Powder Bowl just OK. Bear Pits too much work for a return trip. Light crowds and didn't really pay attention to how full the parking lots were.

Forest Queen was running on diesel again today. Talked to a lift maintenance guy and he said they smoked the main bearing in the electric motor. It' being replaced tonight and "hopefully" they'll be back on electric tomorrow.

Quote of the day from some rando on the slope: "There's powder if you can find it".

Another Ski Report - Lordy CD posted when I skied today? Just commented to BB this morning that CD never posts when I ski???? Huh? But great to read the post....Other as noted way better weather than expected...lots of sun breaks...and yes there was new snow which was deep on north facing slopes....but really 8" everywhere...sorry not! What was new last night and yesterday was great for north facing or no sun slopes...but runs like LS and MIFB (which was very IB today) were very firm with the 2" new...lucky I was on the EXP's that actually still have sharp edges and #1 was on her fav skis....Fun day all in all, light crowd, cold and windy in places and sun baking warm in others. Heard big things about places like the Cash and PB skiers did look BIG! As mentioned, I heard the same about FQex issues, but at least it runs pretty fast on diesel...but the smoke cloud up top when it fires up is pretty nasty non-green. Fun day, definitely better than expected.

Other - Paused in CB for break and lunch...No pizza, no burgers, nothing but Tomato Bisque for soup again(ouch)...tried the Beechers Mac and Cheese with lots of bacon and shredded cheese...the left overs tonight will still be very good...#1 had that nasty vegan soup thing...which apparently is a lot better with a glob of rice (her second time this week...she just finished her left overs). They had heat again today in CB...very pleasant looking at the King in the sun.

Other Other - As CD didn't notice the parking world I did not either since I was getting tailgated (even when I picked up the pace to 40ish...ouch!...passed me by the D lot). Drive up was pleasant and causal, drive down equally nice...didn't notice any elk again today?

If we really need the parking lot report, A was mostly full, B & C about 2/3 full. Accuracy not guaranteed. Best snow of the day was north facing slope between Rinky Dink and the end of that ridge, not sure of any run name. One of the group went to the end of the ridge and that was good too. Maybe only 5 or 6 turns and a hassle to get to, but they were really nice turns in soft, deep snow!

Yep love that big dark cloud of diesel smoke, kinda like my neighbors commuting vehicles in the plateau go big!

ddk, you're reports are so informative, mine would just be redundant. So, I post when you don't or unless I have something significant to add.

Utilized the condom today. Pretty nice inside. Picnic tables with lots of room. Kind of strange vibe with a gravel floor and silver CHANDELIERS. But hey, it serves the purpose. Skiing was good. My body is so out of shape, that I have a lot of work to do, to get back in the groove.

Next week looks like a wash out. The ole Pineapple Express coming in. Kudos to DDK for those complete reports. They should pay him to be a Crystal Mt Ambassador. Just strap a Go Pro to his helmet and post your videos online.