Crystal - 3/18

Went up late this morning and it was fast traffic all the way. Got to the lifts right when they opened. Left the coat in the car. Sunny groomers were soft from the beginning. Shady groomers and anything else in the shade frozen hard, even with the 42 degree morning temperatures. As the morning went on, Ferkberg almost had corn snow and it was piling into nice bumps. By 10:30, GV bowl had softened and was very nice. The other amigos started skiing the front side. My back said no, so lots off Valley/Berg runs. About 11:30, the sun exposed snow on the flats was getting sticky, so I bailed for some afternoon commitments. Fun, screaming morning.

We skied from 9 until noon when things were just starting to get sticky, and traffic through Seattle starting to build. Pretty firm in the morning, especially on shady aspects. Things started to soften 10-10:30. GV bowl, MIFB, S Elk, Lucky were first to go, Sunnyside at 10:30. That was about it for softening. The rest of the front side was unconsolidated gunk. Pro Course, backside road to S Elk, bottom to GV chair stayed firm. Saw no one on PB. Some in BP and Grubstake doing ok. Just to say we did it, we passed the ominous warning signs at Kellys Gap (mainly for the road). Sluiceway had a line on the right with only a few obstacles but a deteriorating trend. We took the "interesting" top traverse into Lower E. A few obstacles but very doable. I looked at the next lower road and the first section looked fine, but the GV lift op said the bottom 2 sections of the road were dirt. Lower E was soft and reasonably covered with mostly just tree tops poking out. There are a lot of dirt patches and rocks so check out your intended run carefully. Crowds were ultra-light.
Last week Bob G asked what the peak is in the center of this photo. The PeakFinder app seems to identity it as Main Cowlitz Chimney but I am not 100% sure of that. Anyone else know?

Some good started good, some good got better, some OK got worse. All was in the shitter by noon one way or another. The mountain is getting smaller as the rocky areas grow. Got the last Gap Run and The Road is toast, we ended the worthwhileness of Lower E with smooth sliders through scrub trees. All will be bad as the wednesday ending cooling and rain set in. Can't ski to the Gondola or Elk without a mud walk and Chinook lift line was gravel filled snow-stuff at best. The Frontside was Sunny Side or else glop. And BB and I might have finished SS off as well. Gonna be a long recovery.

Kkz

Yep main cowlitz chimney, central chimney great ski to the east, and the N chimney is a fun low 5th class romp.